Until now, examining the religious, educational, and broader socio-cultural context that shaped early modern Ukrainian identity remains one of the most promising areas of academic research for historians, cultural studies researchers, religious studies scholars, and theologians. For too long, imperial, Soviet, or post-Soviet discourse dominated the Ukrainian humanities, treating the national intellectual elite as insignificant, second-rate, and marginal. However, with the rapid development of postcolonial studies, we are now seeing more academic attempts to interpret our religious and intellectual past without prejudice through a new lens, although the analytical depth and scholarly value of these studies vary considerably.
A notable event for the Ukrainian academic community was the August publication of Mykola Fediai’s English-language monograph Latin Philosophy and Greek Faith: The Kyiv-Mohyla Academy on the Intellectual Map of Early Modern Europe. This fundamental study offers a fresh perspective on Kyiv’s intellectual landscape during the Hetmanate era, viewed through the prism of intercultural educational networks, intellectual exchanges, and academic mobility amongst the most talented Ukrainian youth of the 17th and 18th centuries. The author defined the main goal of his research as tracing the role and extent of the impact of Latin Aristotelianism on the formation of an educational model – fundamentally new to the Ruthenian lands – as well as the structure of the educational process and the methods of teaching basic philosophical disciplines.
An intellectual response to Fediai’s study, with its in-depth analytical examination, comes in the form of an extensive review prepared by Rev. Dr. Andrii Shymanovych. A key feature of this overview is the thoughtful long-distance debate with the author concerning the oversimplified assertions and poorly substantiated generalisations presented in the monograph regarding the Orthodox Church’s alleged inability to clearly conceptualise and systematise its dogmatic teaching. Furthermore, the reviewer points out conceptual gaps in the book, whose title does not fully correspond to its content, whilst at the same time expressing gratitude for this significant scholarly achievement amidst the gruelling Russian-Ukrainian war.
You can read Fr. Andrii’s review of Mykola Fediai’s book by following this link: https://www.academic-initiative.org.ua/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/07-L-Philosophy-G-Faith-review.pdf (in Ukrainian)
