On Tuesday April 15, thirty sophomores from Cranbrook Upper School (Bloomfield Hills) visited the Weiser Center for Europe and Eurasia (WCEE) at the University of Michigan for a unique learning experience about the war in Ukraine. After hearing about the comprehensive teaching materials developed by WCEE, together with the the Center for Education Design, Evaluation, and Research (CEDER), on the topic and adopting them for his class, AP European History teacher Christopher Bryant worked together with WCEE Special Projects Manager Derek Groom on creating a dynamic instructional setting for his students. "WCEE is doing such important work on a very difficult topic. Their outreach efforts are so necessary and meaningful. The students came away with a better understanding of the necessity to stay informed and aware of the attempts to manipulate the narrative of world events," Bryant remarked.
WCEE Director and Weiser Family Professor in European and Eurasian Studies Geneviève Zubrzycki welcomed the group and described WCEE’s many initiatives, such as the multifaceted partnership with the NGO The Reckoning Project. Zubrzycki also highlighted the recent connection between WCEE and Cranbrook, as the affiliated Copernicus Center for Polish Studies (CCPS) hosted Cranbrook alum and mayor of Warsaw, Poland Rafał Trzaskowski for the Annual Copernicus Lecture last September.
WCEE Ukrainian Fellow Katerina Sirinyok-Dolgaryova then gave a guided tour of the WCEE Exhibition Threads of Tradition: The Art of Ukrainian Vyshyvanka on the 10th floor of Weiser Hall. She explained the regional and functional differences between the displayed Ukrainian embroidery, as well as the meaning behind common symbols and motifs.
Sirinyok-Dolgaryova continued sharing her expertise with the students through a lesson on Russian disinformation related to the war in Ukraine. After providing background on Ukrainian history and statehood, she described the roots, narratives, and tools of Russian propaganda that the students themselves may have encountered since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, i.e., from Russian news services or over social media. Sirinyok-Dolgaryova ended the session with an interactive game, testing the students’ ability to identify disinformation about the war. She remarked, “It was uplifting to see the group’s interest in Ukrainian culture and in how to better navigate propagandistic narratives about the war — it is so important to have these discussions in the age of social media.”
Following a lunch break when students had the chance to explore U-M’s campus, WCEE Ukrainian Fellow Yurii Kaparulin delved into the documentation of war crimes in Ukraine and the efforts to bring perpetrators to justice. He gave an overview of the Rome Statute and International Criminal Court and then prompted the students to analyze a particular incident featured in WCEE’s teaching materials and to indicate the particular type of war crime they believe was committed by Russian forces. Kaparulin was impressed with the students’ critical thinking skills and emotional maturity while engaging with this difficult material. “The class gave very compelling justification on why the alleged war crime should be prosecuted a certain way and then asked thought-provoking questions about the efficacy of international legal bodies, showing their understanding of the challenges for finding justice,” Kaparulin commented.
If you are an instructor and are interested in WCEE’s teaching materials or learning about other similar opportunities, reach out to Special Projects Manager Derek Groom at djgroom@umich.edu. The materials are free to download and include a teaching guide, student assignments, student project options, and vicarious trauma training.
