Call for Participants Winter School 2026

Call for Participants
Winter School 2026
“Ukrainian Migration in Europe and Globally in the 20th and 21st Century”
23.03.2026 – 27.03.2026
Ukrainian Free University in Munich, Germany

Since the onset of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 several million Ukrainians have left their country, residing temporarily in Germany, Poland and Czech Republic, but also in Spain and Italy and many other European and non-European countries like Canada and the US. In addition, several million Ukrainians have fled from Russian occupied territories in eastern and southeastern Ukraine to the non-occupied territories of Ukraine.
Our Winter School addresses this theme within its manyfold dimensions: it puts it into a larger historical perspective of Ukrainian migration in the 20th and 21st century, discusses how Ukrainian culture, in particular literature, mirrors migration, explores how Ukrainians have experienced flight and migration, considering questions of age and gender, addresses the legal and political dimensions of the phenomenon, including the regional dynamics of migration, and analyzes how Ukrainian migration has shaped the perception of Ukrainians and Russia’s war on Ukraine in their host countries.

This Winter School is a joint initiative of the Center for Interdisciplinary Ukrainian Studies – “Denkraum Ukraine” at the University of Regensburg, financed by the DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) through the funds from the Federal Foreign Office (AA), the Ukrainian Free University (UFU, Munich), the Bukowina Institute at the University of Augsburg, the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich and the Leibniz Institute for East and Southeast European Studies (IOS) Regensburg.

Location: Ukrainian Free University in Munich, Germany.
Language of instruction: English and German.
Target audience: MA and PhD students, and professionals from social institutions and the media who have an interest in exploring the fundamental historical, cultural, and social contexts of Ukraine and its neighboring regions.

Format:

• Lectures and presentations, panel discussions, and movie screenings in the evening.

• The program gives insights into the history and present situation of Ukrainian migrants within Ukraine and beyond, including their political and cultural activities, in a comparative perspective.
• Courses will run from 9:30 AM to 2:30 PM.
• A successful participant can receive 4 ECTS credits (credit points have to be acknowledged by the home institutions, please indicate your interest when registering).

Travel and subsistence costs will be covered by the organizers, we charge a fee of 50 Euro for the participation.

Registration deadline: February 15, 2026  (Please submit an e-mail to sekretariat.du@ur.de with a short description of your motivation and information about yourself, a maximum of one page).

Contact person at LMU: 
Dr. habil. Alexander Kratochvil (alexander.kratochvil@lmu.de)