On January 27 students were taking exams, as they were supposed to, behind closed classroom doors at Zhytomyr Ivan Franko State University (ZhST). Then, after doing their primary educational duty, they got into somewhat unusual surroundings, for, on that day, their alma mater began to host the Den 2011 photo exhibit. It was a pleasant surprise for some and a long-awaited event for the majority. It is no mere chance that Den chooses universities for active communication, for they, as the Den’s editor-in-chief Larysa IVSHYNA says, “are the reference point, they shape the intellectual atmosphere of a region.”
This is a third time that ZhST receives Den. It is only natural that the shrinking sphere of intellect in the informational space creates a demand for intellectual contacts in the Ukrainian regions. Unfortunately, the supply is scanty, to say the least.
What became a symbol of cooperation between ZhST and Den is a decision of this educational institution’s Academic Council to award Ms. Ivshyna with the degree of Doctor Honoris Causa of Zhytomyr Ivan Franko State University. The University Rector Petro Saukh presented the Den’s editor-in-chief with the commemorative medal and certificate.
“Den has become a resource publication of sorts for our university’s philosophers, historians, and pedagogues. You arouse not just an interesting conversation but a discussion that prompts the concerned ones to be active,” Mr. Saukh said. “Den is often called a ‘free university,’ and we are really something of an informal educational institution. We work to help Zhytomyr region readers, including young people, to develop, clear high bars, and learn and spread all intellectual things by means all social networks. We determine, to some extent, the ‘sanitary minimum’ – what to read, know, see, and reconsider. Then everybody will make a choice according to their taste,” Ms. Ivshyna explained.
“I have a holiday of sorts today: I have attended the launching of a new Den’s photo exhibit. I am glad that it opened in no other place than Zhytomyr university,” said Serhii RYZHUK, Chairman of the Zhytomyr Oblast Administration, who was among the photo exhibit visitors. “These pictures induce one to think about the past, the present, the future, and to care about our own destiny. It is important today that Ukraine’s young people should ‘spread their wings,’” Mr. Ryzhuk noted, looking into the faces of the people on photographs.
By all accounts, to use the governor’s expression, ZhST does have “winged people” – these are students and professors who are open to discussion, are taking a stand and know how to defend it. “This is not the first time I meet Den’s editor and visit the opening of a Den’s photo exhibit. I need to be always kept informed about events and mingle with those who have tremendous professional and living experience, but events of this level rarely occur in Zhytomyr. But they are very important, for they contribute very much to intellectual development,” said Alina DEMBITSKA, a 4th-year student at the university’s department of Philology and Journalism, editor of the newspaper Universum published by ZhST students and faculty. Incidentally, Alina asked one of the best questions at the readers’ conference “A Living History that Obliges Us to Live Differently.”
During the readers’ conference, Ms. Ivshyna called Den’s actions in Ukrainian cities a “magnet” for intellectuals. What is ample proof of this opinion is the fact that we came across Yaroslav Mazur, an Ostroh Academy student, at ZhST. He said he attends all the events that Den organizes at his “native” educational institutions, and he could not resist the temptation of visiting one in Zhytomyr. He is doing on-the-job training at the Zhytomyr Oblast Administration. “Events like this make me optimistic and motivate me to grow further, and they are extremely necessary for the formation of an intellectual atmosphere in the region,” Yaroslav said.
