Do you want to study in depth the history of Eastern Europe, research the particularities of Eastern Christianity, study a country in a period of sociopolitical transformation, or work on IT projects to solve environmental problems? Want to spend a few unforgettable years on UCU’s modern campus, combining education and an internship, engage in volunteer activities, or conduct unique scholarly research? Want to travel to medieval Lviv for a few weeks, combining study and leisure? “There are many possibilities, so everything depends on the wishes and priorities of the foreign student,” said Dmytro Sherengovsky, head of the Academic Department.

“UCU’s international activities are an effective way for students to receive international experience and gain global competencies. Why effective? Because they happen very organically and informally and allow the students themselves to design a program which will best meet their needs and interests,” emphasized Dmytro Sherengovsky. “Creating such opportunities, we invite foreign and UCU students to deeper communication, deeper integration, and more independence and responsibility,” he added.

Thanks to the active work of the International Academic Relations division, which is part of the Academic Department, UCU today offers a very varied menu of activities for foreign students: from volunteering and educational trips to professional internships and the possibility to receive an academic degree in the English language. We invited Dmytro Sherengovsky to describe the map of possibilities in more detail.

Academic exchange: A semester or year of study

Students of foreign institutions can also spend a semester or year at UCU in the exchange program. During studies at UCU, foreign students will be able to be involved in the academic world and receive the unique experience of life in the UCU community. Foreign students on exchange will be able to transfer all credits earned during studies or internships to their home universities. Such a trip is possible thanks to UCU’s partnerships with the student’s own university or the student’s university’s participation in the program Erasmus+. A full list of UCU’s academic partners from more than 20 countries is available HERE

If your university is not on the list of UCU’s partners, don’t worry. In these cases, there is a separate exchange program. To participate in this, it’s necessary to fill out an application form, write a motivational essay, and prepare recommendations from academic advisors and a packet of documents. A full list of what’s necessary to participate in an exchange is available HERE

Certificate programs

Studying in UCU’s certificate programs, foreign students do not receive an academic degree, but in a short time they acquire unique knowledge in a chosen field and an unforgettable experience in the UCU environment as a center of Eastern Christianity. All credits that students earn during a certificate program can be transferred to the student’s home university.

From studying and practicing ancient techniques of icon-painting, Ukrainian language to financial management, the university offers more than 30 certificate programs. A full list of possibilities is available HERE. There are, in fact, not many educational programs at UCU in English. For those who plan to study the Ukrainian language, there is a certificate program in Ukrainian which can be yet another good opportunity for practice.

Bachelor’s, master’s, and PhD

If foreign students are ready to earn a degree in Ukraine, UCU offers a number of bachelor’s and master’s programs. For future bachelors, the programs in social work, culture studies, psychology, sociology, and Ethics-Politics-Economics require a knowledge of Ukrainian for admission. Only the Faculty of Applied Sciences and the Data Science Program offers an English-language program for foreign entrants. In addition, an English-language distance-learning program in ecumenical studies is available for foreign students. Also worth mentioning is the program of the Faculty of Theology and Philosophy, whose diplomas are recognized by the Congregation for Catholic Education.

To earn a PhD at UCU, there is a licentiate and doctoral program in theology. Detailed information about programs and the amount of credits is available HERE.

Studying the Ukrainian language

For 17 years, the School of Ukrainian Language and Culture (SOUL & culture) at the Ukrainian Catholic University has been one of the best places to study the Ukrainian language and get immersed in the Ukrainian culture. Programs of the School are distinguished by their length and levels of difficulty.

Every summer more than 100 foreign students from 20 countries come to study the Ukrainian language. Sessions last from two to five weeks. The shortest sessions, two weeks, are entirely spent in Lviv or the Carpathian Mountains, and longer sessions combine time spent in the city with leisure in the mountains. You can dive into the atmosphere of summer recreation in the Carpathians with a video HERE

During the summer program, students during the day attend group and individual language lessons, interact with tutors, and attend lectures on Ukrainian history, politics, economics, culture, and art.  Each student of the school can form his or her own maximally comfortable rhythm of tasks, because before each Ukrainian language course they can choose the level of intensity, standard or advanced. They spend evenings in a Ukrainian-language environment, if necessary with a teacher. For deeper immersion in the context, the students of the summer program also study Ukrainian culture and life during excursions in Lviv and other cities of the country. More details about the summer program and other activities are available HERE

There are also annual fall and spring sessions and an opportunity for online study. Distance lessons are not limited by a basic level of fluency; four levels of difficulty are offered. Do you plan to conduct business in Ukrainian or master a professional vocabulary? Interacting with Ukrainian teachers during individual or group sessions on Skype, students from the whole world, depending on their needs, can enrich their vocabulary, improve their oral skills and their mastery of grammar and syntax. Lessons are offered throughout the work week, but the schedule is set according to individual needs.

Summer foreign language schools

A basic level of Ukrainian can also be acquired during… the English-language Summer School. Every year, UCU hosts volunteers from the whole world so that its students can improve their knowledge of English. Volunteers of the English-language school don’t need to know Ukrainian, but during group prayers, educational sessions, and recreation, foreign students always learn at least a few Ukrainian sentences. You can sign up to volunteer HERE.  And UCU organizes not only English-language summer schools. The Foreign Language Center invites speakers of German, French, Italian, and Spanish to volunteer at summer schools. More details are available HERE.

Educational trips

Spend from one to three weeks at UCU to get acquainted with various aspects of life in Eastern Europe, Halychyna, and Lviv. A special characteristic of all educational trips is a universal structure: guests of UCU spend a quarter of their time attending academic lectures, a varying amount of time is allotted for practice or internships, another quarter is for excursions and cultural activities, and the last part for visits to relevant organizations and companies.

Educational trips can involve the study of social work in Ukraine, the history of Eastern Europe and Eastern European Christianity, urban studies, or civil activism and the Revolution of Dignity and the conflict in eastern Ukraine. UCU accepts applications for individual and for group educational trips. More information about organizing a trip and a full list of opportunities is available HERE.

“We are now considering a strategy for internationalization, which should help the programs better integrate into the international educational environment, transfer from the status of consumer to that of a provider of expertise or services. This means increasing our educational products in a foreign language, building educational syllabuses on the basis of global competencies, varying students’ experience by study and work on global cases, involving students in teachers’ international research, and improving the experience of foreign teachers and students who spend time at UCU.” So Dmytro Sherengovsky explained the strategic plans for academic activities.

Prepared by Kateryna Hlushchenko