Events at the Department of History and Archaeology

30.4.2025

A number of events took place at the Department of History and Archaeology of the Educational and Research Institute of Social and Humanitarian Sciences as part of the Days of Science.

Within the framework of the Days of Science, which are traditionally held at the Department of History and Archaeology of the Educational and Research Institute of Social and Humanitarian Sciences, a number of events were implemented this year that became a platform for understanding the role of historical and archaeological science in the complex context of modernity.

Thus, on April 29, student scientific readings were held, which is an important stage in preparing students for participation in the VII All-Ukrainian Scientific and Practical Conference “Luhansk Region: Local History Explorations”, which will be held on May 16, 2025. The Department has been taking an organizational part in this event for several years in a row, and this year the students presented a number of meaningful studies that cover both local studies on the history of Luhansk and Poltava regions, as well as broader theoretical and methodological aspects of local history. The readings became not just a rehearsal before a speech at the conference, but also a space for discussing sources, terminology, methodology, and building scientific argumentation. An important role in the preparation was played by scientific cooperation with teachers who advised students, helped with work in archives, editing texts and formulating conclusions. Such training once again proves that the Department of History and Archaeology works not only on teaching basic knowledge, but also on forming a young research community capable of critical thinking, working with sources, writing scientific texts and being a full-fledged part of the academic environment.

The key event was the second meeting of the SKIF discussion club, dedicated to the topic “Archaeology in Information Wars. Using Science for Cultural and Political Purposes”. The event brought together applicants from various specialties of the ER ISHS, teachers and partners of the department in the format of an open dialogue, during which both theoretical and practical aspects of involving archaeology in modern information confrontations were discussed.

Modern war is not only an armed confrontation, but also a struggle for control over the interpretation of the past. Archaeology, as a science that works with material evidence of history, has found itself involved in the broader context of the struggle for identity, for the preservation of cultural heritage, for the right to historical truth. The club participants drew attention to cases of manipulative use of archaeological sites for propaganda purposes, to the threats that military conflict poses to the preservation of objects of material culture, as well as to the importance of scientific responsibility in times when history itself becomes a battlefield. Yulia Tsykulova, a representative of the Luhansk Regional Museum of Local Lore, a partner of the department, joined the conversation, whose participation gave the discussion additional professional depth and inter-institutional dimension.

Holding such events as Science Days demonstrates not only the viability of the scientific process in Ukrainian universities in difficult times, but also the readiness of a new generation of historians to take responsibility for the scientific understanding and preservation of the past.

Department of History and Archaeology