On March 6-7, 2025, the Fourth International Academic Conference “United States: Politics, Society, and Culture – 2025 (In Memoriam of Professor Borys Honchar, 1945–2015)” was successfully held at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. The leading organizer of the conference was the Department of Modern History of Foreign Nations, Faculty of History, with significant input by faculty members, alumni, Ph.D. students, and students. Professor Honchar was a leading Ukrainian scholar in U. S. Studies, and he led thementioned Department for 25 years (1990–2015) until his passing in March 2015.

The program is available in English and Ukrainian via links.

The conference lasted for two days in a hybrid format, with sessions held at the university main (red) building and online via Zoom. It gathered nearly 100 participants, including scholars, Ph.D. students, and students from Kyiv, various cities in Ukraine, European Union, the United States, New Zealand, and China. For the first time in four years, the conference welcomed in-person guests from another Ukrainian city – a group of participants from Chernivtsi.

The event began on March 6 with a plenary session at the Faculty of History, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. The speakers (S. Vidnianskyi, O. Ivanenko, V. Pavlenko, V. Stavniuk, T. Orlova, Yu. Honchar, O. Zakharchuk, T. Hryshchenko, N. Gorodnia) shared their memories of their colleague and mentor Professor Borys Honchar. His academic and teaching legacy continues through his students and his daughter, Yulia Honchar, Ph.D. (history), Associate Professor at the Faculty of History, Mykhailo Drahomanov Ukrainian State University, who spoke about her father as a parent, teacher, and colleague.

The second part of the plenary session included a keynote lecture by Professor Taras Hryshchenko, titled “The Three Sources and Three Component Parts of Trumpism.” Notably, this was the first in-person plenary session in four years, restoring the traditional pre-COVID-19 and pre-full-scale Russian invasion format, with a particularly warm and engaging atmosphere.

The recording of the March 6 plenary session is available here.

The conference continued the next morning with seven parallel panels on Zoom, chaired by A. Kosheliev, D. Maglakelidze, T. Hryshchenko, V. Zatsepylo, A. Rohalskyi, N. Gorodnia, M. Kravchenko, A. Ponypaliak, and Ya. Dovhyi.

On the evening of March 7, the international part of the conference (in English) was held in a hybrid format. The opening session was moderated by Maria Kravchenko, Ph.D. (history), member of the Ukrainian Association for American Studies. The conference participants were welcomed by Professor Kseniia Smyrnova, Vice-Rector for International Cooperation, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv; Professor Nataliya Gorodnia, Head of the Conference Organizing Committee, Department of Modern History of Modern Nations, Faculty of History; Associate Professor Jennifer Frost, University of Auckland, New Zealand, Secretary and former President of the Australian and New Zealand American Studies Association; and Professor Ingrid Gessner, University College of Education Vorarlberg, Austria, President of the European Association for American Studies.

Following the opening remarks, Professor Ingrid Gessner delivered a keynote lecture titled “Commemorating COVID-19 in the United States (and Beyond): Memory, Media, and Memorialization.” The guests attending the session both in person and online engaged in a lively discussion, sharing their thoughts and asking questions to the speakers.

The recording of the March 7 opening session is available here.

After a short break, the conference continued with three parallel international panels, chaired by J. Frost, N. Gorodnia, and E. Kuzmenko. Scholars from the United States, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Slovakia, China, and Ukraine presented and discussed their research. Among the participants were faculty membersand professionals, Ph.D. students, and students from different countries, including master’s students from the Educational Program “American and European Studies (with Advanced Program in Foreign Languages)”, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv.

A collection of conference papers will be published based on the event.

Last year’s collection can be found here.

We deeply thank all participants for their contributions and collaboration!