Three American foundations, Carnegie Corporation of New York, Richard Lounsbery Foundation, and The Stirling Foundation have awarded grants to American Councils for International Education to create a Ukrainian Visiting Scholars Program (VSP). The program will support displaced Ukrainian university faculty and researchers whose work has been disrupted by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and continuing violence. The VSP allows affected scholars and teachers from Ukraine to resume their work in safer parts of the country, or at institutions outside the country.
Eligibility for the VSP is limited to scholars and university faculty who meet program requirements for holding visiting research and/or teaching positions at one of American Councils’ more than 30 cooperating partner institutions in Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lithuania, Poland, and Romania, as well as at Ukrainian institutions in the Central and Western regions of the country. Initial visiting appointments are open to faculty of all disciplines and ranks and for terms of one or two semesters.
“The impact of the invasion and continuing hostilities on the work of the universities, the health of academic disciplines and scholarly research has been devastating”, said American Councils’ President Emeritus, Dr. Dan E. Davidson, who serves as project P.I. “We believe this program can provide some measure of stability and momentum for scholars within the region, whose work otherwise would be halted for the foreseeable future.”
The VSP will allow an important group of Ukrainian scholars to resume their academic teaching and research, in a safe, encouraging environment. “The program will not only allow these scholars to resume their research and studies but also protects the free exchange of ideas and their educational pursuits,” said American Councils’ President and CEO, Dr. David P. Patton. “American Councils is enormously grateful to Carnegie Corporation of New York, Lounsbery Foundation, and The Stirling Foundation for their interest in this program.”
The VSP participants will be strong representatives of their respective fields of study, representing a diverse group of disciplines and backgrounds and coming from a range of Ukrainian institutions. American Councils has supported academic and educational exchange activity across Eastern Europe and Eurasia since 1974; the current program is another example of the U.S. support of academic freedom and international scholarship in Ukraine and throughout the region.
For more information, contact: Christian Teresi
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