Ethnic Genesis of Ukrainians in School Atlases of Ukrainian Studies and History in the Context of moscow's Genocidal War Against Ukraine

Abstract

The article presents the results of the analysis of the content of 8 educational atlases on Ukrainian studies and history of Ukraine for secondary schools, published in 2003–2021. The author singled out and evaluated the knowledge presented in these atlases about the formation (genesis) of the Ukrainian ethnos in the context of Moscow's genocidal war against Ukraine. Atlases are compared with each other in terms of the amount and content of knowledge about the ethnic genesis of Ukrainians. The author compared the aggregate knowledge about the education of Ukrainians available in the atlases with the corresponding thematic content of the curriculum «Ukrainian Studies» for students in grades 5–11 (2020), as well as a number of scientific reference atlases of the history of Ukraine, published in 2010–2018. The article formulates proposals aimed at improving the coverage of the ethnic genesis of Ukrainians in school atlases of Ukrainian studies and history of Ukraine. The article is useful for Ukrainian scholars, historians, geographers who are concerned with improving the educational and methodological support of school courses in Ukrainian studies and history of Ukraine. The author believes that the reviewed thematic content of the program «Ukrainian Studies...», school atlases on Ukrainian studies and on the history of Ukraine needs to be deepened, modernized and concretized. The atlases should contain a clear answer to the question of where, when and as a result of what the ethnic community of Ukrainians was formed. A Ukrainian student should see in the atlas not only the Ukrainian ethnic territory that had already been formed, for example, at the beginning of the 16th or 17th centuries, but also the territory of the formation of the Ukrainian ethnic population, the Ukrainian language, Ukrainian culture, and the Ukrainian ethnos during the relevant historical time. In the same way, knowledge about the ethnic genesis of the Crimeans (Crimean Tatars) should be presented. In the conditions of the genocidal war, Ukrainians' awareness of their origins, the assimilation of scientifically based knowledge about the genesis of the Ukrainian ethnic community by school students have acquired strategic importance for the survival of Ukrainian society, for its ability to solidarize, consolidate, and mobilize in order to protect and counteract the genocidal aspirations of the ruscists.