Call for submissions: Teaching Russian and Ukrainian History in the Shadow of War

The impact of Russia’s war on Ukraine on the Slavic and East European Studies subject area has received much attention over the past four years. Most such discussions, however, have focused on the changing research environment, from declining archival access to debates over ‘decolonisation’. By contrast, the war’s impact on our teaching practice has received comparatively little attention. This lack of attention is problematic, since what students are taught about Russian and Ukrainian history has a major influence on how the war is understood and contextualised in wider society. 

To redress this balance, Revolutionary Russia intends to publish a symposium directly addressing the pedagogical problems posed by the war for those who teach Russian, Soviet and Ukrainian history (especially that of the revolutionary period) in schools, colleges and universities. In particular, we are interested in exploring how these pedagogical challenges intersect with wider structural and systemic problems in the education sector (currently acutely felt within, but certainly not limited to, universities). Contributions should be short, in the region of 3-4,000 words, and would be especially welcome from those who teach in secondary and further education as well as in universities. 

A non-exhaustive list of possible topics might include: 

• ‘Decolonising Russian studies’ in the history classroom
• Russia, Ukraine and the history textbook market
• Declining archival access and the research-to-teaching pipeline
• The impact of academic precarity on teaching practice in universities

For more information, or to propose a submission, please contact Ben Phillips (b.g.phillips@exeter.ac.uk) and Rob Dale (robert.dale@newcastle.ac.uk). Proposals for submissions should be received by 27 April 2026.