Ties to Ukraine: A Language Program, Regional Connections and Engaged Researchers

Pitt is one of few American universities with a program in the Ukrainian language, historic regional ties to the area and researchers engaged in studying topics related to the country and its history.

Pitt economics associate professor Tymofiy Mylovanov, president of the Kyiv School of Economics and deputy chair of the Council of the National Bank of Ukraine, has been teaching his Pitt classes remotely from Ukraine. Featured in media around the world, his Twitter feed is an authoritative source for firsthand news on the war.

Adriana Helbig offers four Ukrainian songs to learn the story of Ukraine’s resilience. Listen, she says, to a folk song, a pop hit, a hip-hop ode to feminism and a techno dance jam. The songs are linked in a March 1, 2022, Pittwire article that explains the power behind each track.

Jennifer Brick Murtazashvili, director of Pitt’s Center for Governance and Markets (CGM) and a nonresident scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, frequently studies the Ukrainian government. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Murtazashvili and her team at CGM partnered with colleagues in Ukraine to help support scholars there or in nearby countries. Due to conscription rules, Ukrainian men are not allowed to leave the country. Many scholars chose to remain in the country. Although many universities sought to resettle Ukrainian scholars in the United States, Murtazashvili realized that many Ukrainians believed that these efforts were driving a “brain drain” from the country. She was able to generate support from the Mercatus Center at George Mason University to start a fund to support university scholars in Ukraine and in nearby countries.