“UKRAINIAN TUESDAYS” AS A TOOL OF ACADEMIC DIPLOMACY TO SUPPORT UKRAINIAN STUDIES IN POLAND

Abstract

The article is devoted to the issue of science diplomacy, which scholars consider in three dimensions: science in diplomacy, diplomacy for science, and science for diplomacy. This issue has become particularly relevant since russia’s aggression in 2022. The author analysed European documents that envisage the role of science diplomacy as an instrument of soft power and a mechanism for relations between countries. The practical part presents such a mechanism on the example of the seminar “Ukrainian Tuesdays” created at the Institute of Slavic Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences, where the author showed the proposal of an effective tool for promoting Ukrainian studies in Poland. During the monthly meetings, scholars from Ukraine, Poland, Austria, Germany and other countries discuss topical issues of modern linguistics, literary studies, the problem of linguistic genocide of the Ukrainian language in the occupied territories, and the military and non-military aspects of russia’s aggression in Ukraine. The discussion was attended by well-known linguists from different countries, Ukrainian diplomats and students. An important example of the support of science for diplomacy, where the scientific segment is the most important, is the presence of Ukrainian diplomats, especially those working outside Poland, which demonstrates the international nature of the meetings. In conclusion the article presents a change in the vector of view of Ukrainian studies not as a marginal area of the research, which has been silenced for many years, but as one of the main areas among the researchers of the IS PAS and offers a perspective on the development of scientific diplomacy to promote Ukrainian studies in other countries.