By Raylee Foster | Staff Writer
Dr. Sergiy Kudelia’s course on Ukraine will remain a permanent option for students in the future.
Kudelia, an associate professor of political science and Ukrainian native, began teaching the course this academic year amid the war between Russia and Ukraine. He said his hope is to introduce a new perspective by approaching Ukraine as an independent state as opposed to through a Russian lens.
“The problem was that up until now, there has been limited interest in Ukraine specifically, and understandably, most of the students who were interested in the region wanted to have a broader understanding of the region through the prism of Russia,” Kudelia said. “But that has become very problematic, because the analysis that looks at the Ukrainian issue and Ukrainian politics through the prism of Russia distorts, in many ways, what is happening in Ukraine and prevents a fuller understanding of Ukrainian interests and the Ukrainian historical revolution.”
With the course becoming permanent, Kudelia said the university will be opening the door for students to understand the region as a whole. Though the attention drawn to the area because of the war may fade, Kudelia said the area will always be relevant, as will the course.
“I think by offering this course and making it permanent, Baylor is offering an important counterweight to the excessive focus that has existed for Russia for decades … at this institution,” Kudelia said. “The war is only a reminder of how significant this region is for the world, but Russia is not going to go away, and Ukraine is not going to go away.
“And the problem that we have in Russian and Ukrainian relationships are problems that will not be solved easily over the next couple of months or years,” Kudelia said. “These are long-term issues that policymakers will have to deal with for decades to come.”
Kudelia said his goal is for students to leave the course with a broad understanding of the truth of Ukraine, reflecting not only on political material but also on art and literature. For example, one of the assignments is a reflection paper comparing assumptions about Ukraine with the material learned in the course.
Having lived in Ukraine until he was 23, Kudelia said he also uses his experience in the country to help students better understand the material.
Arlington sophomore Grant Goodyear said when he took the course, the most impactful part was Kudelia’s ability to relate lecture content to his own life. Goodyear said Kudelia’s stories helped show the true colors of the lives of Ukrainians.
“One of the biggest parts of the course was that the professor actually grew up in the Soviet Union and was there whenever Ukraine was getting its independence, so just getting his perspective on all the stuff was extremely eye-opening and really interesting to me,” Goodyear said.
Goodyear also said with the course becoming permanent, there will always be something new to discuss.
“It’s a very important part of the world, so there’s probably going to always be something going on there that will spark interest for students to want to take this course,” Goodyear said. “Even when the war’s over, there’s always going to be something going on in Ukraine.”
