Chemnitz, Germany
28–29 September 2026
Deadline for submissions: 10 May 2026
The organizational committee of the conference includes Prof. Dr. Miloš Řeznik (Chemnitz University of Technology), Prof. Dr. Gelinada Grinchenko (University of Munich/Oles Honchar Dnipro National University), Prof. Dr. Polina Barvinska (South Ukrainian National Pedagogical University named after K. D. Ushynsky), Prof. Dr. Ricarda Vulpius (University of Münster) and Prof. Dr. Yaroslav Hrytsak (Ukrainian Catholic University)
Conference language: English
Format: in-person
The German-Ukrainian Historical Commission is supported by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) with funds from the Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany. For organizational questions please contact: [email protected] / +49 89 2180-3056 / www.duhk.org
The conference invites contributions that explore Ukraine as a historically contested space shaped by competing political projects, narratives, and loyalties.
It brings into dialogue different approaches to Ukrainian statehood, the role of religion, and the interaction of imperial and national formations. Particular attention is given to spatial imaginaries and mental maps through which Ukraine has been constructed, claimed, and reinterpreted over time. The conference situates these processes within a broader Central and Eastern European context while maintaining a clear focus on the specific dynamics of the Ukrainian case.
Contributions may address how competing visions of space, identity, and authority have interacted, overlapped, or conflicted, and how these dynamics continue to shape both historical interpretation and contemporary perspectives.
Conference thematic perspectives include the following themes:
• Constitutive integration of Ukraine into transformative historical narratives (national, regional, imperial, local, transregional)
• Ukrainian lands as a projection space for historical mission narratives
• (Semi-)colonial and decolonizing practices in relation to the history of Ukrainian lands
• Approaches to linguistic, cultural, and religious diversity within the context of various historical narratives and concepts
• Aspects of historical and historical-geographical determinism • Historicist approaches: history as a means of explaining contemporary processes and structures
• Regional and cultural classification of Ukraine within the context of cultural and civilizational concepts (Europe, East/West, cultural borderlands, PanSlavism and Slavophilia, geopolitical concepts)
While we mainly aim to initiate German-Ukrainian dialogue about these issues, contributions from other countries are very welcome as well.
Accommodation will be provided and travel expenses refunded for conference speakers.
Please submit your proposals (500–800 words) and a short CV (one page maximum) in one PDF-file to the coordinator’s office of the commission ([email protected]) by May 10, 2026.
