University of Manchester appoints Olha Onukh as first-ever Ukrainian politics professor in UK and English-speaking world

Ukrainian writer and scholar Olha Onukh became the first-ever professor of Ukrainian politics in the UK and English-speaking world appointed by the University of Manchester, the British Council Ukraine reports.

"I am very proud of the University of Manchester's leadership in supporting Ukrainian students and scholars," said Professor Onukh. "This Professorship will help to raise the profile of the comparative political science analysis of Ukraine as well as further raising the international profile of The University of Manchester, which is already a major leader in social science research and teaching."

Until now, reportedly, there was no specialty "Ukrainian politics" in English-speaking academic circles. Onukh will start her course in September.

"We look forward to continuing our collaboration with Olga and her department to understand more about the role young people have played in the development of Ukraine as a democratic nation and the critical contribution they will make to recovery and rebuilding in the future," Leigh Gibson OBE, Ukraine Director for the British Council, commented on the appointment.

Olha Onukh is a scholar and one of the leading experts in the study of Ukrainian politics and society. Together with the British Council and the Goethe-Institut, in 2018, Onukh worked on research on cultural diplomacy and cultural relations in Ukraine and Egypt as a consultant.

She is also the scientific director of Cressida Arkwright's research work "Youth Engagement in Young Democracies" at the University of Manchester, which investigates the "Active Citizens" program implemented by the British Council in Ukraine and partners during 2014-2023.

At the end of last year, a book about Ukrainian identity, The Zelensky Effect, was published in Britain. Its authors were doctors of political sciences, Olha Onukh and Henry Gale. It is expected to be translated into Ukrainian this year. In fact, this is the first study that explains Ukrainian identity to the English-speaking world.

"This book is about the Ukrainian public nation and from which, in fact, Zelensky came. This nation is where citizens are involved in public duty and public activity. And not only since 1991 but also since the time of the dissidents and before. In fact, this public nation created Volodymyr Zelensky and other people of his generation," Onukh stressed.