AGRARIANISM AS A PEASANT-CENTRIC PHENOMENON OF THE UKRAINIAN REVOLUTION OF 1917–1921 IN THE FOCUS OF FOREIGN HISTORIOGRAPHY

Summary. The purpose of the article is to conduct a historiographical analysis of foreign discourse in the coverage of agrarianism as a peasant-centric phenomenon of the Ukrainian revolution of 1917–1921. The research methodology is based on the combination of the principles of historicism, multifactoriality, systematics, and logic. General scientific (analysis, synthesis, generalization) and special-historical (historical-genetic, historical-typological, historical-systemic) methods are used. Scientific novelty. For the first time in Ukrainian historiography, we carried out a comprehensive analysis and actualization of a disparate array of literature on the issue of agrarianism as a peasant-centric phenomenon of the Ukrainian revolution of 1917–192, developed by foreign researcher. Conclusions. The phenomenon of agrarianism is widely reflected in modern foreign historiography. Today, recognized specialists in the field of agrarianism are J. Elland, Z. Hemmerling, R. Golets, A. Lech, B. Stochevskaya, A. Toshkov, M. Tomek, B. Trencheni, X. Schultz, A. Haare, J. Ryhlik, J. Garna, M. Novak, M. Brunklik, V. Havlik, V. Medzhetsky, W. Mueller, E. Cuba, I. Suaa, T. Lorenz etc. In foreign scientific publications, there are only a few mentions of the Ukrainian version of agrarianism in the context of Central and Eastern Europe. And even in this case, Ukrainian agrarians are often reduced by foreign researchers only to the agricultural ideology of V. Lypynsky. Much more often in foreign works, they talk about Ukraine as an object of interest from foreign theorists of agrarianism. In view of this, we can state that the domestic historical science faces the task of substantiating the peculiarities of the Ukrainian version of agrarianism in comparison with its neighboring versions (Polish, Czech, Slovak, Romanian, Bulgarian), as well as reaching the level of international research projects. which is the phenomenon of European agrarianism.

Illegal or unethical? Situated ethics in the context of a dual economy

In this paper, I draw on my experiences doing field research in Cuba, to contribute to the idea that participating in illegal activities is not necessarily unethical. Using a reflexive analysis, I argue that as a foreign researcher in Cuba’s dual economy, full participation in Cubans’ daily life—though illegal for both the researcher and the participants—was necessary to establish trust. This allowed me to gain social access to the field while allowing participants to spread the risk. Ultimately, it led to a more accurate account of Cubans’ daily practices through which I was able to address unbalanced and misinformed interpretations of the island and its people, which is crucial in the midst of highly politicized literature on Cuba.

Realist evaluations in low- and middle-income countries: reflections and recommendations from the experiences of a foreign researcher

Realist evaluation, a methodology for exploring generative causation within complex health interventions to understand ‘how, why and for whom’ programmes work, is experiencing a surge of interest. Trends indicate that the proliferation in the use of this methodology also applies to research in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The value of using realist evaluation for project evaluation is also being noticed by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and other programme implementers within such contexts. Yet, there is limited exploration of the use of realist evaluations in LMICs, especially their use by foreign researchers. This paper draws on the author’s experience of conducting two realist evaluations across three different sub-Saharan African settings: Mundemu, Tanzania; Kabale, Uganda and Marsabit, Kenya. The realist evaluations were used as an operations research methodology to study two NGO community health programmes. This paper highlights four main challenges experienced by the author throughout the methodological process: (1) power imbalances prevalent during realist interviews, (2) working through translation and what this means for identfying Context-Mechanism-Outcome Configurations, (3) limited contextual familiarity and being an ‘engaged researcher’ and (4) the use or dependence on ‘WEIRD’ theories (i.e. theories based on the study of Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic people) within testing and refinement. Realist evaluation’s enticing and straightforward slogan of finding ‘what works, for whom and why’ is in contrast to the complexity of the methodology used to generate these results (and often to the results themselves). Striking a balance between theory and pragmatism, while adhering to realist ontological underpinnings of generative causation and retroduction, is no easy task. This paper concludes by providing concrete recommendations for those who want to undertake a realist evaluation, with particular attention to cross-cultural settings, in light of the aforementioned challenges. In doing so, it aims to foster improved methodological rigour and help those engaging in this research methodology to work towards more appropriate and contextually relevant findings.

