• Ukraine: our focus
• What we teach
• Why study Ukrainian?
• The Ukrainian Culture, Language & Literature Program: a History
• Ukrainian Studies at the University of Alberta
• Contact us

What we teach

At the University of Alberta we offer students the opportunity to discover the stories that have shaped and continue to shape Ukrainian identities in Ukraine and the diaspora.  We do so through the study of language, linguistics, literature, film, popular culture, the media and the Internet. We encourage all students, both undergraduate and graduate, to view Ukrainian linguistic and cultural phenomena from a comparative perspective, by also exploring other languages and cultural systems.



We provide training in the Ukrainian language from the introductory level to the advanced, emphasizing practical skills and the social norms of interaction. We often experiment to find the most effective and interesting methods of teaching. We believe that cultural literacy is inexorably bound to linguistic competence. Therefore, most of our courses under the “UKR” rubric are taught in Ukrainian and use texts in the original.  In addition, we encourage our students to experience the living culture by offering an intensive course during intersession, which is taught on a yearly basis in Lviv, Ukraine.



We study Ukrainian literature from the medieval period to the present. Our courses encompass a wide range of  genres and encourage students to study literature within a broad context of cultural production.  We integrate many approaches from adjacent fields into our work, including historical and applied linguistics, comparative literature, history, post-colonial and post-modern studies, women’s studies, art history, and religious studies.

Within the small selection of "UKR" courses that are taught in English and use translated texts, two are cross-referenced with the programs in Women’s Studies and Religious Studies. Another small group, which is also taught in English, appears under the rubric “SLAV” (i.e., Slavic), which focuses on discrete topics from a comparative perspective, by juxtaposing Polish, Ukrainian and Russian material.



There are many reasons for studying Ukrainian. To learn about them, please read the third part of  this section.  We also invite you to explore the Ukrainian Culture, Language and Literature Program through this web site. Our Mission at the Undergraduate level is described here. Yet another page describes our goals at the Graduate level.   If you do not find the answers you are seeking, please Contact us for information about e-mail and the office hours of individual faculty members.