Teaching in Kyiv

Today I had my first class sessions at the law schools at Taras Shevchenko University and the National Aviation University.

It was my first time at Taras Shevchenko, which is one of the premier institutions of higher learning in the country. The campus is very close to the historic center of Kyiv, across the street from Taras Shevchenko Park and near the Universityet Metro station. The law school is located in the main "Red Building" facing the park. It is one of the finest schools I have ever scene, with beautiful classrooms, galleries and lecture halls facing the street or an inner cloister. My teaching assistant, Tetiana Rogozianska has told me much about the University, as it is where her parents met when they were both law students. We lectured in a grand lecture hall located on an arched hallway containing the portraits of University rectors and deans dating back to the 1830's. One of our students told us that this hall was reserved for "the big guys"--special guest lecturers who come to campus--I guess I have now made it as one of "the big guys."

After lecturing, Tetiana and I ate in the students' cantina, located in a grand oval chamber with a richly painted vaulted ceiling. The frescoes depict the muses of learning. The food was excellent and Tetiana and I had a nice chat over the meal.

Later, on our way to catch the Marshrutka to the National Aviation University, Tetiana took me into the amazing Volodymyrska Cathedral for a few minutes (that is the one with the striking gold stars on the blue domes).

I'll write about the Marshrutka journey in a later post--but it was (as two years ago) quite an experience.

The class at National Aviation University was small but attentive and sharp. One of the students, Irina, was with me two years ago in the same class (held, incidentally in the same lecture room).

Olga Prepares to Battle the Thought Police

Yesterday, Olga was very indignant when she heard that the Metro officer had ordered me not to take photographs of the statues of the artists, writers, musicians and scientists featured in the Universityet Metro Station. When she met me this morning in the station she immediately suggested that I finish taking pictures of all of the statues. I said that it was okay, and I didn't mind, but she insisted, and then said, "If you are challenged again by the officer, I will ask him by what right he would deny you the privilege of taking photographs!" So I proceeded to take the remaining pictures, albeit with a wary glance over my shoulder should my Antagonist confront me again today. But my Protector, Olga, appeared ready to go to battle for me, and despite her diminuitive stature, she is a real fighter.

I finished my pictures, just as the Antagonist appeared in the archway. I was able to quickly take his picture to complete my set before he spotted me. The series is suitable for framing.

"Keep Your Hands and Arms Inside the Vehicle At All Times"

It is difficult to describe the speed with which the Metro cars arrive in their various stations, and the speed with which they depart. Yesterday I barely got on the car when the tail of my overcoat was caught in the door. Two days ago I saw an old woman fall in the doorway and she was only rescued by three men just before the doors closed. Olga tells me that the Metro can be a dangerous place for children, and that is very nerve-wracking escorting a child by the hand into this underground world. This video was taken this morning at the Universityet Metro Station. Note that this is not rush hour, and so the number of riders is unusually small. It is said that over one and a half million people ride Kyiv's Metro system each day.

(Incidentally, the English speaking voice you hear faintly in the background is the Protector, Olga, urging me to take more pictures of the statues in the Metro station so that the Antagonist will emerge from his lair to challenge me again.)

The Literature Police in the Universityet Metro Station

This morning as I was passing through the Universityet Metro station, I noticed for the first time the beautiful and ornate artwork of this station. Most of the Metro stations are like underground public cathedrals, built during the Soviet era as kind of monuments to the state. Each station has a different motif and style. The Universityet station, I now see, has a literary theme in keeping with its name and proximity to the Taras Schevchenko University and other schools in the district. I was fascinated by a series of a dozen or more large busts which flank the two walls of the central underground chamber, and so I got out my digital camera and started taking pictures. An officer in a blue uniform with an officious little cap came running up to me, shouting for me to stop taking pictures. He didn't explain what the great harm would be in taking pictures of the busts of Pushkin and Tolstoy and other Russian writers, and I didn't ask him. I suppose that the stifling totalitarian mindset of seventy years of communist tyranny are hard to shake off. I only wish I had been able to take a picture of the little minion who reprimanded me.

Teaching at Київський міжнародний університет

Today I lectured in the early afternoon at Київський міжнародний університет (Kyiv International University). I met Olga a little after noon on the platform at the Universityet Metro station, and we continued on to the Schulyavska Station. From there it was a short walk to the campus on Lvivska Street. It was snowing moderately during our trip, and the sidewalks were still unplowed from the weekend snowstorm, and the walking was a little labored at some points. I pressed a young man into service at the entrance to the main building to take this picture of me and my "handler," Olga Kupriyevych.


