Tom Anderson
Tom Anderson is Manager, Private Records at the Provincial Archives of Alberta. He holds an MA from the University of Saskatchewan, and an MLIS and MAS from the University of British Columbia.
Radomir Bilash
Radomir Bilash completed his Bachelor and Masters of Arts degrees at the University of Manitoba, majoring in Cultural Anthropology, and minoring in Ukrainian. He has been associated with the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village since 1977, and currently holds the position of Senior Historian, responsible for the research associated for this award winning open-air museum. He is also the Project Manager of the Alberta-Ukraine Genealogical Project. Until recently, he was long affiliated with the University of Alberta, serving as Adjunct Associate Professor and Lecturer in the Department of Modern Languages and Cultural Studies, where he taught Early Ukrainian Canadian Culture (UKR327). As well, he was Project Manager for the Local Culture and Diversity on the Prairies Research Project at the Kule Folklore Centre. Most recently he has served as Consultant for the St. Onuphrius Ukrainian Catholic Church revitalization project at the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, Quebec. He has authored articles and presentations pertaining to Ukrainian- Canadian culture and history.
Kathy Buchanan
Kathy Buchanan has worked with the Federal Government serving in different capacities and with the Alberta Provincial Government. She received the Premier’s Award of Excellence in 2009. She has volunteered extensively holding executive positions at the National Ukrainian Women’s Association; Provincial Ukrainian Women’s Association and at the branch level. She has also participated in an international project, fundraising for Maple Leaf (Klynovy Lyst) to assist in building a safe house for youth in Ukraine. Kathy was awarded the Soroptimist Ruby Award for Women Helping Women in 2014. Currently Kathy is the archivist for the Ukrainian Women’s Association of Canada – Alberta Provincial Executive.
Braden Cannon
Braden Cannon is a Private Records Archivist at the Provincial Archives of Alberta. He holds a Master of Library and Information Studies degree from Dalhousie University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Film Studies from Carleton University. His research interests include community archives, Indigenous archives, and community engagement.
Andrew Chernevych
Andrew Chernevych is Head Archivist at the Galt Museum & Archives, Lethbridge, Alberta. He is a graduate of the UofA’s Ukrainian Folklore Program, who has worked at the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village, Provincial Archives of Alberta, as well as the City of Wetaskiwin Archives. In 2011, Andrew came to Southern Alberta to take over the operations of the Galt Archives with the Galt Museum & Archives in Lethbridge. As the largest archival depository in Southwest Alberta, the Galt Archives functions as a de-facto regional archives. Over years, Andrew had a chance to explore and provide support to many small heritage institutions in the area, which gave him deeper understanding of the region, its history and culture. It also brought him in touch with the Lethbridge’s Ukrainian community — small and isolated but resilient group proud of its heritage and culture.
Maryna Chernyavska
Maryna Chernyavska holds a position as the Folklore Archivist at the Bohdan Medwidsky Ukrainian Folklore Archives, Kule Folklore Centre, University of Alberta, Canada. She also administers Alberta on Record – a provincial online database of the Archives Society of Alberta. Maryna holds a Master of Arts degree in Ukrainian Folklore and a Master of Library and Information Studies degree from the University of Alberta. Her research interests include: folklore archives, digital archives, traditional knowledge and memory keeping, postmodern archives, and ethnic cultural heritage. Maryna serves on the board of the International Council on Archives – Section on University and Research Institution Archives, and is a co-chair of the Working Group on Archives of the International Society for Ethnology and Folklore.
Rene Georgopalis
Rene Georgopalis has been the Executive Director/Archives Advisor at the Archives Society of Alberta since 2012. She has worked with archives at Musée Héritage Museum in St. Albert, Alberta, a maternity home in Toronto as well as the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives in Toronto. She holds a BA Women’s Studies, 2002, and MA Classics, 2007 from the University of Alberta and MISt Archives and Records Management, 2010 from the University of Toronto. Her interests in archives include the topics of social justice and description.
