Days of the Sixtiers at Karazin University: The Phenomenon of Will and Spirit

On September 18–19, Karazin University hosted the Days of the Sixtiers — a large-scale academic and educational event dedicated to a unique generation of Ukrainian artists, scholars, and human rights defenders who became symbols of freedom, honor, and inner dignity.

The program of events included a ceremonial session “The Sixtiers — The Phenomenon of Will and Spirit”, speeches by Ukrainian scholars and writers, as well as thematic reports on the creative work and social significance of figures of the movement.

The Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine, Oksen Lisovyi, addressed the participants with a welcoming speech:
“The Sixtiers are not a generation of victims, but a generation of victors. They were young intellectuals who could have pursued successful careers, but consciously sacrificed everything for the sake of freedom, dignity, and the country’s future.”

University Rector Tetyana Kaganovska emphasized that Karazin University had always remained a space of free thought throughout its history:
“Today, this conference is not only a remembrance of the past, but also an inspiration for the future. It is our duty to preserve the legacy of the Sixtiers and pass it on to the next generations.”

An honorary doctor of Karazin University, writer Serhiy Zhadan, also spoke, highlighting the continuity of generations:
“The Sixtiers connected the cultural and political ideas of the 20th century — from the 1920s to Ukraine’s independence. This generation shaped the very idea of freedom and democracy, which we are defending in the war today.”

As part of the ceremonial session, thematic presentations were delivered by leading scholars, including:

• Olena Zaretska, Director of the Alla Horska and Viktor Zaretskyi Foundation — “Alla Horska and Viktor Zaretskyi in the Circle of the Sixtiers”;

• Liudmyla Tarnashynska, Head of the Department of Theoretical and Interdisciplinary Research at the Shevchenko Institute of Literature, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, and Head of the Center for Sixtiers Studies at the same Institute — on Ukrainian Sixtiers as a phenomenon of world culture;

• Archbishop Ihor Isichenko, Professor at the Department of the History of Ukrainian Literature at Karazin University — “The Tower of Babel in the Symbolic Space of Yevhen Sverstiuk”;

• Inna Renchka, Associate Professor at the Department of Ukrainian Language, National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy — on language issues in the works of Ivan Dziuba;

• Maryana and Zoryana Lanovyk, Professors at the Department of Ukrainian and World Literature and Teaching Methods, Ternopil Volodymyr Hnatiuk National Pedagogical University — “The Elitism of Ihor Kalynets’s Poetry as a Discourse of Freedom”;

• Roman Tryfonov, Associate Professor at the Department of Ukrainian Language, Karazin University — “The Word in the Subjective Perception of Iryna Zhylenko”.

On September 19, an international online academic conference “The Sixtiers as a Factor of Ukraine’s Linguistic and Literary Development” took place.

Speakers repeatedly stressed that the Sixtiers were a generation that became a moral and spiritual compass for Ukraine. They united creativity and civic stance, turning the word and art into weapons against dictatorship.

The legacy of the Sixtiers is a guiding light for contemporary Ukraine, which is fighting for freedom and identity in new historical circumstances. And Karazin University, as a center of historical memory, critical thinking, and national identity, remembers and speaks of this legacy.