On 25–26 September 2026, Ivan Franko National University of Lviv hosted the 33rd International Conference of the Association of Ukrainian Germanists, entitled “Trauma through the Lens of German Studies: Language, Literature, Culture.” The two-day conference brought together 110 researchers from Ukraine, Germany, Austria, Poland and Japan to discuss current issues in linguistics, literary studies, intercultural communication and German language teaching, with a particular focus on understanding traumatic experience from linguistic, cultural and educational perspectives.
The conference was organised by the Faculty of Foreign Languages of Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, in particular the Department of Intercultural Communication and Translation as well as the Department of German Philology, together with the Ukrainian Association of Germanists, with the support of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the OeAD Cooperation Office L’viv and the Goethe-Institut Ukraine.
The conference opened with a musical performance by the Cheremosh Folk Song and Dance Ensemble. It was followed by an address from Alla Paslavska, President of the Association of Ukrainian Germanists and Professor at the Department of Intercultural Communication and Translation at Ivan Franko National University of Lviv. Welcoming the participants, she emphasised that this year’s theme has not only academic but also deeply personal significance for Ukrainian scholars. She noted that, amid the full-scale war, reflection on trauma cannot be separated from people’s lived experiences, including loss, forced displacement and painful memories.
“For people in Ukraine, trauma is not an abstract concept. Russia’s war of aggression has shattered lives, torn families apart, forced people from their homes and devastated cities. Behind every academic concept, therefore, are real people, individual lives and painful memories,” Alla Paslavska said.
Professor Paslavska also highlighted the role of language in documenting and making sense of traumatic experience and, consequently, the particular responsibility borne by linguists, literary scholars, translators and educators. “Language can give a name to pain, but it can also silence or conceal it. It can give people a voice, but it can also deny their experience. It is in times of war that we realise just how much can depend on the choice of a single word,” she emphasised.
Khrystyna Miliyanchuk, Vice-Rector for Research, Teaching and International Cooperation, delivered a welcome address. Speaking to the conference participants, she said that it was a great honour for Ivan Franko National University of Lviv to host this year’s gathering of German studies scholars and thanked the University’s partners for their cooperation in organising the event. The Vice-Rector also highlighted the particular relevance of the conference theme today and stressed the need to approach it from an interdisciplinary perspective.
“The theme of today’s conference resonates particularly strongly with our current reality. Unfortunately, trauma is no longer solely an academic concept but, to varying degrees, affects everyone. It is a multidimensional and multilayered phenomenon that finds expression in language, literature and culture, and German studies cannot remain detached from these processes. Literature allows us to reflect on experiences that are sometimes difficult to articulate directly, while translation becomes a means of meaningful dialogue between languages and cultures. It is therefore particularly important that this conference provides a space for interdisciplinary and intercultural dialogue,” Miliyanchuk said.
The conference participants were also addressed by representatives of German and Austrian diplomatic missions, the leadership of the University’s Faculty of Foreign Languages, including Dean Lyubomyr Borakovskyy, as well as representatives of the DAAD, OeAD, Goethe-Institut Ukraine and the German community in Ukraine. In their welcome remarks, the speakers underlined the importance of international academic cooperation, support for German studies in Ukraine, and maintaining strong ties with the European academic and educational community. They also highlighted the particular relevance of this year’s conference theme and the need to reflect on the experiences of war, trauma, memory and recovery through language, literature, culture and education.
Following the formal opening, the conference continued with plenary presentations. Kristine Petrušić, Head of the Language Department and Deputy Director of the Goethe-Institut Kroatien, delivered a presentation on enabling participation despite trauma and on how trauma-informed education and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) can foster participation and help create safe, accessible and resilient learning environments. She focused on approaches that take into account learners’ experiences of trauma while creating an environment in which they can participate fully in the learning process.
Bernd Helmbold of Friedrich Schiller University Jena, in turn, gave a presentation exploring the challenges of training teachers of German as a foreign language, particularly the relationship between linguistic norms, communicative context and teaching practice in contemporary teacher education.
Another important part of the first day was a panel discussion entitled “German in Ukraine – German in Europe,” moderated by Khrystyna Dyakiv, Head of the Department of German Philology at Ivan Franko National University of Lviv. Representatives of Ukrainian and European universities and the Goethe-Institut joined the discussion, which focused on the current position of German in Ukraine and across Europe, trends in German language learning and teaching, and the challenges and prospects facing German studies amid ongoing social and educational transformations.
The first day also featured presentations of international educational and academic initiatives, including the Dhoch3 project, the results of competitions organised by the Association of Ukrainian Germanists, and a range of parallel thematic sessions. These addressed the use of open educational resources, motivating young people to learn German, the culture of remembrance, and culturally reflective learning. The day concluded with an evening guided tour of Lviv for conference participants. On 26 September, the conference continued with six thematic sections: “Trauma – Language – Discourse – Memory,” “Narrating Trauma: Literature and Culture,” “Translation and Transcultural Mediation,” “Trauma-Sensitive Teaching and Resilience,” “German Studies in Times of Change: Language, Media, Artificial Intelligence and Society,” and “Trauma: An Interdisciplinary Perspective.”
During the parallel sessions, researchers focused on linguistic, literary and cultural representations of traumatic experience, issues of memory and wartime discourse, translation and transcultural communication, trauma-sensitive approaches to foreign language teaching, and the ways in which contemporary German studies are being reshaped by media, digital technologies, artificial intelligence and broader social transformations. A separate interdisciplinary strand brought together research on trauma from linguistic, cultural, literary, translation studies and educational perspectives.
The second day of the conference also featured a presentation of the book Микола Хвильовий. Я шалено люблю життя (Mykola Khvylovy: I Am Madly in Love with Life), moderated by Professor Alla Paslavska. Following the presentation, participants continued their work in the thematic sessions, while a separate working meeting was held for the coordinators.
The two-day conference concluded with a closing session on 26 September, where participants reviewed the key outcomes of the event. The 33rd International Conference of the Association of Ukrainian Germanists provided an important platform for scholars to engage in professional dialogue, exchange academic ideas and teaching practices, address issues of relevance to Ukrainian and European societies, and strengthen international cooperation in German studies.