Winston Gereluk
Winston Gereluk is a part-time Research Associate at the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies (CIUS), who researches the labour history of Ukrainian Canadians in Alberta; he has worked for the Alberta Federation of Labour and the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees in Canada in the areas of research, education and public relations for over 25 years. He has served as an Academic Coordinator for Industrial Relations & Human Resources programs at the Athabasca University, worked as an instructor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Alberta, and as a professional officer in Manitoba’s Department of Education. He is a member of the executive council of Branch #2 of the Association of United Ukrainian Canadians, as well as the Board of the Alberta Ukrainian Heritage Foundation.
Ashley D.K. Halko-Addley
Ashley D.K. Halko-Addley completed a Bachelor of Arts Honours in Anthropology at the University of Saskatchewan in Spring 2017. Currently, she is a Master of Arts candidate in Media and Cultural Studies at the University of Alberta. Focusing on Ukrainian Folklore, her current research interests are in Ukrainian-Canadian culture, symbolic healing, cultural preservation, and cultural revival. She is a Research Assistant at the Kule Folklore Centre, University of Alberta.
Andrew Hladyshevsky
Andrew Hladyshevsky, QC, focuses on providing corporate and commercial advice to Alberta businesses, whether operating locally, nationwide, or internationally. A partner of the law firm Dentons LLP, he is experienced in a variety of corporate transactions and acts as general counsel for companies listed on the Alberta, Vancouver, Toronto, US, and NASDAQ Stock Exchanges. He was appointed queen’s counsel in January 2000. Andrew has lectured extensively, appeared on Global TV, CTV, and CBC Radio, and given interviews to print media. Recently Andrew was a recipient of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal for his extensive pro bono work (2014), and he received the International Award of Merit from Ukraine (May 2008).
Ola (Aleksandra) Hnatiuk
Ola (Aleksandra) Hnatiuk is a professor at the Center for East European Studies University of Warsaw and a visiting professor at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy in Kyiv, where she heads the master’s in History program and coordinates a joint master’s program between the Academy and the University of Warsaw. She is a member of the board of publishing series “Ukraine – Europe. 1921-1939.” Hnatiuk served in the Polish diplomatic corps from 2006 to 2010 as the First Counselor. She has received numerous awards, including Polonia Restituta (Republic of Poland highest state award) and the Antonovych Foundation Award for fostering Polish-Ukrainian cultural cooperation. Her most recent books are Farewell to the Empire. Ukrainian Debates on Identity at The Turn of XX and XXI Century (in Polish 2003, in Ukrainian 2005); Courage and Fear (2015).
Krista Jamieson
Krista Jamieson holds an Master of Library and Information Studies degree from McGill University and an MA from the University of Amsterdam. She is the Digital Archivist for the University of Alberta and is a PhD student at the University of Alberta in the Department of History and the School of Library and Information Studies.
Irene Jendzjowsky
Irene Jendzjowsky holds a Masters of Arts in Ukrainian and Masters in Library and Information Studies from the University of Alberta. She has worked for over 28 years in the heritage field. In 2012, Irene retired from the Provincial Archives of Alberta, where, as the Director of Access and Preservation Services, she was responsible for preservation services, outreach and exhibit programs as well as the reference and client services which included the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy program. As a member of the Archives Society of Alberta, Irene served on the education committee for a number of terms. She was and is also an active member of several organizations in the Ukrainian community. She continues to volunteer her time in the heritage field and remains a strong advocate for archives and preserving archival records. Most recently she joined the Friends of the Ukrainian Folklore Centre. She has a passion for history and Ukrainian culture and is a strong advocate for learning and sharing knowledge about the past.
