Understanding Ukraine, Rethinking Europe

Conference Report | Monte Verità, 14–17 June 2026

In June, Olena Palko (University of Basel), Fabian Baumann (Heidelberg University), and Börries Kuzmany (University of Vienna) brought together a number of specialists for Ukrainian history to discuss the projected Oxford Handbook of Ukrainian History. The MWNO as well as the German Historical Institute Warsaw and the MWS Research Center Lviv were among several organizations from Switzerland, Germany and Austria to support this conference.

Hence, we are delighted that the organizers asked us to share a short conference report:

„The conference “Understanding Ukraine, Rethinking Europe” (Monte Verità, 14–17 June 2026) brought together leading scholars of modern European and Eastern European history to discuss Ukraine’s past, present, and place in Europe. With Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022,Ukraine has entered the limelight of world media. Ever since, there has been a demand for expertise on Ukraine, with many more people wishing to go beyond the headlines to familiarise themselves with Ukraine’s past and present. Thus, the invasion gave an impetus for re-evaluating Ukraine as an academic subject, pushing scholars working in area studies as well as East European and Russian history, cultural, literary and social studies, to reconsider how they teach and write the history of the region. Despite the relevance of Ukraine for the general public, the academic community, and international affairs, Ukraine still remains a lesser-known country. While there are a few scholarly monographs on Ukraine, there is no recent comprehensive textbook on Ukrainian history that can be used in Western universities and by the general public.

To address this gap, a major scholarly project was launched in 2024: the first Oxford Handbook of Ukrainian History, edited by Olena Palko (University of Basel), Fabian Baumann (Heidelberg University), and Börries Kuzmany (University of Vienna), to be published by Oxford University Press in 2028. The Monte Verità conference marked a milestone in this endeavour. Contributors discussed their chapters, identified shared historiographical challenges, and reflected on how Ukrainian history can reshape broader European debates.

The event aimed to deepen historical understanding, foster critical thinking about Ukraine, and revisit the country’s place in Europe and the world. By encouraging dialogue across academic traditions, the conference has identified important aspects of how scholars of Ukraine can influence major scholarly debates, as well as test potential avenues for applying unorthodox theoretical and methodological models to Ukrainian studies.

Over four days, the workshop addressed more than a millennium of Ukrainian history, highlighting themes central to both scholarship and public interest: wars and revolutions; diversity and heterogeneity; political ideas and movements; and Ukraine’s position within global entanglements. […]”

Read the full report here.

---

---