Florida State University’s Ukraine Task Force (UTF) recently welcomed a leading analyst, lecturer and scholar on international relations to deliver a lecture and speak to classes about the everchanging political landscape of Eastern Europe.  

Kateryna Shynkaruk, a senior lecturer at Texas A&M’s Bush School of Government and Public Service in Washington D.C. and nonresident scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, delivered the talk “Ukraine and European Security: War, Identity and the Future of the International Order” Tuesday, March 10, in The Globe Auditorium as part of the Center for Global Engagement’s Engage Your World Speaker Series.  

“My lecture was about European security and how it is affected by the Ukraine war and basically how Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has completely overturned the European security architecture,” Shynkaruk said. “I thoroughly enjoyed the questions and answer session with students. They clearly were engaged and I was positively impressed by how closely they followed it.” 

Shynkaruk has published more than 30 articles on the topics of post-communist transformations in Ukraine and across Eastern Europe. She spent seven years working as a political analyst at the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine and six years covering Ukraine’s foreign and security policy as a senior research fellow at the Kyiv-based Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting.  

She was grateful to be able to share her knowledge gained from these experiences with faculty, staff and students. 

“My hope is that there is this interest actually in European affairs, that it is strengthened through engagements like my visit and generally that there is more interest in Ukraine, in European security and European affairs built here among students,” Shynkaruk said. “My meetings with faculty members were another very positive experience, seeing how the faculty is interested in exposing more perspectives on European affairs. If I have inspired any of them [students] to follow our potential avenues that I mentioned, that would be an amazing outcome.” 

Housed in FSU’s Learning Systems Institute (LSI), the UTF was established in 2022 as part of the university’s broader internationalization strategy and aims to forge partnerships between FSU and Ukrainian scholars and educate the FSU community about Ukraine. 

One of the goals of the UTF is to reach FSU students and educate them about Ukraine, its current and historical relationships with Europe and Russia, and its relevance to American security and economic interests. In 2025 alone, the UTF hosted 21 Ukrainian visitors and offered 17 educational events. 

“I was hosted graciously by the Ukraine Task Force here at FSU. I was positively impressed by the work they’re doing,” Shynkaruk said. “When teaching students, I do believe that direct information is always better than interpretations through second and third-hand perspectives. So, whenever you have a Ukrainian expert or a Ukrainian coming from Ukraine at the table in the classroom, you will have students exposed to a real-life experience and perspective rather than reading about it.” 

Most recently, FSU signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy (NaUKMA) last semester to expand global connections and outreach. The UTF also hosted two Ukrainian scholars last semester through the BridgeUSA Ukraine Program for Resilience Reconstruction (BridgeUSA UPRR), an exchange program funded by the U.S. State Department that connects Ukrainian and American researchers.  

“The work they [the UTF] are doing and the fact that they also bring people from Ukraine directly — some cultural presence, some academic presence — there is no better way to learn than to learn from the perspective of the ground,” Shynkaruk said. “The resilience of Ukrainian people, the challenges, the political landscape, all these pros and cons. If you don’t have a Ukrainian at the table, then this is an abstract conversation.” 

LSI strives to lead the way in creating innovative educational solutions that seamlessly connect theory with practice. Through advanced research, LSI develops industry-leading methods and implementation strategies to enhance systematic learning at all levels and in all environments. For more than five decades, LSI has been committed to driving measurable improvements in the performance of both individuals and organizations. 

For more information about the UTF, visit the UTF webpage on LSI’s website. To learn more about FSU’s global footprint, visit global.fsu.edu. 

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Last month, two Ukrainian scholars visited Florida State University to collaborate with faculty, observe classes and shape new research ideas through the BridgeUSA Ukraine Program for Resilience and Reconstruction (BridgeUSA UPRR), a U.S. State Department–funded exchange that connects Ukrainian and American researchers. 

Funded by the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv, and administered by the American Councils for International Education, BridgeUSA aims to increase mutual understanding between Americans and people of other countries. It remains vital to U.S. national security and to building connections around the world. 

Sofiia Doskich, an assistant professor of geography at Lviv Polytechnic National University, and Kostyantyn Mezentsev, head of the Department of Economic and Social Geography at Taras Shevchenko Kyiv National University, spent a month at FSU conducting research, observing classes, developing new course materials, delivering lectures and presentations and exploring the policies and culture that shape U.S. higher education. 

This marked the second year that FSU’s Ukraine Task Force, housed at the Learning Systems Institute, hosted fellows from the program. Vilma Fuentes, director of the task force, coordinated the visit, including meetings across campus and trips to surrounding cities. 

“We are thankful to the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv and the American Councils for International Education for making these academic exchanges possible,” Fuentes said. “We were honored to have hosted Dr. Sofiia Doskich and Dr. Kostyantyn Mezentsev and to have facilitated these new and growing engagements with Ukrainian academic partners.” 

Topics covered during their visit included emergency management, homeland security, urban planning, drone applications, engineering, geography and the reconstruction of urban regions after disasters. The meetings generated a number of areas for research collaborations and partnerships. 

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Florida State University’s Ukraine Task Force and the Center for Global Engagement held a celebration for Vyshyvanka Day Wednesday, May 15, in The Globe Auditorium that featured Ukrainian appetizers, special presentations and an opportunity for the FSU community to engage with the Ukrainian diaspora in Tallahassee.

Vyshyvanka Day is an international holiday that aims to preserve the Ukrainian folk traditions of creating and wearing ethnic embroidered clothes called vyshyvankas. It is celebrated the third Thursday of May. Vyshyvankas, along with pysankas (traditional Ukrainian Easter eggs), are one of the best known symbols of Ukrainian culture.

Established in 2022, FSU’s Ukraine Task Force was created to forge partnerships between FSU and Ukrainian scholars and educate the FSU community about Ukraine. The charge was to explore mechanisms and actions whereby the university can provide meaningful help locally, nationally and internationally to affected students, scientists and academics. FSU’s Ukraine Task Force is under the purview of Learning Systems Institute (LSI) at FSU and is led by director Vilma Fuentes.

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Anna Romanova, Ph.D., a former member of the Ukrainian Parliament and Secretary of the Committee on Family, Youth, Sport, and Tourism Policies in Ukraine, will speak at Florida State University at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, April 11, on “The Truth Behind Ukrainian Statehood: Dispelling Myths and Misconceptions”.

In collaboration with FSU’s Ukraine Task Force, this event is presented by the Center for Global Engagement as part of its Engage Your World Speaker Series. During this talk, Romanova will provide expert insight into Ukranian politics, history and its economy.

The event, which is free and open to the public, will take place at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, April 11, in The Globe Auditorium, 110 S. Woodward Ave. 

Romanova received her doctorate in economics from the Kyiv National Economics University, where she later served as an associate professor. She holds two master’s degrees in public administration and in education, social work, and history. She is also a board member of multiple nonprofit organizations, including the Association of Hospitality Industry of Ukraine and the Ukrainian National Foundation for Veterans and Victims of War.

Romanova currently serves as a consultant for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and is a researcher at Florida State University’s Learning Systems Institute (LSI), where she uses her expertise on national/regional economic and humanitarian development to inform the work of FSU’s Ukraine Task Force.

Attendees can park in either the Traditions Parking Garage or the Pensacola Parking Garage without an FSU permit after 4:30 p.m.

For more information about the Center for Global Engagement’s Engage Your World Speaker Series, please visit cge.fsu.edu. For more information, visit calendar.fsu.edu.

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