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Cities of Ukraine and Their Histories: Odessa with Dr. Nina Wieda
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Ukraine has a fascinating and rich history and a lot of that history is centered around its ancient cities. This course focuses on four ancient Ukrainian cities that still stand today and remain important political and cultural centers. Each city embodies and exemplifies a certain period in Ukrainian history. Ukraine's capital Kyiv was also the capital of a powerful and sophisticated Medieval State - Kievan Rus, a celebrated center of learning and Orthodox Christianity.
We begin in Kyiv, a city full of ancient monuments dating back as far as 1036–each monument tells numerous stories and legends about times long past. Next we venture to Lviv - the city of lions - to tell the tale of Ukraine after Batu Khan brought the Tatar-Mongol army to conquer Kyiv and dismember Kievan Rus. Built-in 1256, Lviv became the capital of a thriving medieval kingdom and remains a cultural center and an architectural jewel today.
The third city we'll study together is Odessa, the site of an ancient port that embodies the multi-ethnic and multi-confessional spirit of Ukraine's Black Sea coast. Home to a significant Jewish population, Odessa established itself as a multicultural capital of the region inhabited by descendants of many waves of colonizers that the region experienced over the millennia of its existence. Finally, the Crimean city of Kerch has been continuously populated for 3.7 millennia and has been known as a city since the 7th century BC. It tells the story of the region attracting ancient Greeks, then Venetians and Genoese, and remaining an important city as a part of multiple empires over the millennia.
Led by an expert on Ukraine, Nina Wieda, this Conversation will bring Ukraine's history to life by linking it to Ukraine's most ancient cities. Designed to inform curiosity as well as future travels, participants will come away with an increased appreciation for the ancient history of Ukraine.
This lecture is third in our "Cities of Ukraine" series. The remaining three are:
1. Kyiv
2. Lviv
4. Crimea
Nina Wieda is a native of the Caucasus living in Chicago, USA. She holds a Ph.D. in Slavic from Northwestern University and an MA in Nationalism Studies from Central European University. Nina also has experience in journalism, advertising, and consumer research – her writing has been published in three languages. She wrote her Master's thesis about the Northern Caucasus region. Dr. Wieda currently teaches at Northwestern University near Chicago.
This conversation is suitable for all ages.
90 minutes, including a 30 minute Q&A.
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Excellent presentation- learned a lot about a beautiful city
Dr. Wieda has provided a series of perspectives on cities of Ukraine and, while they've all be very interesting, this may be the best of all since so little is known about Odessa, especially its history and the colorful characters who have helped build it and have lived there.
I was in Odessa in 1961 but did not know its history. Nina as usual gave me the facts and I love her conversations as she talks about the most exotic parts of eastern Europe and Russia. Odessa is so important because it is a southern seaport of Ukraine it is in the middle of the Russia/Ukraine war!
While I’ve enjoyed many of Nina’s presentations I think this was one of her best. Excellent and interesting content and engaging presentation style. I’ve been to Odessa but I learned so much more.