Internationalization of Technology Education in National Research Tomsk Polytechnic University

This research investigates the internationalization of Master of Information Technology (MIT) education in National Research Tomsk Polytechnic University (TPU). Through a conducted case study about a course (also known as a subject or a unit) specially developed and delivered by a foreign researcher-teacher for the internationalized MIT program, it investigated how TPU approached internationalization of MIT education, why the approach was adopted and how TPU overcame the challenges in internationalizing their MIT programs (offered in two languages) and curricula. The research adopted a qualitative case study research method, which involved the data collection techniques such as survey, observation and documentations. Ten MIT program students were involved in the course delivery. The research team observed how the MIT program worked, how the students learnt from the specially provided course by a foreign researcher-teacher in the MIT program, the challenges and difficulties in the delivery of course learning, and how they were overcome. The results indicated that the students were highly satisfied and greatly benefited from the specially developed course in their internationalized MIT program.

Suggestion on the Leakage Pollution Control for the Historical Municipal Solid Waste Landfills in China

Artificial impermeable liner is the commonly used engineering technology method to prevent the Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) landfill leachate from polluting groundwater. The domestic and foreign researcher have discovered that the landfill impermeable liner was easy to have leaks during artificial liner laying down because of mechanical or the artificial mal-operation. The integrity test of impermeable liner for landfill began at the year of 2008. So a large number of historical landfill (construction completed before 2008) had become the pollution sources to local ecosystem because of the impermeable liner leakage. This article discussed the present situation of historical landfill leakage pollution, and propose technical and administrative measures to control those pollution in China.

Study of parent-child communication in joint-reading process according the investigation of Beth Ann Beschorner, foreign researcher

The article presents the analysis carried out by Ph. D. Beth Ann Beschorner (University of Iowa, USA) which concerns the training program for parents aimed at teaching them how to arrange the Dialogic reading with their childrenand and which makes it possible to conclude that due to the experience and direct contact with the written language in preschool age the idea of literacy was being formed. The article compares the empirical data obtained independently in different areas of scientific knowledge, i.e., philosophy and psychology: the study of B.A. Beschorner has a lot in common with the principles of cultural-historical psychology, formulated by L. Vygotsky, M. Lisina and other national psychologists. Although B. A. Beschorner do not stick directly to cultural-historical and activity theory, her results correspond with the basic provisions of these theories. The analysis of B.A. Beschorner’s works confirms the commonality of her findings to those obtained in terms of the cultural-historical theory. It proves that scientific thoughts even going in independent ways, may lead to similar results, which ultimately demonstrates the validity of the findings and the versatility of approaches to the problem.

The Ghana Public Records and Archives Administration Department-Tamale: A Guide for Users

This department, which was until December, 1997 known as the National Archives of Ghana, takes care of documents from northern Ghana, and has served both local and international researchers since its establishment in 1960. The Ghana Public Records and Archives Administration department in Tamale has had quite a number of visiting researchers, but there are few descriptive guide for users. This paper is intended to serve as an introductory guide in this respect.Between 1950 and 1954, the Gold Coast Archivist undertook a survey of District records in the various district headquarters of what was then the Gold Coast Colony, Ashanti, and the Northern Territories. This led to the establishment of the National Archives of Ghana, offices at Kumasi on 3 August 1959. This was intended first to serve the Ashanti, Brong-Ahafo, and Northern Ghana areas. The office was housed on the premises of the Government Agent's office at Kumase. When the Tamale office was opened, it was also housed on the premises of the Regional Administration there. The space is very cramped and there have been constant calls on the department to look for their own accommodation.The archives opens at 8.00am, but requests for documents from the repository starts only at 9.00am and lasts until 3.00pm, except for a break between 12:30pm and 1:30pm, during which no documents can be requested. The visitors' book must always be signed.An international/foreign researcher is required to bring a letter of introduction from the Ghana Public Records and Archives Administraton headquarters in Accra.