The 1st International School of Communications "How to Collect War Stories" will be held in Kyiv and Lublin on the initiative of the Museum of Civilian Voices of the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation

On September 12-14, 2023, the 1st International School of Communications "How to Collect War Stories" will be held in Kyiv, Ukraine, and Lublin, Poland. It will be held by the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv and the Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin on the initiative of the Museum of Civilian Voices of the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation. The event will be held in an offline-online format.

We live in a time when war is broadcasted. The Museum of Civilian Voices of the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation records the history of this war in the form of living stories of the victims in real time before the clarity of their memories gets distorted. This creates a colossal and unique experience.

In order to increase the effectiveness of documentation and preservation of national memory, the Museum initiates joint efforts with Ukrainian and foreign educational institutions, so that current and future generations know and preserve the truth about the experiences of Ukraine.

Special guests of the event:

— Serhii Plokhii, professor of Ukrainian history, the Department of History of Harvard University, with a report "How to write and how to present the Russo-Ukrainian war to society: a historian's view";

— Peter Pomerantsev, British journalist, TV producer and writer; specialist in media and propaganda in modern Russia; professor of the Institute of Global Affairs of the London School of Economics, with the report "Media in times of war: fixation, manipulation, stimulation".

The opening will be attended by:

— Volodymyr Bugrov, rector of the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, professor;

— Nataliya Yemchenko, communications director of System Capital Management, member of the Supervisory Board of the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation;

— Radosław Dobrowolski, rector of the Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin, professor;

— Marek Pietras, director of the Institute of International Relations of the Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin, professor.

Current topics of the School, and speakers:

— "How to collect stories about war: Experience of the Museum of Civilian Voices of the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation": Nataliya Yemchenko, director of communications at System Capital Management, member of the Foundation's Supervisory Board;

— "Modern methodologies for recording oral history, archiving collected material, forming museum exhibits": Taras Pshenychny, Faculty of History of the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv;

— "Memory of war in the context of oral history and national memory of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe": Agata Tatarenko, Institute of Central Europe in Lublin;

— Presentation of the "Ukrinform" project on oral history and recording of the events of the Russo-Ukrainian war "The year of the great war through the eyes of Ukrinform": Marina Syngaivska, deputy director of the Ukrainian National Information Agency "Ukrinform";

— "Selection of informants for interviews in social projects and research": Alla Petrenko-Lysak, Olga Bezrukova, Faculty of Sociology of the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv;

— "Russian narratives during the war. Historical storytelling: the Polish experience": Valentyn Balyuk, Jakub Olchowski, the Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin;

— "Oral history program at the "Grodzka Gate – NN Theatre" Centre in Lublin as an example of memory preservation": Wioletta Wejman, the "Grodzka Gate – NN Theatre" Centre;

— "Psychological aspects of collecting and understanding life stories": Oleksandr Bilous, Faculty of Psychology, the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv;

— "How to effectively counter propaganda and disinformation": Agnieszka Demczuk, the Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin;

— "War and memory: oral history on the air of "Polskie Radio": Czesława Borowik, "Polskie Radio -Lublin".

Joint work in Ukrainian-Polish groups, discussions, creation of scientific practical works based on the results of the School and presentation of certificates to the participants are planned. The program of the event will start every day on September 12, 13 and 14 at 11:00 Kyiv time.

The Museum of Civilian Voices of the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation systematically cooperates with the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv and the Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin according to the memorandums of cooperation on the development of science in the field of oral history, in particular.