In the major narratives of modern history, Ukraine is absent — suspiciously so. This lecture explores the possibility that the histories that we find convenient avoid what is actually most essential. Technological as well as historiographical advances have allowed us to see that the lands north of the Black Sea are central to major global trends, from prehistory to the present. Our moment becomes more comprehensible when we understand the centrality of the Russo-Ukrainian war; something similar can be said for our past. Our familiar stories of the past cannot withstand a confrontation with Ukrainian history; but the confrontation reveals a world history that is more interesting, coherent, and true.
Timothy Snyder holds the inaugural Temerty Chair in Modern European History at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto. He is also a permanent fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna and the head of the academic advisory council of Ukrainian History Global Initiative.
A scholar of the history of Central Europe, Ukraine, the Soviet Union, and the Holocaust, Snyder speaks five and reads ten European languages. He is the author or editor of twenty books published in forty languages. Snyder writes for the press on Ukraine, the U.S, authoritarianism, digital politics, health and education. He has also appeared in documentaries, on television, and as an expert witness before several parliaments. He has received state orders and decorations, as well as honorary doctorates.
His work has inspired demonstrations, sculpture, posters, punk rock, rap, film, theatre, and an opera.
Programme
Welcome:
- Marie-Laure Salles, Director, Geneva Graduate Institute
Keynote lecture:
- Timothy Snyder, Temerty Chair in Modern European History, Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, University of Toronto
Conversation:
- Timothy Snyder, Temerty Chair in Modern European History, Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, University of Toronto
- Awet Weldemichael, Professor of International History and Politics, Geneva Graduate Institute
Q&A with the public