Olga was the first-ever holder of a Full Professorship in ‘Ukrainian Politics’ in the English-speaking world. She is the author of Mapping Mass Mobilisation and The Zelensky Effect.
Olga is an internationally leading scholar of comparative Ukrainian and more broadly central and east European (CEE) and Latin American (LA) politics. She is particularly well regarded for her work on democratic engagement, quality, resilience, backsliding, and democratic duty and civic identity.
Olga’s research on Ukraine has resulted in her consulting government agencies, ministries, and policymakers in Canada, Ukraine, the UK, and the US.
Earlier this year, Olga gave us a personal reflection about her time at Oxford:
It’s been almost 20 years since my initial time at Oxford – so this 25-year anniversary is a lovely opportunity to think back to the person I was – truly overwhelmed and fascinated by Oxford. Looking back, you become part of Oxford forever not matter how much it shocked, surprised and unnerved you at the beginning. It becomes a part of you. It is a place where you are challenged intellectually like you never been challenged before.
It is a place that has changed so much yet it is still mine – and this is worth celebrating.
Oxford is more diverse, there are more women present and there are more scholars from around the world, more pronounced now than before. And there are different generation of scholars working together.
Olga speaks about the impact of her study at Oxford:
The impact of my time at Oxford is immeasurable. You get exposed to the quality of research at a stage where you are really developing your own sense of who you are academically and intellectually. Having female mentors was possibly the most important thing for me – you get mentors and teachers who are nurturing and caring but they will also push you – that push and challenge is what makes you succeed and stays with you all your life.
I was able to be President of The Ukrainian Society – it was the type of work where we could implement our research ambitions into our study interests. It becomes a stepping stone to test your skills for your future career. I learnt the importance of methodological rigour and I was proud to have mentors who had a broad and holistic understanding the rigour of research. It was a place and time when the people who teach you also teach you the process of conducting research and you can apply that to a variety of different approaches.
Although we were taught to be excellent and we were pushed, in my experience, we were allowed to be the kind of researchers we wanted to be. My future success is due to the confidence and tools that were given to me to believe in my own intuition about my research. To this day, I am eternally thankful for being given the opportunity to learn how to be my own version of research excellence.
What advice would you give to future DPhil Politics and IR students?
Everyone can have a place in Oxford. And, everyone should and must have a place in Oxford of different skills, thinking and experiences because excellent research and education only comes when we have diverse minds and diverse views together.
Disagreement and challenge bring people forward to generate discussion that can push people personally and intellectually. So, if anyone’s on the fence about applying, 100% be there. Of course you will benefit from being there, and Oxford will benefit from you - the more this can be nurtured the better.
I look back at my time at Oxford and everyone in my friendship group was from a different place, a different country - those experiences shape you as a human being for the rest of your life.