The graduation ceremony of the International Interdisciplinary Certificate Program in Jewish Studies recently took place. Students who began the program in 2023 received their certificates of completion.

The ceremony was held in a hybrid format: an online event where certificates were presented, as well as an in-person gathering at the Medzhybizh Castle during the students’ epigraphic field practice.

What was discussed at the graduation ceremony

Olena Zaslavska, Administrative Director of the Program

This is already the fifth graduating class that Kateryna and I have overseen together. With each new class, I find myself thinking more often: why do we even hold a graduation ceremony if everyone stays with us anyway? Still, it’s a good reason to gather, and a chance to say a few kind words to our students who spent two challenging years with us.

Today we are celebrating those who joined the program in the fall of 2023. That autumn was extremely difficult. Honestly, it was unclear how we would manage, when most of us had no electricity and, frankly, no resources — neither the energy nor the technical ability to work. But we went through all of it together. From this group, a strong core team emerged — a group we now even work with on surveys of Jewish cemeteries.

My sincere congratulations to the graduates. Stay with us.

Danylo Radivilov, Deputy Director of the A. Yu. Krymskyi Institute of Oriental Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine

Thank you for giving me the floor, and thank you for the invitation. I believe this is already the third time we have gathered like this.

The last time we met at the Institute of Oriental Studies, and now we are meeting online, so it is becoming a good tradition. The presentation of diplomas is a very pleasant tradition.

I am glad to see familiar faces. In fact, almost everyone here already knows each other, and I think we have come to know one another quite well. I also see participants from our Oriental Studies readings — some of you took part in the Jewish Studies section and in the roundtable devoted to the history of Jewish communities in Eastern Europe.

I would like to congratulate everyone on successfully completing the program. I hope that the knowledge you gained here will be useful in your further professional development.

I would also like to thank the instructors who, despite all the difficulties, continued to work diligently, teach their courses, and support the students.

Kateryna Malakhova, Academic Director of the Program

For me personally, these two years of working with you were difficult, but also extremely productive and enjoyable. During this time, each of you not only completed the program but also began your own scholarly work.

I could highlight almost every person here today. I especially remember the second presentation at the Krymskyi conference by Daria Skvortsova, our youngest graduate this year. I remember your first presentation, Daria — it was good, but the second one was much stronger. It is clear that over these two years you have made tremendous progress. And I could say something similar about each of you.

I sincerely hope that these two years will remain a warm memory of a meaningful period of student life. But most importantly, I hope that everything you began here — from your first drafts and presentations, which may have seemed imperfect to you (as they do to everyone) — will grow into full-fledged scholarly works, many of which you have already submitted for publication or are currently working on. I hope they will become an important part of your academic and personal journeys.

Congratulations to all our students. I am very happy that we went through this path together — it was challenging, but incredibly productive.

Eugene Levinzon, Executive Director of the Program

Today we have gathered to celebrate a new academic and educational milestone in your lives.

All of you truly deserve recognition for completing this two-year journey despite the many obstacles each of you faced along the way.

What matters most now is to continue our cooperation in different areas — scholarly research, heritage preservation, and simply maintaining human connections. Both education and research are built on relationships, and I believe these connections will not disappear. On the contrary, they will only grow stronger and bring new results to the field we share.

Daria Skvortsova, graduate

All of my progress is thanks to our instructors, who not only possess outstanding knowledge but also inspire and motivate us to conduct research.

Studying in this certificate program became a unique opportunity for me to pursue what I truly love and to discover new knowledge. It would be impossible to gain even a fraction of what this program offers on one’s own.

In the future, I want to continue studying and working in Jewish Studies.
And I am not saying goodbye, because I am sure we will meet again many times.

Olha Yashna, graduate

Perhaps the fact that I arrived a little late to this graduation shows that I did not really want this journey to end.

I would like to sincerely thank all the instructors, because the experience was truly incredible. I am especially grateful to Artem Fedorchuk and Dmytro Tsolin, while Alexandra Fishel and Kateryna Malakhova made the greatest contribution to my practical work.

At the moment I am participating in a project where my colleagues are digitizing Jewish tombstones in Kherson, which lies in a frontline area. Today I received photographs from Bobrovyi Kut, also in the Kherson region, where unfortunately Russian trenches were dug across the first line of the Jewish cemetery. In this project I work on translations — deciphering inscriptions on the tombstones written in Hebrew.

All of this became possible thanks to this program. Thank you very much, and our cooperation will certainly continue.

Yevhen Shnaider, graduate

I think one of the most important aspects of this program is that everyone felt comfortable and free here, and we continue to stay in touch. I am sure we will maintain these connections in the future as well. So I would like to express my sincere thanks to the organizers and to all the colleagues with whom I had the honor to study.

Svitozara Melenevska, graduate

By profession I am a biochemist and pharmacist, and Jewish Studies had long been just a hobby for me. I am very grateful to the certificate program for turning that hobby into something much more meaningful — an important part of my life. I discovered so many new and fascinating things. I never imagined that something like this could happen in my life: that you could come to study and find such important new experiences.

And it’s not only about knowledge, but also about the trips — you know, when you walk through the forest and “scrape matzevot.” It’s wonderful. And the new friendships are simply amazing.

I am deeply grateful to all the instructors and very happy that I had the chance to complete these two years of study.

Halyna Dranenko, graduate

At first, this program was simply an opportunity for me to learn more. But today, for example, when I teach a course on Ukraine at the Sorbonne, I can now professionally integrate elements of Jewish Studies into my course.

Whenever I speak with colleagues on academic platforms, I always tell people in France about this program. At first it usually causes complete astonishment: how is this even possible? How can Ukrainians work, study, conduct research — and at the same time pursue Jewish Studies? For many people this comes as a real shock.

As a lecturer and the head of a program in French–Ukrainian translation, I truly admire how this program is organized — the way Kateryna and Olena manage the educational process. Educational management is a profession in itself, and they handle it brilliantly, efficiently, and with an incredibly human atmosphere.

What attracts me most about this program is the community — the incredibly interesting people I have met here. I constantly talk about the Kherson cemetery and about what Ukrainian scholars are doing during the war. Above all, I simply want to say thank you — for your presence and for everything you do.

Vadym Yablonskyi, graduate

The certificate program has been something truly extraordinary for me. Even when I enrolled, I could not imagine that something like this could be organized so powerfully here, or that it could broaden my worldview the way it did.

I want to thank the program administrators and the wonderful instructors. I never thought I would have the opportunity to meet such remarkable people. I am also grateful to my fellow students, with whom we went through these two difficult years together.

At the very beginning, in the first year, I remember thinking: “Two years — how will I ever get through that?” But the time passed quickly. I am very grateful to everyone for our close connections and for helping pull us out of everyday routine — and for giving us the chance to go out and “scrape matzevot.” That experience is truly something special.