This was a day when Olga's expert guidance was especially appreciated, as we had to traverse a bewildering course to get to two far-flung campuses.


We had a brief power outage after we had arrived at the University and as I was starting to set up for my lecture. For a moment I thought we would have to move to some windows at the back of the classroom to proceed, but the outage was soon over and we were underway.



The students in this class are very sharp, and their English is excellent. I thought that there were a few members of this class who showed outstanding promise, particularly a young man named Oleg, who is standing second to my right wearing a light blue pullover sweater. Afterward a few members of the class stayed behind to ask some very insightful questions, showing an excellent comprehension of both the jury system and the tensions related to its implementation into the Ukrainian legal system.

There was much good humor in this group, and teaching them was very enjoyable. For example, I made a comment about the fact that most of the young Ukrainian women I had seen were wearing high heels in the snow. This brought a laugh, and one of the young women, Helena, showed us her very narrow steel high heeled boots (she is second from my left in the photograph, wearing black with a knotted pearl necklace, and if you click on the picture you can see her very interesting heels). As a reward, I gave her the narrowest American pen that I had in my gift bag. I understand that the teenage daughter of one of the previous judges was so impressed by the variety of leather boots with high heels worn by Ukrainian women, that she said she was going to the bootshop around the corner and buy herself a pair.


This group seemed to me to be the most open and outgoing of all of the groups I have taught thus far, which bodes well for their comfort "on stage" as advocates in the courtroom. After their presentations on Thursday we will see if this early assessment holds up.

Teaching at the Академії адвокатури України

Today was the first day of teaching. The first assignment was at 11:00 a.m. at Академії адвокатури (the Ukrainian Academy of Advocacy), a private law school specializing in the training of defense attorneys, with a student body of a little over a thousand. I had agreed to meet Olga at the Universityet Metro station, so left the apartment at about 10:10, boarded the Metro at Lva Tolstovo, switched to the red line at Maidan/Kreshchatik, then on to Universityet. It was my first experience in the Metro during the prime working hours. When the doors to the subway cars open, there is a tremendous press to both enter and exit. It then appears that the car is packed, like sardines in a can, but people continue to plunge in through the open doors, literally pressing the crowd back into the car. I got in myself, and quickly found that I should have remained by the door. After two stops, I was about in the middle of the car, and so when my stop came up, I had to put my briefcase over my head and push my way out.

It is interesting to observe the throngs of people as they ride the very long escalators up and down from the surface (the one at Universityet must be easily 500 feet long. Not a word is spoken, each individual rider lost in his or her own world.

The Academy is a pleasant building, with arched lecture rooms containing fireplaces. I lectured for an hour and twenty minutes on closing arguments, receiving many questions from the students. The group was unusually small because of finals, but it was a nice and pleasant way to break me in as a visiting lecturer. Afterward the department head and another professor from the school invited me to join them for "tea" in the on-site commissary. She seemed to know all about Utah, and told me that she had recently visited Salt Lake City, and had been to the "Temple" to hear the organ play and the choir sing. I told her that my sister sings in the choir.

Overall, I am very impressed with the students. Their command of English is amazing. I used a few English references which need a Russian/Ukrainian translation (such as when I talked about Gerry Spence's use of a three legged milking stool in jury summation to illustrate the prosecution's burden. The Russian word for milking stool is доения стула.

Law Schools Where I Will Teach

My schedule has me teaching at the following Kyiv law schools:

• Academy of Advocates:
  Академії адвокатури України
  Taras Schevchenko Blvd, 27
  01032 Київ, бульвар Тараса Шевченка, 27
  8-044-234-4242
  metro stop –University (Red Line)


• Vadym Hetman Kyiv National Economic University
  Київський нацiональний економiчний унiверситет
  м. Київ, Проспект перемоги 54/1
  38 044 4564142
  Metro stop - Shulyavka (red line)


• Kyiv International University
  Київський міжнародний університет
  49, Lvivska St.,
  Kyiv, 03179,
  8 044 450-06-31
  metro stop- Zhytomrska (Red Line)


• National Aviation University
  Національний авіаційний Університет
  Ukraine, Kiev, Kosmonavta Komarova Ave. 1
  03058
  8 044 406-79-01
  metro stop – not available


• Economics and Law University
  Університет Економіка та Права "КРОК"
  Lagerna Street, 30-32
  03113, Kyiv - 133
  8 044 455 57-57
  metro stop – Beresteyska (Red Line)

I teach Monday through Thursday, commuting from campus to campus, usually on the Metro, or underground subway system. I will present four lectures of about an hour and twenty minutes at each of the five schools.