Kateryna Kod
Kateryna Kod is an Archival Assistant at the Bohdan Medwidsky Ukrainian Folklore Archives, Kule Folklore Centre, University of Alberta, Canada. Kateryna holds a Master of Arts degree in Ukrainian Folklore from the University of Alberta (2016). Her research interests include: folklore archives, material culture, ethnic cultural heritage and identity.
Chrystyna Kolos
Chrystyna Kolos – UCRDC Board member and volunteer archivist at the Centre, involved with interviews, material maintenance, and cataloguing. University of Toronto BSc Pharmacy graduate, retired Hospital Pharmacist. Board member and program coordinator of NTSh Canada. Life-long member of Plast Canada involved with youth programming and leadership training.
James Kominowski
Since 2001, James Kominowski has served as the Slavic Librarian and Archivist responsible for the development, maintenance, and enhancement of the Elizabeth Dafoe Library’s Slavic Collection, and the Archives of the Ukrainian Canadian Experience, which is housed within the University of Manitoba’s Archives & Special Collections. In addition, he is the Liaison Librarian for German Studies. He provides reference and orientation assistance to faculty, graduate & undergraduate students, and researchers, and is the Libraries’ liaison with Manitoba’s Slavic communities. His key interests lie in: library instruction and pedagogy; acquisition and development of foreign language collections; and early twentieth century Ukrainian history and literature. James holds a BSc (Chemistry) and an MA (Ukrainian Literature) from the University of Manitoba, and an MLIS from the University of Western Ontario.
Natalie Kononenko
Natalie Kononenko is Professor and Kule Chair in Ukrainian Ethnography at the University of Alberta. She holds degrees from Radcliffe College and Harvard University. Prior to coming to the University of Alberta, Kononenko taught at the University of Virginia and served as Assistant Dean and Department Chair. Kononenko has conducted ethnographic fieldwork in Canada, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and Turkey. Her publications include Slavic Folklore: A Handbook, and the award-winning Ukrainian Minstrels: And the Blind Shall Sing, along with edited books, book chapters, and numerous articles. Her book Ukrainian Epic and Historical Song: Folklore in Context is due to be published by the University of Toronto Press. Kononenko’s interests extent beyond folklore into the realm of digital technologies and the presentation of ethnographic data online.
Karen Lemiski
Dr. Karen Lemiski has been curator and associate director of the Basilian Fathers Museum, Mundare, since 2009.
Alexandr Makar
Alexander Makar completed his undergraduate studies in History and Education at the University of Chernivtsi, and his graduate studies in History at the Institute of History, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine in Kyiv, Ukraine. As well, he has a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Alberta. In the past, he worked as a Researcher and Archivist at the Ukrainian Folklore Centre, University of Alberta, and was the Executive Director of UCAMA. Currently, he is a Research Officer, Alberta Advanced Education. Alexander has co-edited two books and is the author of over twenty articles and other publications on culture and history of Ukrainians in Canada. He has also presented on various Ukrainian-Canadian topics at more than thirty conferences in Canada and internationally.
Andrij Makuch
Andrij Makuch is the Research Coordinator of the Kule Ukrainian Canadian Studies Centre at the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies as well as the Associate Director of Research for the Holodomor Research and Education Consortium at CIUS. He has taught on “The Ukrainian Experience in Canada” at the University of Saskatchewan and conducted research for the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village. He is the co-compiler of Ukrainian Canadian Content in the Newspaper Svoboda, 1893–1904, compiler of Encyclopedia of Ukraine: Index and Errata (2001), co-editor of Contextualizing the Holodomor: The Impact of Thirty Years of Ukrainian Famine Studies (2015), guest editor of “Ukrainians in Canada between the Great War and the Cold War” (special issue of the Journal of Ukrainian Studies, Winter 2003), and the author of articles and reviews regarding Ukrainians in Canada. His current research interest is the history of the Ukrainian left in Canada.
