Testimonials

I would highly recommend this course for a variety of reasons, not least of which is in providing students with a greater insight into the current geopolitical struggle and its potential future implications for the wider world. Professor Kulyk provided us with a clear understanding of the historical and socio-cultural forces that have shaped Ukraine, and the surrounding region, down the centuries to the modern era. This in turn gave us a solid foundation from which to examine the various perspectives of current Ukrainian philosophers. From exploring the nuances of the Ukrainian language itself, to analytic and continental perspectives, Professor Kulyk provided us with a more complete picture of who Ukrainians are as a people and what they believe. Due to the significance of the current war and its potential implications for everyone, it is imperative that we all have a greater understanding of the Ukrainian people and their unwillingness to bow to tyranny. ‘Current Ukrainian Thought’ is a very engaging module and is delivered with great diligence.  

— Sean Martin Ó Fallúin, a student at Maynooth University, Ireland, 2022.

I enrolled in Professor Kulyk’s ‘Current Ukrainian Thought’ module during the final year of my undergraduate degree at Maynooth University. Although the course content pertained to the ongoing and ever-changing situation in Ukraine, Professor Kulyk was able to deliver a well-structured course that was deeply informative and extremely interesting from beginning to end. I went into this module knowing very little about politics and society in Ukraine and nothing about Ukrainian philosophy, but after completing this course I feel that I have a very good knowledge of how and why events occurred in Ukraine, as well as how these events have shaped and characterised the philosophy of the Ukrainian people. My much-improved knowledge of Ukraine is a testament to Professor Kulyk’s own knowledge and style of teaching, as he successfully conveyed information on multiple topics and concepts in an engaging and easy to follow manner. Professor Kulyk was always friendly and approachable, and provided encouraging feedback when correcting my essays. ‘Current Ukrainian Thought’ was one of the most interesting and enjoyable modules I have taken in university, I would highly recommend it to any student who has the option to take it in the future.

—David Swan, a student at Maynooth University, Ireland, 2022.

Professor Kulyk is a tutor who incredibly managed to keep unflagging thirst for knowledge, though his status as a professor points to formed research and pedagogical excellence. His openness, vigor, and hard work inspire. One should love their work the way Oleksandr Kulyk does it. 

—Maria Kirizvas, a student of OHDNU Philosophy Department, 2017

At the meetings of Philosophy in English club, everyone interested is introduced to a completely different method of learning philosophy. Because of the given materials, there is an opportunity to listen to the lecture delivered directly by a native speaker and, afterward, to discuss all the aspects starting with the style of providing the information and ending with the specifics of understanding philosophy as it is in English-speaking countries. Though the lecture has a discussion format, there is an opportunity to hear different points of view and to speak oneself on any issue about the lecture. It is a highly useful experience, keeping in mind how different is the philosophy of the English-speaking world from the one that is taught in Ukraine. I am very grateful to Oleksandr Kulyk for the huge amount of work he has done to familiarize everyone interested with the standards of learning philosophy of the English-speaking world.

—Alexandra Legeza, a student of OHDNU Philosophy Department, 2017   

The problem of chaos that Oleksandr Kulyk put from the perspective of interacting with it, based on value scope, is one of the most difficult, interesting, and up-to-date tasks of the history of philosophy. Intuition pushed the candidate for a degree toward the problem that is demanded by today’s world. That is why the choice of the topic itself, the setting of the problem, and the pursuit to solve it within the limits of logic-centric systematization and generalizations are the events in the national historic-philosophical field.

—Julia Shabanova, the head of Philosophy and Pedagogy Department of the National Mining University, Dnipro. A piece from the reference to Kulyk’s habilitation dissertation, 2015   

I can recall the lessons held by Professor Kulyk, only with the warmest of words. Lessons passed in a friendly and relaxed atmosphere that encouraged productive perceptions of information and open dialogues, which is important when studying philosophy. As for the dialogues, during both lessons and exams later, one could freely express their speculations on any issue without the fear of being blamed for thinking wrong. And that’s a great thing. Professor Kulyk spoke enthusiastically and intelligibly so that one wanted to be a part of it. There is another thing that I loved—when giving a standard number of facts about when this or that philosopher wrote this or that work, Professor Kulyk provided the general picture of the development of philosophical ideas in different eras. And if certain facts faded with time, this picture remains forever. I don’t like these modern trends when students are offered to assess their teachers, yet when it comes to Professor Kulyk, I’d give him a strong A. I am very grateful that I had an opportunity to meet and communicate to this person along my way.       

—Alexander Pevzner, a graduate of OHDNU Department of Theoretical Physics in 2015. Attended a philosophy course in 2012

The textbook Philosophy written by Professor Kulyk has a high scientific and methodological level. The author worked through a large number of sources, both national and foreign. He mastered the necessary theoretical and factual material and carefully presented it in this book. Professor Kulyk showed successful use of skills of didactic and methodic systematization of learning material. In the given book, the written reproduction is characterized by objectivity, scientificity, and clear logical order. The composition of the book and presentation of notions and theories are done not only on reasonable grounds but also with providing the efficiency of comprehension by students.

—Peter Gnatenko, a member of the National Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine. A piece from the reference to Kulyk’s textbook Philosophy, 2011.

The conclusions reached by Kulyk will assist in defining the problem of researching the Western philosophical thought in the second part of the 20th century, by obtaining not only theoretical but also worldview-practical meaning, as in the conditions of transformation of modern Ukraine they enriched with an interesting material of reflecting problems in the technicalized Western society.

—Marat Vernikov, the head of Cultural Studies Department of the Odesa I. I. Mechnikov National University. A piece from the reference to Kulyk’s PhD dissertation, 2005.