Event Details

This is a meeting of the Lancaster Literacy Research Centre, with a presentation by Oksana Torubara.

This presentation traces the personal and professional journey that led me to explore the academic literacies of displaced Ukrainian researchers. As an English lecturer from Ukraine, I found myself struggling to publish in English after arriving in the UK on a Researchers-at-Risk fellowship. This experience prompted me to question how other scholars like me were coping with the demands of academic writing in exile.

What began as a study of English language proficiency and national language policy evolved into a broader inquiry into scholarly identity, voice, and agency. Drawing on data collected from 125 displaced Ukrainian scholars, I explore how war, displacement, and institutional inequality shape research literacy practices. I also reflect on emerging themes such as the use of AI as a self-directed tool for academic empowerment.

This biographical talk offers insights into how literacy research can emerge from lived experience, shift alongside the researcher, and contribute to more equitable academic spaces for marginalised scholars. It invites reflection on how we understand and support scholarly writing in contexts of crisis, transition, and transformation.