Ninety-five years after his great-grandparents emigrated from Ukraine to Canada University of Saskatchewan student Matthew Selinger will have a chance to follow his family tree back to where they came from Selinger is one of six U of S students preparing to head overseas in May to take part in the Spring Session in Ukraine a six-week intensive language and cultural program offered through St Thomas More College (STM) in partnership with Ukraine’s Ternopil National Pedagogical University what began as a chance to immerse himself in the language has evolved into a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to trace his ancestry I wasn’t looking at the research aspect of it but the more I thought about being able to go to the homeland of my ancestors it became more important,” said Selinger a fourth-year modern languages student in the College of Arts and Science is an hour away from Ternopil where I will be studying it’s a great opportunity for me to travel there and walk the streets of my ancestors Selinger will be taking part in the 15th year of the STM Spring Session in Ukraine following a five-year renewal of the agreement signed on Jan STM dean Arul Kumaran and Ternopil University representatives Students take language classes offered by Ternopil instructors as well as a cultural course—Anthropological Perspectives on Contemporary Ukraine—taught by STM professor Natalia Khanenko-Friesen “Everyone lives with a host family and is immersed in the language and culture so it’s a very popular program,” said Khanenko-Friesen who first came to Canada from Ukraine in 1992 for graduate studies prior to being hired as a U of S professor in 2001 when she helped start the Ukrainian study abroad program “Ukrainian-Canadians take great pride in their heritage and this idea of going home has become a really instrumental aspect of modern identity it’s a very important element of personal identity and cultural identity.” The study abroad session has enhanced Ukrainian programming offered on campus and is strongly supported by STM which is home to the Prairie Centre for the Study of Ukrainian Heritage The centre leads research into everything from the history of Ukrainian immigration in the west the First World War internment of Ukrainian-Canadians from 1914-1920 the Holodomor genocide that killed five million Ukrainians from 1932-33 Ukrainian independence in 1991 after the fall of the Soviet Union to Russia’s annexation of the Ukrainian territory of Crimea in 2014 “This cohort of students will be studying what matters to modern Ukrainians,” said Khanenko-Friesen “When it comes to our student participants they come from a variety of disciplines and they are motivated by different interests Some are interested in the Eastern Europe experience and in pursuing the language are also interested in exploring their heritage.” learning about his Ukrainian and Jewish heritage has long been a personal passion He has written university papers on Ukrainian victims of the Holocaust as well as the 125th anniversary of the first Ukrainians in Saskatchewan His family history includes a Ukrainian great-grandfather who could read serving as an interpreter in the First World War overseas and in the Second World War for Canada “I looked at the document when my mother’s grandparents immigrated to Canada and this year is 95 years since they left Ukraine and now I’ll be going there,” said Selinger “To be able to study in Ukraine and immerse myself in the language and culture and learn about the post-World (War) II history and all the things that happened Selinger would also like to serve his country and with some understanding of German and Russian—his father’s heritage—Selinger hopes improving his Ukrainian language skills will also help him serve in Canadian military intelligence foreign affairs or international relations Together, we are addressing the world's greatest challenges. Join our ambitious vision for the future The University of Saskatchewan's main campus is situated on Treaty 6 Territory and the Homeland of the Métis. © University of SaskatchewanDisclaimer | Privacy | Accessibility