Lydia Migus
Lydia Migus is the chair of this UCC National Committee. She has been and continues to be active within the Ukrainian community, working with various organizations over the years (currently with Ukrainian Catholic Women’s League of Canada – Edmonton Eparchy, Friends of the Ukrainian Village Society, Friends of the Ukrainian Folklore Centre) and is has extensive experience working both in business and the non-profit sectors.
Mark Minenko
Mark Minenko is currently a PhD Law student at King’s College London having completed his undergraduate law degree at the University of Manitoba and his LL.M. at the University of Alberta. His research focuses on civilian rights during war and conflict focusing on the administration of justice in Canada during the First World War under emergency powers legislation. He has presented papers and led seminars in Canada, Australia, Germany, and in Bosnia where he was serving as the Assistant to the NATO Political Advisor during the transition from NATO to the EU in 2004. He was part of the distance learning faculty of the Royal Military College of Canada teaching courses in Leadership and Ethics, Defence Management and the Canadian Armed Forces and Canadian Politics. He has been a Barrister and Solicitor in Canada for over 30 years, served with the Canadian military reserves for over 36 years, was the Deputy Speaker and a Member of the Manitoba Legislative Assembly, and worked in regulatory development and reform in Alberta. Treatment of POWs in Canada is one of his research interests.
Myron Momryk
Myron Momryk is a historian, archivist, and researcher. He held various positions in the
Multicultural Archives Program, and worked as the Project Archivist in the Social Archives Section, Political and Social Heritage Division at the Library and Archives Canada (1981-2006). He worked as an Assistant Secretary for the Board of Trustees at the National Museums of Canada (1980-1981); Project Officer for the Department of the Secretary of State, Administrative Services, and a History Officer and Assistant Secretary to the Canadian Ethnic Studies Advisory Committee of the Multiculturalism Program (1973-1980). He holds a B.Ed. from Queen`s University (1972), as well as a M.A. in Canadian History from the University of Waterloo (1972). He is the author of numerous articles and research publications, among them are: A Guide to Sources for the Study of Ukrainian Canadians, Public Archives of Canada (1984); Archival Sources for the Study of Polish Canadians, Public Archives of Canada (1987); and Remember the Flag, Mazeppa Legion History (2009).
Andriy Nahachewsky
Dr. Andriy Nahachewsky is a Professor at the University of Alberta. He occupies the Huculak Chair of Ukrainian Culture and Ethnography, and has served for 15 years as Director of the Kule Centre for Ukrainian and Canadian Folklore. He has experienced archives extensively as a long-time Curator of the Bohdan Medwidsky Ukrainian Folklore Archives, as a researcher, and as a donor himself. He has conducted fieldwork projects on Ukrainian communities in a dozen countries. His publications deal mostly with ethnic dance, the Ukrainian Canadian experience, and ethnographic methodology. His current project explores narratives about Ukrainian immigration to Canada and Brazil from 1891-1914 as a traditional folklore genre and as “creative non-fiction,” searching for patterns in the narratives related to the storytelling moment.
Oleksandr Pankieiev
Oleksandr Pankieiev coordinates digital communications and media for a number of teams at the Arts Collaboration Enterprise, Faculty of Arts, University of Alberta. He is also an associate researcher, Department of Act Archaeography, M. S. Hrushevsky Institute of Ukrainian Archaeography and Source Studies, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, and coordinator and co-coordinator of various print and multimedia projects, including the Research Initiative on Democratic Reforms in Ukraine website and the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies Digital Archives. His research interests include the history of southern Ukraine, the history and theory of bureaucracy in Ukraine, oral history, and digital humanities and the digital media. He is the author of two historical sourcebooks, The Azov Vicegerency: An Unrealized Project (Zaporizhia, 2011) (co-authored with A. Olenenko) and Group Service Registers of Officials of Novorossiisk Province, 1798 (Zaporizhia, 2011), and many articles.
