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The talk is based on Serhiy Bilenky’s recently published book Laboratory of Modernity: Ukraine between Empire and Nation, 1772–1914 (McGill-Queen's University Press and CIUS, 2023)

When the powers of Europe were at their prime, present-day Ukraine was divided between the Austrian and Russian empires, each imposing different political, social, and cultural models on its subjects. This inevitably led to great diversity in the lives of its inhabitants, shaping modern Ukraine into the multiethnic country it is today. Despite being subjected to different and conflicting power models during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Ukraine was not only imagined as a distinct entity with a unique culture and history but was also realized as a set of social and political institutions. The story of modern Ukraine is geopolitically complex, encompassing the historical narratives of several major communities – including ethnic Ukrainians, Poles, Jews, and Russians – who for centuries lived side by side.

Bilenky will argue that there are a few key lessons we all can learn from studying Ukraine in the “long” nineteenth century.