By the Second Spring: Seven Ukrainians in Russia’s War on Ukraine

Date: 

Wednesday, April 3, 2024, 12:30pm to 2:00pm

Location: 

Pritsak Memorial Library at HURI, 34 Kirkland Street, Cambridge, MA 02138


Talk by:

Danielle Leavitt, Postdoctoral Fellow at HURI

IN-PERSON ONLY. A light lunch will be provided for attendees.

Russo-Ukrainian War, spring flowers

Lunch

All attendees of this event are invited to start with a light lunch at 12:30pm. We will begin the talk at 1pm.

About the Book Project

BY THE SECOND SPRING ventures deep inside war-torn Ukraine, following the lives of real people in staggering detail as they confront war. Leavitt follows seven individuals and their families through the first 18 months of war—from February 2022 until war’s second spring—revealing complex human stories of survival and resilience, while contextualizing their stories outside of war, working to offer a more expansive understanding of the history, ideas, conundrums, and shifting identities that mark this war. Especially valuable to a non-expert audience, BY THE SECOND SPRING ultimately coalesces into a meditation on the incomprehensible and deeply human task of believing in the future while destruction rages on. Published by Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, the book is anticipated in early 2025.

About the Speaker

Danielle LeavittDanielle Leavitt received her PhD in History from Harvard University in 2023. Her dissertation was entitled When the New Soviet Man Grew Old: The Meanings of Age and the Aging of Socialism, 1921-1991. In it she explored how ideas about human age, especially old age, shifted over the course of the Soviet Union’s own lifespan. She is currently writing a book following seven Ukrainians through Russia’s war on Ukraine, expected early 2025.

──────────────────

This event is organized by Harvard's Ukrainian Research Institute (HURI) as part of the Ukraine Study Group event series.

Persons with disabilities who wish to request accommodations or who have questions about access, please contact Megan Duncan Smith, HURI Programs Coordinator, at duncansmith@fas.harvard.edu at least two weeks  in advance of the session.

Watch videos of past HURI events on our YouTube Channel and subscribe to our email list to receive announcements about events and other activities.