Political Science to offer new course on Russia’s war against Ukraine

December 21, 2022

What are the factors that led to Russia waging war on Ukraine? It’s a question Western professor Marta Dyczok has been trying to answer since the invasion almost one year ago. The answer is complex and isn’t one that can be summed up easily.

“I kept getting asked this question by media outlets and students, and the answer is not a simple one,” said Dyczok, associate professor of history and political science who specializes in Ukraine and Eastern European politics. “I realized this question would take an entire course to answer; so I designed one.”

The new course called Russia’s War Against Ukraine is being offered in January through the department of political science, and is open to all students.

In addition to her role at Western, Dyczok is the author of six books. The latest is Ukraine Calling. She has also published numerous chapters in academic books and her papers have appeared in journals such as Europe-Asia Studies, Demokratizatsiya and Canadian Slavonic Papers.

It was important to Dyczok that the course be accessible to everyone at the university and therefore there are no prerequisites or writing assignments.

“My goal is to help students understand the larger issues and also get a first-hand view of what’s going on. In my lectures I will be drawing on my experiences of travelling to many of the places that are now in the headlines: Kyiv, Moscow, Odesa and Mariupol,” said Dyczok.

Read the full story by Justin Zadorsky at Western News