Prof Victoria Donovan

Prof Victoria Donovan

Director of Impact

Professor of Ukrainian and East European Studies

Phone
+44 (0)1334 46 2948
Email
vsd2@st-andrews.ac.uk
Office
Room 43
Location
United Colleges
Office hours
Wednesday 12-2

 

Research areas

As Scotland’s first Professor of Ukrainian Studies, I have developed a research profile that has reshaped scholarly and public understanding of Europe’s eastern borderlands, particularly Ukraine’s Donbas, a region now profoundly marked by war, occupation, and heritage destruction. My work demonstrates the central importance of historical perspectives for understanding contemporary Europe and brings together archival research, cultural history, and critical area studies approaches in ways that speak both within and beyond academia.

My first monograph, Chronicles in Stone: Preservation, Patriotism, and Identity in Northwest Russia (Cornell University Press, 2019), examined late- and post-Soviet heritage politics and contributed to wider debates on the rise of militarised patriotism in Europe. This work laid the foundations for my subsequent focus on Ukraine and the political and social legacies of resource extraction in Donbas. My most recent book, Life in Spite of Everything: Tales from the Ukrainian East, was published with Daunt Books Publishing in 2025. Combining historical analysis with narrative and ethnographic research, it challenges reductive geopolitical framings of Donbas and foregrounds local histories, cultures, and experiences. Alongside these monographs, I have shaped scholarly debate through edited collections, notably the special issue Donbas Imaginaries: Heritage, Culture, Communities (2021), and peer-reviewed articles in leading journals including Urban History, Slavic Review, Forum for Modern Language Studies, Canadian Slavonic Papers, and REGION: Regional Studies of Russia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

Public engagement is integral to my scholarship. I have collaborated on major projects safeguarding and digitising at-risk cultural heritage in Ukraine’s Donbas, resulting in open-access archives containing tens of thousands of photographs and hundreds of hours of film (Un/archiving Post/industry, 2019–2021; City in a Suitcase, 2022–2023; HeritEDGE, 2024–2025). In several cases, these collections constitute the only surviving record following the destruction or evacuation of frontline museums. This work has created enduring resources for historians, educators, artists, and the public in Ukraine and internationally and was recognised with a Europa Nostra/European Heritage Award, the EU’s highest honour for achievements in heritage and culture in 2023. Beyond preservation, I have collaborated with artists, curators, and educators, curating major exhibitions including Everything for Everybody (Kyiv Biennial, 2025–26), producing Ukrainian- and English-language educational resources, and contributing to global policy discussions on heritage destruction. My research has also been cited in a Ukrainian parliamentary White Paper on countering Russian disinformation and informed international media coverage of the war in Ukraine.

I welcome enquiries from potential PhD students whose work intersects with any of the above research areas.  

PhD supervision

  • Klaudia Grat
  • Rebecca Mesonjnik
  • Vlada Vazheyevskyy
  • Kateryna Volochniuk

Selected publications

  • Open access
    Donovan, V. S., 30 Sept 2025, Images and objects of Russia's war against Ukraine. Klimenko, N., BareikytÄ—, M. & Sereda, V. (eds.). Bielefeld: transcript, p. 133-152 (Forum Transregionale Studien - Dossiers; vol. 5).

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter

  • Open access
    Donovan, V. S., 16 Oct 2025, In: Urban History. First View, p. 1-22 22 p.

    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

  • Donovan, V., 23 Oct 2025

    Research output: Non-textual form › Exhibition

  • Open access
    Donovan, V. S., 28 Feb 2025, The Conversation.

    Research output: Contribution to specialist publication › Article

  • Open access
    Donovan, V. S., 5 Mar 2025, The Conversation.

    Research output: Contribution to specialist publication › Article

  • Donovan, V. S., 1 Apr 2025, London: Daunt Books Publishing. 273 p.

    Research output: Book/Report › Book

  • Open access
    Donovan, V. S., 30 May 2024, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Forum for Modern Language Studies. 60, 2, 6 p., cqae035.

    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

  • Open access
    Donovan, V. S., 8 Jun 2023, In: Canadian Slavonic Papers. 65, 2, p. 163-173 11 p.

    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

  • Kulishov, M. & Donovan, V. S. (Editor), 1 Dec 2023, Kyiv: CEC Arts Link and Open Place. 119 p.

    Research output: Book/Report › Book

  • Donovan, V. S., 1 Jan 2023, ASEEES NewsNet, January 2023, p. 11-13 3 p.

    Research output: Contribution to specialist publication › Featured article