Q&A with Visiting Professor Oleksandr (Alex) Komarenko

The Department of History and the Institute of Global Studies have been pleased to host visiting professor Oleksandr (Alex) Komarenko from spring 2024 through spring 2025. He has taught one course in our department each semester as well as giving lectures in the Minnesota region. He provides students unique opportunities to learn about the making of history and another perspective on the antecedents in addition to the entire faculty whose experience will be enriched by his presence.  

What brought you to the University of Minnesota?

 Oleksandr Komarenko

I am an associate professor at the faculty of history of the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, where I have been teaching for about 35 years. I have also been invited to lecture at universities in the USA, Japan, and Turkey on numerous occasions. During my second Fulbright Scholarship in 2017–18, I was a visiting professor at Hamline University, St. Paul, where I taught courses on the history and politics of the Russian Empire, the USSR, and the post-Soviet space, along with the history and politics of Eastern European countries. During my work, I met and began to fruitfully collaborate with many American colleagues, including those from UMN. The collaboration continued after my return to Ukraine and reached a new level after the outbreak of a full-scale war in Ukraine, when the entire world, and the United States in particular, became extremely interested in the causes and historical roots of what led to the bloodiest conflict in Europe since WWII. Thanks to the Institute for Global Studies, the College of Liberal Arts, the Department of History at UMN, and the esteemed donors my visit here became a reality, for which I am sincerely grateful to everyone involved.

What are your areas of specialty? How did you become interested in what you study and teach?

My PhD thesis was devoted to the history of Ukraine during WWI. Although in Ukraine, I teach modern US and Western history, Scandinavian history, and other similar courses, I have always had the opportunity to teach the history of Ukraine, Russia, and the USSR in various forms. Particularly significant for me has been my collaboration with the International Language School over the past 15 years, where I taught the key issues in Ukrainian history in English to American exchange students and West Point Academy cadets, which formed the basis of my current course on Russian-Ukrainian relations at UMN. I also developed a course on the history and politics of Eastern Europe in English in the early 2000s at the request of the University of Iowa (Iowa City), to which I was invited four times in a row as a visiting professor from 2002 to 2006.

Tell us more about the courses you teach

In spring semester 2024, I taught a lecture course for students at UMN entitled Russia vs. Ukraine: Past and Present. The goal of this course was to build an understanding of the centuries-long and intertwined relations between two East-Slavic people—the Russians and the Ukrainians—whose difficult coexistence resulted in a full-scale ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. In fall semester 2024, I taught the course History of Eastern Europe to about 40 students.

I am very happy indeed that the Institute for Global Studies, College of Liberal Arts, and the Department of History of the University of Minnesota have been able to extend my stay as a visiting associate professor for the spring semester of 2025. I have been given the opportunity to once again teach my lecture course Russia vs. Ukraine: Past and Present as well as other courses in coordination with the Institute for Global Studies and the Department of History. 

I see the main feature of my courses as giving students an opportunity to explore the complex centuries-old history of Russian-Ukrainian relations and the current war between the two East Slavic neighboring countries, as well as the history of Eastern Europe, with the guidance of a professor whose academic expertise is complemented by his lived experience. I directly experienced the collapse of the Soviet Union, the ups and downs of Russian-Ukrainian relations over the past three decades, and spent two years in war-torn Ukraine. Therefore, I am able to provide a more impactful understanding of the regions to students and to the community.

What are some takeaways students will get from your courses?

Knowledge and understanding of the ups and downs in Russian-Ukrainian relations for more than a thousand years, their challenges, labyrinths and often paradoxes will help students understand the historical causes of the current bloodiest and largest conflict in the Post-Soviet space, which has already led to a global catastrophe and complete breakdown the world order that existed after the end of the World War II. With regard to Eastern Europe, students will be able to develop and evaluate the commonalities and differences in the historical path of the nations and countries of the given region in order to obtain a complete picture of the role, place, and significance of Eastern Europe both in the present and in the future.

How has your experience adjusting to life in Minnesota been? 

I don't wish anyone to go through what I was forced to go through since the beginning of the full-scale war. That's why I'm just happy that I don't have to worry about my life and safety every second, that I don't hear anti-aircraft sirens and explosions, that I can fully devote myself to my favorite work, that I'm surrounded by wonderful, kind people. 

Since this is far from my first visit to the USA—I am a two-time Fulbright scholar (2017–18 at Hamline University, St. Paul, and 1994 at Stanford University) and from 2002 to '06 I was invited annually by the University of Iowa (Iowa City) as a visiting professor, so the issue of adaptation practically did not arise for me—I am already quite familiar with the American way of life, so it immediately became easy and comfortable for me here. The only innovation is that for the first time, instead of the so-called "one-story" America, I live in the downtown of an American metropolis in an apartment building, but I got used to it pretty quickly and have already gotten used to it.

What almost drove me crazy when I arrived in the Twin Cities were the test sirens on the first Wednesday of every month at 1:00 PM. The first time I was just scared, because I immediately remembered the war, but my colleagues smilingly explained to me what was going on! But even after that, every time, I continue to worry that the war will be forever.