Dr. Oleksandr (Sasha) Kondrashov

A self-paced course on Ukrainians in Canada: An introduction become possible as part of Thompson Rivers University (TRU) – Bohdan Khmelnytskyi National University (BKNU) Partnership. Community members worldwide were able to join students and faculty from BKNU and TRU and learn about the 130^th years’ history of Ukrainian immigration to Canada.

This community learning course from January-April 2021 was an opportunity to celebrate the life of Ukrainian People in Canada. TRU and BKNU recently signed a memorandum of understanding to promote research and teaching among universities. The Ukrainians in Canada: An Introduction was the first in a series of Ukrainian Diaspora Studies courses offered to Ukrainian-Canadian community members free of charge as part of the Dr. Oleksandr (Sasha) Kondrashov gift of learning. One TRU social work student completed a practicum requirement supporting Dr. Kondrashov in the winter term offering of the course. Five participants from Ukraine (three from BKNU) attended all the classes, with 15 participants from Canada and one from the US. More than 80 participants registered for the class received weekly lecture notes and learned through the hy-flex course delivery format.

The course created a space to collect resources and celebrate Ukrainian-Canadians’ lives in the last 130 years. We heard stories about multiple forms of oppression that people of Ukraine experience in Ukraine and Canada and how they overcome challenges and build communities across Canada to strengthen their Ukrainian-Canadian identities. The course was a celebration of stories from Ukrainians in Canada from all waves of immigration.

The course is now fully available online. Please watch the introduction video on how to participate in the self-paced course: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIRLSpxy0aM

You can download all slides (310 ) as a 31-page handout to go through 200 learning activities or check each lecture in pdf format by clicking on individual links

• Unit 0 Ukrainians in Canada: Course Design
• Unit 1 Waves of Ukrainian immigration to Canada over 125+ years: Socio-Economic and Socio-Cultural Integration
• Unit 2 Push Factors: History of Ukraine and factors that influence the decision to immigrate to Canada
• Unit 3 Pull Factors: History of Canada and its immigration policy to attract immigrants 
• Unit 4 Prominent Ukrainian Canadians
• Unit 5 First Wave of Ukrainian Immigration to Canada: Socio-Economic and Socio-Cultural Experiences (1896-1917)
• Unit 6 Second Wave of Ukrainian Immigration to Canada: Socio-Economic and Socio-Cultural Experiences (1918-1940)
• Unit 7 Third Wave of Ukrainian Immigration to Canada: Socio-Economic and Socio-Cultural Experiences 1: DP and UCC (1941-1960)
• Unit 8 Third Wave of Ukrainian Immigration to Canada: Socio-Economic and Socio-Cultural Experiences 2: Multiculturalism (1961-1990)
• Unit 9 Fourth, Fifth and Sixth? Waves of Ukrainian Immigration to Canada: Socio-Economic and Socio-Cultural Experiences: (1991-present)
• Unit 10 Ukrainian-Canadian Folklore: Literature and Language Across Waves of Immigration
• Unit 11 Ukrainian-Canadian Concerns: Selected by Class Participants
• Unit 12 The future of Ukrainian Canadian Diaspora: Course Review

Thank you to everyone who registered for the winter 2021 offering of the course and all who attended our classes. You made this course very special and started the Ukrainian Diaspora Studies learning. The two new courses that will be offered in summer 2021 on Ukrainian Canadian Cuisine and Ukrainian Diaspora outside of Canada will continue the community learning tradition and allow more Ukrainian-Canadian members to learn and celebrate Ukrainian-Canadian Diaspora. More information about new courses and how to register can be found online https://krasun.ca/history-of-ukrainians-in-canada/