Jars Balan

Jars Balan is the Director of the Kule Ukrainian Canadian Studies Centre at CIUS. A specialist in Ukrainian Canadian history and culture, he has spoken and published extensively on the Ukrainian experience in Canada, especially Ukrainian-language theatre and literature, religious life, and the contributions made by leading community activists. In recent years much of his research has been focused on the coverage devoted to Ukrainians and their organizational life in the mainstream Canadian press, including reporting on the impact of Stalin’s First Five-Year Plan and the genocidal famine of 1932-1933, as well as the participation of Ukrainians in Canada’s Armed Forces during the Second World War. He has been involved in CIUS almost since its inception in 1976, as an editor, conference organizer, translator and research associate, and as the driving force behind the Kalyna Country Ecomuseum project, launched in 1991 to mark the centenary of Ukrainian settlement in Canada.

Session One | 8:15AM, May 15, 2023

“From the Inside to the Outside World: Letters from the Soviet “Famine-lands” as reported in Canada’s Daily Press, 1932-1934.”