XII All-Ukrainian Scientific and Practical Conference «State Ethno-National Policy: Legal and Culturological Aspects in the Conditions of Southern Ukraine»

On October 5-6, 2017, at the premises of Zaporizhzhia National Technical University, the Department of Ukrainian Studies and General Language Training of ZNTU, with the assistance of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, the I.F. Kuras Institute of Political and Ethno-National Studies of the NAS of Ukraine, the Zaporizhzhia Regional State Administration, the Department of Culture, Tourism, Nationalities and Religions of the Zaporizhzhia Regional State Administration, the Zaporizhzhia National Technical University and the Zaporizhzhia Regional Museum of Local Lore, held the traditional XII All-Ukrainian Scientific and Practical Conference «State Ethno-National Policy: Legal and Culturological Aspects in the Conditions of Southern Ukraine». In addition to Zaporizhzhia scientists, the conference was attended by representatives of scientific centers of Dnipropetrovsk, Kyiv, Lviv, Mykolaiv, Odessa and Kherson regions. In total, more than eighty scientific articles and materials were submitted to the conference.

The following addressed the conference participants on behalf of its organizers with welcoming remarks: the rector of Zaporizhzhia National Technical University, Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor S.B. Belikov; the head of the department of interethnic relations and religions of the Department of Culture, Tourism, Nationalities and Religions of the Zaporizhzhia Regional State Administration, Candidate of Historical Sciences P.I. Myalo; the director of the Zaporizhzhia Regional Museum of Local Lore M.M. Mordovskoy and the dean of the Faculty of Humanities of ZNTU, Candidate of Historical Sciences, Professor M.V. Dedkov.

At the plenary session, the following presented their works: Leading Research Fellow of the I.F. Kuras Institute of Political and Ethno-National Studies of the NAS of Ukraine, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor Yu.O. Nikolayets «National Minorities of Southern Ukraine during the Second World War»; Research Fellow of the I.F. Kuras Institute of Political and Ethno-National Studies of the NAS of Ukraine, Candidate of Historical Sciences O.O. Lyashenko «Civic Self-Identification of the Population of Southern Ukraine»; Junior Research Fellow of the I.F. Kuras Institute of Political and Ethno-National Studies of the NAS of Ukraine, Candidate of Historical Sciences S.V. Nabok «On the Paradoxes of the »Annulled« monuments and the contribution of civil society to the formation of memory policy and its ethno-national aspects», head of the NGO «Educational Center «Open Knowledge»» Candidate of Philosophical Sciences, Associate Professor L.E. Chernova (Dnipro) «Feedback: feelings of discrimination and xenophobia, assessment of ethno-politics by minorities in Ukraine (based on materials from social research)». The head of the Zaporizhzhia Regional Society of Bulgarian Culture during his speech presented his new book »Bulgarians on the Zaporizhzhia Land: Pages of History and Culture« to the conference participants.

In the afternoon, after a break and informal communication of scientists, the conference participants took part in the meeting of the sections: »The Role of Civil Society in the Formation of Ethno-National Policy in Ukraine«, »Ethnic Groups of the Region: History and Culture«, »Legal Aspects of State Ethno-Policy: Evolution and Modernity«, »Intellect and Spirituality: National Dimension« and »Language Policy and Education: International and National” and the final plenary session.

The speakers at the final plenary session noted the high level of scientific novelty and practical significance of the results of the speeches of scientists and representatives of national communities. The conference participants noted that despite the difficult times for our country, creative ties between scientists of different generations, scientific schools and regions of Ukraine continue to exist. In addition, the participants of the final plenary session expressed regret that a number of scientists from Crimea and the Donetsk region (active participants in the previous conference) were unable to take part in this scientific gathering due to military and political unrest in the country. The conference participants also noted the extremely important role of such traditional scientific and practical conferences in the modern complex socio-political life of both Southern Ukraine and the state as a whole. Further holding of the above-mentioned scientific and practical meetings, according to scientists, is justified and appropriate.

The participation of the heads of national and cultural societies was of great importance for the discussion of the scientists’ speeches, among whom I would especially like to note the permanent participants of these conferences: the head of the Zaporizhzhia Society of Tatar Culture «Altyn-Ai» Akhmerova R.S., the head of the Jewish Council of the Zaporizhzhia region Esterkina B.L., the head of the Zaporizhzhia Society of Bulgarian Culture Mitkova V.V., the head of the Zaporizhzhia City Bulgarian Society Syarov O.O., the head of the Union of Poles of Zaporizhzhia «Polonia» Yegorov L.Y.

The conference organizers also provided a cultural and entertainment program for its participants, which consisted of visiting the Museum of the History of Technical Progress of the Zaporizhzhia National Technical University, the Zaporizhzhia Regional Museum of Local Lore, the Boguslaev Museum of Technology, and the historical and ethnographic complex «Zaporizhzhia Sich» (Khortytsia Island).

A group of scientists appealed to the organizers of the conference with a proposal to involve researchers from Southern Ukraine from other countries in these scientific meetings and thus restore the international status of these conferences.

Dean of the Faculty of Humanities of ZNTU M.V. Dedkov.