Breaking Barriers: College History Class Bridges Divide to Connect with Ukrainian Students

Newswise — University of Arkansas at Little Rock students got a unique opportunity to explore the lives, struggles, and culture of students living in war-torn Ukraine during the fall 2023 semester. 

Dr. Marta Ciesklak, director of UA Little Rock Downtown, took a unique approach to helping her students bridge the continental divide. As a scholar of both East-Central European and U.S. history, she wanted to create a course that would shed light on Eastern Europe, a region that most American students are less familiar with than they are with Western Europe.   

“I thought that the war in Ukraine is an important opportunity to bring this region closer to our students,” Cieslak said. “It’s a moment when more of our students would be interested because of what’s going on in Eastern Europe. I also hoped the topic would attract the students who are interested in current events.”

Cieslak created a special topics course in the Department of History, “Russian War in Ukraine.” The goals of the class were twofold. The students studied and examined the historical roots of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, focusing on the relationship of what is today Ukraine and Russia going all the way back to the 10th century.

The second goal was community engagement. Cieslak connected with Dr. Pavlo Kudish and Dr. Vitaliy Andreyko from the Uzhhorod National University in Ukraine, who recruited undergraduate and graduate students who would meet virtually with UA Little Rock students approximately once a week throughout the semester.

“I wanted our students to connect with individuals in the midst of that experience and to hear from their peers what it means to live in a country that is at war,” Cieslak said. “The war is concentrated in Eastern and Southern Ukraine, and these students are near the western border with Slovakia. Ukrainian students have been saying that it’s almost strange to live there because everything is almost normal. At the same time, they have public funerals for the fallen soldiers from their town who went to the front line. This is a really difficult experience to talk about.”

Cole Hadden, a history major, said he bonded with his Ukrainian peer over a love of J. R. R. Tolkien books, but that it took a while for his peer to open up about the difficult topics.

“To speak with people from a country that is sadly involved in this massive world-changing event is incredibly fascinating,” Hadden said. “I’ve had several meetings where my partner had to take a moment to cry. Their home is getting attacked and bombed. It doesn’t feel like they get to talk about this with their peers in Ukraine.”

Many of the students said that their Ukrainian peers loved talking with their American counterparts as a way to feel normal again and would avoid talking about the war.

“I went to a wedding, and I asked my Ukrainian peers what a wedding is like there,” said Scott Bradshaw, who is earning a master’s degree in public history. “It starts at midday, and they party all through the night until the next day. I think it’s just cool that we get to talk to these people. Meeting with our peers gives a human face and voice to what just used to be a news story on a TV or a computer.”

Breaking traditional boundaries of classroom learning, this innovative initiative transcends borders, fostering a cultural exchange that goes beyond textbooks and timelines. 

Trevor Standridge, a political science major, had a unique experience being assigned a Ukrainian student who was born in Russia and whose family has been especially divided by the conflict.

“My Ukrainian peer was born in the Russian city of Novosibirsk and moved to Ukraine at 7 or 8,” Standridge said. “She is involved in international law and relations and works for a humanitarian organization and travels a lot. Her sentiment is sort of a negative one. She is disenfranchised being a Russian living in Ukraine. She said she can’t talk to her family who live in Russia because the government monitors her communication. It’s interesting to hear her perspective being a former Russian national, not being able to travel to Russia.”

 Shattering the confines of a conventional classroom, these students have embarked on a remarkable journey of understanding, forging connections that extend far beyond the pages of a history textbook. Cieslak said she enjoyed reading the students weekly reports and seeing how they had developed deeply personal connections with the Ukrainian students.

 “We were all surprised by how much our students had in common with their Ukrainian peers,” Cieslak said. “One student really likes ‘Harry Potter’ and ‘Star Wars’ and so did their Ukrainian peers. We had a student who was a dad, and his peer was a dad as well. It was interesting to see what they had in common and how everyone connected on a human level. Some of my students told me they are still keeping in touch with their peers. It’s really wonderful to see how many of them have established a true connection and even friendships. One student even started learning how to speak Ukrainian.”