This short course will focus on the way that history, social history and geography have determined the Ukrainian experience.

The 2 half days will look at the constituent parts of today’s Ukraine, their different histories and how this complicates the current situation. From being the breadbasket of Europe in 1913, through starvation in 1930s, to being a country only now enacting post Soviet land reform, this fertile plain of glorious black earth the size of France has been much prized by neighbouring tribes and countries throughout history. The course will also look at life and perspectives of those living on either side of the “Iron Curtain” as well as the unique position of “Ukraina”, which literally translated means “on the edge”.