Spotlight on: Professor Markian Prokopovych – advocating history’s role in supporting Ukraine's future

Watch our video with Markian, and read more about his career and research below. 

Academic understanding of Europe 

Markian specialises in Eastern and Central Europe and, until recently, focused on empires and nationalism, cities and urban cultures, migration, and gender across the 19th and 20th centuries.  

Having completed several postgraduate degrees across Europe, he was drawn to research collaborations examining urban institutions, from theatres and opera houses to museums and art collections. 

Then the war in Ukraine shifted everything.  

Response to war  

As a Ukrainian, Markian felt that he needed to put his earlier research aside and to use his skills to help the war-torn country.  

Rising to the challenge of thinking beyond traditional historical frameworks, Markian has shifted his work to show how history can inform the present and the future. 

The work that has followed is, according to Markian, some of the most interesting and collaborative of his life.  

For the past three years, he has worked across disciplines and boundaries to help understand the impacts and responses to the war in Ukraine.  

Markian believes historians can bring vital context to the work of supporting a country impacted by war.  Local histories shape how people think. Ignoring this risks implementing generic policies that might fail.  

In the case of Ukraine, for example, histories of migration can help better understand contemporary patterns of displacement. Urban history can assist in devising strategies for rebuilding sustainable cities. Histories of entrepreneurship can contribute to the resilience of Ukrainian businesses. 

Supporting Ukraine’s future 

Markian has collaborated with colleagues globally on this work. All share the same goal: to help understand the impact of the conflict and support eventual recovery. 

The establishment of our Centre for the Study of Ukraine (CSU) in 2025, arising from this work, stands as one of Markian's proudest achievements.  

The Centre is a truly collaborative endeavour, with a team of international partners and experts from subjects as diverse as History and Biosciences, International Relations and Business. It reflects a shared commitment to responsive and meaningful research.  

Through Durham’s well-established partnerships in Ukraine, such as Zaporizhzhia National University, the CSU provides a platform to hear from, learn from, and collaborate with experts in Ukraine.  

As its Director, Markian hopes the CSU will become a source of innovative solutions and approaches, to help support Ukraine's future in all its complexity. 

History as a tool for action 

For Markian, Durham has provided the perfect environment to bring this vision to reality. He cites the ‘incredible support from all levels at Durham’ as pivotal to the success of his work, and the establishment of the CSU.  

From senior University staff to immediate colleagues and students, the collaborative and supportive ethos of the University has been clear.  

Whether through research discussions to public engagement, Markian has been humbled by the energy of colleagues eager to apply their diverse skills to Ukraine’s recovery. 

Markian believes that history can serve not only as a tool for understanding, but to inform meaningful action.  

Find out more: 

• Read Professor Markian Prokopovych’s profile. 
• Discover more about our Centre for the Study of Ukraine. 
• Learn more about our twinning with Ukraine’s University of Zaporizhzhia. 
• Our Department of History is ranked fourth in the UK in the Complete University Guide 2026.  Visit our History webpages for more information on our undergraduate and postgraduate programmes.