From Podĕbrady to Regensburg: Traditions of Ukrainian Journalistic Education in the 20th-century Europe

Abstract

Introduction. The stages of the formation of the journalism education model and the processes of its historical transformation, particularly within the European émigré environment (Poland, Czechoslovakia, Germany) of the first half of the twentieth century, remain insufficiently studied and are important for understanding the national paradigm of professional training.

Relevance and purpose of the study. The current reformatting of academic curricula and changes in the relationships within educational and professional environments require an understanding of achievements and traditions, as well as reliance on the foundations of professional, ethical-legal, and intellectual-worldview values. The purpose of the study is to identify the centers of journalism education of the Ukrainian émigré community in Europe (1930s–1940s) and to determine the teaching staff involved in delivering journalism-related disciplines.

Methodology. The main methods include historical, logical, and comparative approaches, which made it possible to reconstruct the facts of educational and publishing activities of the Ukrainian émigré community in Czechoslovakia and Germany in the 1930s–1940s. The study also involved monitoring the press published by the Ukrainian Technical and Economic Institute in Poděbrady and Regensburg, as well as other Ukrainian publications in Europe. The biographical method was applied to clarify the scholarly and pedagogical trajectories of instructors who taught journalism-related disciplines.

Results. Ukrainian academic institutions in Czechoslovakia (Prague, Poděbrady), and later in postwar Germany (Regensburg, Munich, Augsburg, Aschaffenburg), became important centers for the development of Ukrainian journalistic thought and the training of personnel for the national press. A significant role was played by the Ukrainian Technical and Economic Institute (distance learning), where journalism disciplines were taught within various institutional structures, combining theoretical knowledge with practical skills.

Conclusions. Journalism education in the Ukrainian émigré environment was based on a synthesis of European university traditions and the intellectual achievements of Ukrainian publicistic thought. An important role in shaping this field was played by the works of O.-I. Bochkovskyi, A. Zhyvotko, and S. Siropolko, whose studies systematized knowledge about the development of the Ukrainian and world press and contributed to the formation of journalism studies (journalology / periodical studies) as a distinct academic field.