Olena Dzhedzhora

The goal of this project is to prepare for publication a collection of testimonies in Ukrainian and English. This book will be dedicated to the members of the Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU) community. Since the full-scale invasion, UCU has been involved in various war-related work, both as particular individuals and an institution of learning. It is an example of how the academic community should respond to the challenge of the war. In addition to volunteering and financial support for the front, UCU has provided shelter to displaced persons, created psychological rehabilitation curricula, led veteran adaptation training sessions, launched a medical and artistic initiative, and held international conferences on geopolitics. Many of these displaced persons then volunteered to defend Ukraine. The variety of materials collected is impressive, featuring scholars and students, displaced persons and locals, artists and businesspeople, IT specialists, and representatives of the clergy. They make up a diverse palette, which, to an extent, is reflective of all of Ukraine, and can therefore be of interest to the broader public.

The purpose of this project is to create an archive of the current Russian-Ukrainian war, with a special emphasis on the destinies of ordinary people, and the changes in their perception of events. This will involve volunteers, including foreign volunteers, soldiers, refugees, transporters, doctors, educators, artists, and members of religious congregations among others. 

More specifically, the goals of the project include
-    systematizing already collected eyewitness testimonies;
-    continuing to collect testimony during the current year;
-    continuing to translate the collected materials into foreign languages;
-    publishing selected abbreviated interviews in Ukrainian and English on the UCU media platform and the platforms of partners;
-    transferring all collected video and text materials in their entirety as oral history documents to a specially created project platform, where they will be available to researchers, journalists and other interested parties both in Ukraine and abroad; and
-    preparing for publication a collection of selected interview-memoirs entitled "Small Stories of the Great War: Year One".