USPS Alumni Programme
The Ukrainian School of Political Studies is, first of all, the Community, networking and a unity of differences. We are constantly emphasising this, but have a feeling that we can do much more for the Community.
This is how the idea of the USPS Alumni Programme came up — a course that brings together graduates of the School in different years and responds to their requests for good education and deepening interaction within the Community.
USPS Alumni Programmeme is:
- a closed format of courses, takes several days and is only for the USPS Community;
- networking of Alumni of the School from different years;
- professional discussions with participants and trainers on important topics.
Literature
Yevheniy Stasinevych was the first to start his literature course entitled “Books-explosions: societies through a mirror of bestsellers”.
As a part of the course, the group had a discussion about whether there is a common basis for those public demands that make books mega-popular and how accurately and subtly these variable demands are felt by literature of yesterday and today, of the world and Ukraine.
Notes about the event are available for you at the link — here!
Philosophy
Next, we held a course on philosophy, conducted by Mykhailo Koltsov and called “Perception and mental models: how do we work with our sensations and turn them into a world-view?”.
In this course, the group turned to neurophysiology and philosophical materials that explore the nature of our sensations: how we see, hear, and feel ourselves and the world around us. And at the same time, they tried to reconstruct the way in which our consciousness forms mental models that become an integral part of our worldview and ourselves.
Notes about the event are available for you at the link — here!
Economics
Together with the Schumpeter School of Innovation, USPS held a course on economics, led by Pavlo Sheremeta under the name “Ukrainian breakthrough: creative destruction and non-destructive creation”.
Productivity or innovation accounts for 85% of economic growth. The competitiveness of a nation and a company depends on their ability to innovate. Therefore, in this course, the group talked about Creative Destruction, fear, conflict and opposition caused by Creative Destruction, ways to overcome them, the role of a state in stimulating Creative Destruction, social values that positively affect internal innovation, Blue Ocean Strategy of countries, cities, organisations and leaders.
Notes about the event are available for you at the link — here!
Political theory
Ivan Gomza‘s course on political theory, “Waiting for the four horsemen: social inequality and modern political processes”, was the fourth.
The group considered two classic social problems — social inequality and political violence — as a combined factor of modern anxiety. Combining the study of relevant events with experience of ancient Rome and early modern states, the group understood that social inequality and its accompanying processes find a temporary solution in the most violent forms — epidemics, wars and revolutions.
Notes about the event are available for you at the link — here!
The Phenomenon of War
The fifth USPS Alumni Programme was held by the Ukrainian School of Political Studies together with Mykola Bielieskov, Senior Analyst at the CBA Initiatives Centre and Chief Consultant at the National Institute for Strategic Studies.
This time, Mykola Bielieskov, together with the Alumni, interpreted the essence of war — its nature, practice, theory, and foundations. The informative course naturally ended with a discussion on the character and peculiarities of the russian-Ukrainian war. The participants were able to analyse the Ukrainian case using the theoretical and practical framework gained from the course with the guest lecturer.
Notes about the event are available for you at the link — here!
Negotiations: Balance of Rationality vs Psychology?
The next two USPS Alumni Programmes were held with Pavlo Klimkin, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine (2014–2019), Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary and a regular lecturer at the USPS.
This time, the USPS Alumni Programme focused on the dimensions of emotionality, irrationality, body language, voice, values and psychology, in contrast to the traditional emphasis on negotiation strategies and tactics. The classification of strategic and tactical visions of the negotiation process is easy to find in well-known textbooks, but how do you “read” a person’s body language, how do you find the logic of the emotional in their words, movements or voice?
Notes about the event are available for you at the link — here!
We are planning to create more similar opportunities for Alumni training; therefore, wait for updates. We will definitely send information about new courses to all Alumni.
The USPS Alumni Programme is a closed learning environment for the USPS community, so only Alumni of the Ukrainian School of Political Studies can apply.
Yes, you are free to choose how many courses you want to attend. Registration occurs for each course separately. The dates of each course are flexible.
The number of participants for each course is limited and is agreed upon with each lecturer. This format of training provides for a small number of participants in the group to ensure that everyone who attends the course has the necessary space for discussion and debate.
In order to enrol, you must register by filling in the relevant application form. The lecturers, at their discretion, reserve the right to select among the Alumni of the School who have applied for the courses.
