I love classes on Saturday. For most class participants, grades are not a factor in reading course radings and actively participating in discussions. We come on Zoom to learn without grades and borders. I had a unique opportunity to go back to my MSW work and bring studies that I read a decade ago to share stories about Ukrainians in Canada. Everyone who comes has a story and passion, and willingness to learn and share their learning about Ukrainians in Canada. It is an introductory class, and we identified that more courses need to be developed to go deeper and understand concerns experiences by Ukrainian-Canadians.

We have limited time but lots of energy to keep learning. This week we will focus on the second wave of Ukrainian immigration. Preparation for this class was more than 40 hours, just reviewing the materials I read in the past and share some of the resources I collected for my students to read.

The interwar period covered when the First World War ended and just before World War II started.

We’ve seen changing borders, and I’ve used some of Ukraine maps, particularly from the Paris conference in 1919, as a title slide for the presentation. We can see a lot of battles were happening on the Ukrainian territory. At this time, the People of Ukraine experienced a short period of independence and creation of the Ukrainian National Republic and Western Ukrainian National Republic.

I asked class members to read three articles to start our discussion.

• Cipko, S. (1991). In search of a new home: Ukrainian emigration patterns between the two world wars. Journal of Ukrainian studies, 16(1), 3.
• Gulka-Tiechko, M. (1991). Ukrainian Immigration to Canada under the Railways Agreement, 1925-30. Journal of Ukrainian Studies, 16(1), 29.
• Hinther, R. L. (2007). Raised in the Spirit of the class Struggle: children, Youth, and the Interwar Ukrainian Left in canada. Labour/Le Travail, 43-76

 It was hard to select the required readings and all sources listed in the slides. Many sources are not yet listed but will be required to read to understand the complexities of that period in Canadian-Ukrainian history. At the beginning of the presentation, I organized articles written in the Ukrainian language that provides a general overview of the period

I highlight the work of Olesya Dzyrya, who wrote extensively on this period of Ukrainian Canadian history in Ukrainian:

• Дзира, О. І. (2019). Українські громадські об’єднання Канади міжвоєнного періоду в зарубіжній історіографії. Рукописна та книжкова спадщина України, (23), 250-267. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/338800043_Ukrainian_public_associations_of_Canada_of_the_interwar_period_in_foreign_historiography
• Dzurya, O.  (2016). The foundation of sources for the study of the Canadian immigration policy relating to the Ukrainian immigrants in 1918–1939. Človek a spoločnosť, 19(2), 68-80. Retrieved from https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=461500
• Дзира, О. (2015). Друга хвиля еміграції українців до Канади: причини, характер і склад. Міжнародні зв’язки України: наукові пошуки і знахідки, (24), 157-175. Retrieved from https://shron1.chtyvo.org.ua/Dzyra_Olesia/Druha_khvylia_emihratsii_ukraintsiv_do_Kanady_prychyny_kharakter_i_sklad.pdf

The Canadian-Ukrainian resources are in abundance too. Here are some that are must read in English:

• Martynowych, O. (2016). Ukrainians in Canada: The Interwar Years, vol. 1: Social Structure, Religious Institutions and Mass Organizations. Retrieved from https://www.ciuspress.com/product/ukrainians-in-canada-the-interwar-years-book-1/?v=3e8d115eb4b3
• Osborne, B. (2016). ‘Non-Preferred’ People: Interwar Ukrainian Immigration to Canada. In Canada’s Ukrainians (pp. 81-102). University of Toronto Press. Retrieved from https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.3138/9781442671744-008/html
• Gulka-Tiechko, M. (1983). Interwar Ukrainian immigration to Canada, 1919-1939. Retrieved from https://mspace.lib.umanitoba.ca/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1993/30032/Gulka-Tiechko_Inter-war.pdf
• Himka, J. P. (1994). Western Ukraine in the interwar period. Nationalities Papers, 22(2), 347-363. Retrieved from https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/nationalities-papers/article/abs/western-ukraine-in-the-interwar-period/9B5315401BDF8391DCDC1637077071E8

The rest of the class activities focus on different Ukrainian-Canadian interwar migration aspects.

• Activity: Ukrainians in Canada Interwar Period
• Activity: Polish Ukrainian Canadian Interwar Migration
• Activity: Lemko and Jewish Ukrainian Interwar Period
• Activity: Interwar Germany, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria and Romania
• Activity: Ukrainian Argentina and Paraguy
• Activity: Soviet Union in Interwar period
• Activity: Interwar Period Comparative Studies: UK and USA
• Activity: Interwar Period Comparative Studies Ukrainians, Japanese and Scottish Stories
• Activity: Ukrainian Canadians and Internment Camps
• Activity: Ukrainians and Canadian Communist Party
• Activity: Religion and Ukrainian-Canadian Interwar Migration
• Activity: Shevchenko, Ukrainian-Canadian literature, dance, and movie in Interwar Period
• Activity: Ukrainian Canadians and Pandemic (Spanish Flu)
• Activity: Journal of Ukrainian Studies Volume 16 issue 1-2 
• Activity: Ukrainian Canadian Women in Interwar period
• Activity: Ukrainian Canadian Youth in Interwar period
• Activity: Holodomor
• Activity: Prosvita – Language and Education
• Activity: Ukrainian Diaspora Conferences

 Each activity can be a three-hour lecture, so we will focus on activities that my students will identify as a priority for this course offering.  I am looking forward to our discussion next Saturday. We already have 95 people who weekly receive my e-mail, and around 20 who attend weekly live classes and keep the learning interactive. I hope this course will be offered in Universities across Canada, and the 2021 gift of learning from TRU can be multiplied, and we will have more people who keep sharing knowledge and learn about Ukrainians in Canada and Ukrainian contributions to the world communities.