The All-Ukrainian Scientific and Practical Conference “9th Methodological Readings – Contemporary Trends in the Development of Political Science Theory and Methodology in Ukraine and Worldwide: Principles and Practical Dimensions”, dedicated to the memory of Professor Valerii Mykolaiovych Denysenko, was held.

On May 29, at the initiative of the Department of Theory and History of Political Science, the Faculty of Philosophy hosted the All-Ukrainian Scientific and Practical Conference “9th Methodological Readings – Contemporary Trends in the Development of Political Science Theory and Methodology in Ukraine and Worldwide: Principles and Practical Dimensions (in Memory of Professor Valerii Mykolaiovych Denysenko).”

The conference was opened by Hennadii Shypunov, Head of the Department of Theory and History of Political Science, Doctor of Political Sciences, and Professor. In his remarks, he thanked the conference participants for their interest in issues of political science theory and methodology, emphasizing that this topic had been at the center of the scholarly work of Professor Valerii Mykolaiovych Denysenko, the founder and long-serving Head of the Department of Theory and History of Political Science. He also wished all participants a productive and successful conference.

A welcoming address was delivered by Olena Kvas, Vice-Rector for Research and Innovation, Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences, and Professor. She congratulated the participants and noted that the Methodological Readings, dedicated to contemporary trends in the development of political science theory and methodology, constitute a timely and significant academic event. In addition, Professor Kvas shared her memories of working alongside Professor Valerii Denysenko at the Faculty of Philosophy and expressed her hope that his students would successfully continue their teacher’s scholarly legacy.

Joining in the warm tributes to Professor Denysenko were Oksana Sarabun, Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy for Research, Candidate of Philosophical Sciences and Associate Professor, and Vitalii Lytvyn, Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy for International Relations, Acting Head of the Department of Political Science, Doctor of Political Sciences, and Professor. Both speakers highly praised the contribution of the Department of Theory and History of Political Science to the development of the methodology of contemporary political science research.

Following the opening remarks, academic presentations were delivered by faculty members, doctoral students, and students representing higher education institutions from Lviv, Kyiv, Odesa, Zaporizhzhia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Uzhhorod, Ternopil, Lutsk, and Chernivtsi, as well as by a representative of the Institute of Political Science at the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn (Poland).

The conference proceedings were organized around the following thematic areas: Theory and History of Political Science as a Space for Methodological Inquiry: Contemporary Challenges and Development Trends; Public Policy and Public Administration: Methodological Foundations, Innovations, and Applied Dimensions of Effective Governance; Ideological, Philosophical, and Cultural Foundations of Political Identity Construction: Local, Regional, and International Contexts.

Particular attention in the presentations was devoted to the dimensions of resilience within Ukrainian society in the context of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, as well as to the prospects for Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction amid democratic transformation and global challenges.

Valerii Mykolaiovych Denysenko (31 May 1955 – 15 October 2019) was a Professor, Doctor of Political Sciences, and Head of the Department of Theory and History of Political Science at the Faculty of Philosophy of the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv. He was an outstanding Ukrainian scholar, political scientist, and philosopher, and one of the founders of the Lviv School of Political Science. Professor Denysenko’s research focused on the philosophy of politics, systems theory, political axiology, and political anthropology. He was the author of 14 monographs, 6 textbooks, 5 teaching manuals, more than 120 scholarly articles, and over 170 conference papers and abstracts. Under his supervision, dozens of PhD and doctoral dissertations were successfully defended. Most of his students continue to contribute to the development of political science not only in Lviv and the surrounding region but throughout Ukraine as a whole.