Ukraine: The European Frontier

Upon successful completion of the course, participants should be able to:
- describe key facts about Ukrainian history;
- understand the socio-political situation in contemporary Ukraine and the society's internal structure;
- comprehend the regularities of the Russo-Ukrainian war;
- describe the ongoing digital transformation in Ukraine;
- analyse recent developments in Ukraine through systemic, historical, political, sociological, and other perspectives;
- apprehend Ukraine's position within larger European and global international structures and processes.

Gert Antsu - Head of the Estonian Centre for Eastern Partnership (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia)
Olaf Mertelsmann - Professor of Eastern European History (University of Tartu)
Dmytro Fishman - Associate Professor in Artificial Intelligence (University of Tartu)
Dmytro Khutkyy - Research Fellow in Digital Governance (University of Tartu)
Michael Cole - Junior Research Fellow in Political Science (University of Tartu)
Oleksii Kolesnykov - Research Fellow in Political Science (University of Tartu)
Anton Grushetskyi - Executive Director (Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, Ukraine)
David Marples - Distinguished University Professor (University of Alberta, Canada)
Volodymyr Kulyk - Professor (Kyiv School of Economics, Ukraine)
Stefan Romaniw - First Vice President (World Congress of Ukrainians, Australia)
Ruslan Deynychenko - Executive Director (Mohyla School of Journalism, National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, Ukraine)
Paul D'Anieri - Professor of Political Science and Public Policy (University of California-Riverside, USA)
Maksym Kononenko - Ambassador (Embassy of Ukraine in the Republic of Estonia)
Liubov Akulenko - Executive Director (Ukrainian Centre for European Policy, Ukraine)
Valeria Tkach - Deputy Head of e-Services Development Department (Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine)
Valerii Pekar - Adjunct Professor (Kyiv-Mohyla Business School, Lviv Business School, Ukrainian Catholic University, Ukraine)

Topic	Credit	Lectors
1. Module 1: History and Culture - Brief History of Ukraine until 1917 - Modern History of Ukraine between 1917-2014 - Ukrainian Language and Identity - Ukraine's Cultural Expression and Resistance	19	Olaf Mertelsmann, Michael Cole, David Marples, Volodymyr Kulyk
2. Module 2: Society and Politics -Ukrainian Society: Social Structure, Values, and Public Opinion -Global Ukrainian Community -Ukrainian Politics -Factchecking for Combating Propaganda and Disinformation	19	Oleksii Kolesnykov, Anton Grushetskyi, Stefan Romaniw, Ruslan Deynychenko
3. Module 3: War and European Integration -Structures and Agents in the Russo-Ukrainian War -Ukraine's Foreign Policy -Ukraine's Integration into the European Union -European Union’s Enlargement Policy towards Ukraine	19	Gert Antsu, Paul D'Anieri, Maksym Kononenko, Liubov Akulenko
4. Module 4: Digital Transformation and the Future -Digital Transformation of Ukraine -Digital Democracy in Ukraine -Ukrainian IT Sector -Ukraine: Scenarios of the Future	19	Dmytro Fishman, Dmytro Khutkyy, Valeria Tkach, Valerii Pekar

The course is free of charge.

The course consists of 4 modules and 16 topics. Each topic is presented in a video lecture, audio lecture, lecture transcript, lecture infographics, and a readings list. The course takes place on Moodle of the University of Tartu. Throughout the course students are expected to: -watch all lectures; -read all compulsory readings; -read some optional readings; -take quizzes. It is estimated that students should spend around 6 hours per week (78 hours in average of working load for the course in total), which equals 3 ECTS.

Learning takes place in the online learning environment, which presupposes that students have medium ICT and web communication skills.

In this course you will explore Ukrainian history, identity, culture, society, politics, resistance in the war, European integration, digital transformation, and prospects for the future. Each online lecture is delivered by a different person - an expert on the topic. Lecturers are renowned scholars and seasoned practitioners from Ukraine, Estonia, Australia, Canada, and the United States.

The MOOC is online, free, and offers a 3 ECTS and a digital certificate upon successful completion. University of Tartu students and the global public is welcome to apply.

To be considered for the final assessment (quiz 4), students need to pass 3 previous quizzes. The course assessment consists of 4 quizzes. To pass the course, students need to pass each multiple-choice quiz (answer 80% or more questions of each quiz correctly).

non-differentiated (pass, fail, not present)

Participants of the course need to complete 4 quizzes on Moodle:
-Quiz 1 (History and Culture).
-Quiz 2 (Society and Politics).
-Quiz 3 (War and European Integration).
-Quiz 4 (Digital Transformation and the Future).

The quizzes are going to be evaluated on the basis of the following criteria: - positive performance (“pass”) is assessed when a course participant answers 80% or more questions of the quiz correctly. The quiz consists of 20 multiple-choice questions. Each course participant can use up to 3 attempts per quiz.

Certificate of completion

- Concerning registration and Moodle access questions, please contact Lifelong Learning Centre at taiendusope@ut.ee.
- For practical questions of working in the Moodle environment, please contact TAs: Esther Locher at esther.locher@ut.ee and Thomas Pritchard at thomas.luke.pritchard@ut.ee
- For course content-related questions, feel free to write the lecturer Dmytro Khutkyy at dmytro.khutkyy@ut.ee

09.03.2025

Dmytro Khutkyy, dmytro.khutkyy@ut.ee, +372 +372 737 5198