Lesia Perrit
Lesia Perritt is retired from a teaching career in Early Childhood Education at the kindergarten level. At her parish, she oversees six instructors and an uncredited program of Ukrainian Language Classes for Adults, and serves on the church Board of Management. Lesia has held executive positions in the Ukrainian Women’s Association of Canada (UWAC) at the Branch, Provincial and National levels. In her tenure as National President of the Ukrainian Women’s Association of Canada from 2015-17, Lesia engaged in consolidating national archives of the organization and collecting records from inactive branches. The discovery of a box of documents and letters from the National UWAC War Effort in the 1940s further inspired her interest in preservation of Ukrainian archival history in Canada.
Daria Polianska
Daria Polianska is a PhD candidate in Slavic Languages and Literatures at the University of Alberta, department of Modern Languages and Cultural Studies. She specializes in Ukrainian modernist literature of the early twentieth century; literary criticism and trauma studies. Daria’s interests also include folklore and cultural studies. Over a year ago, she joined the Sanctuary project under the supervision of Dr. Natalie Kononenko. Daria works on selecting relevant categories and indexing sound files.
Lesia Savedchuk
Lesia Savedchuk is a writer, storyteller and cultural animator who lives in Calgary. She is the author of 19 Ukrainian-language books for young children (the ‘Dzvin readers’) and has just self-published ‘Futbolni Detektyvy’, a young adult novel. Lesia has recently, along with Arkadij Chumak, taken on the modernization of the Woron Library and Archives. Although she is not a professional librarian, she hopes that as a lover/collector of books and an experienced administrator, she will be up to the job.
Andriy Sawchuk
Andriy Sawchuk is originally from St. Catharines, but has lived for the past fourteen years in the nation’s capital, Ottawa. He has been active in the Ukrainian community since childhood and has always had an interest in Ukrainian and Canadian history. His academic background includes a BA in Art History and Archaeology (Brock University 1993) and a MA in Art History and Museum Studies (State University of New York at Buffalo 1998). Andriy has worked at Niagara Falls Art Gallery, Kurelek collection, as well as other museums and galleries in the US and in Canada. He has taught English in Taiwan for three years and worked for the Federal government for 9 years. More recently, he went on several missions of election observing in Ukraine and Moldova. His latest stint was working on a contract with Library and Archives Canada, processing the Ukrainian Canadian Committee fonds. He will be telling you about his experiences with this collection
Vivian Skakun
Vivian Skakun has a Bachelor of Education from the University of Alberta. After a short teaching career, she actively lobbied for change to the educational system to meet the unique needs of every child in an effective educational system for all. She has authored articles for the National Ukrainian Women’s Association (UWAC) publication called Promin. Her interest in archives peaked when she was asked to write a brief history of the Provincial UWAC (1976-2001) and discovered both the state of and the value of UWAC Provincial archives.
Vita Yakovlyeva
Vita Yakovlyeva is the Archival and Research Associate at the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies. She holds a PhD in Social Theory and Cultural Studies, and has been involved in several major research and archival projects, which include the “Memorial for the L’viv Ghetto Victims” for the Lviv Interactive Project at the Center for Urban History of East Central Europe (Lviv, Ukraine), as well as “Jewish sites of Memory in Lviv – a Survey”, conducted by Neue Synagogue Stiftung, Centrum Judaicum and Robert Bosch Foundation (Berlin) with then Center for Urban History of East Central Europe (Lviv). She also worked on cataloguing and systematization of the audio-visual collection at the Bohdan Medwidsky Ukrainian Folklore Archives, at the Kule Centre for Ukrainian and Canadian Folklore (UofA, Edmonton).
Lina Ye
Lina Ye is a PhD student from MLCS, finishing this year her studies in contemporary Russian religious literature. Taught Russian language and literature at Beijing Foreign Studies University, China, for more than 10 years before moving to Canada. Interested in linguistics and translation and volunteered as interpreter/translator for Edmonton Chinese and Russian communities. In 2015-2016 participated in indexing the sound files within the framework of the Sanctuary project.