Historian, PhD. Graduate of the Faculty of History, University of Lviv, Ukraine. In 2001, Iryna Matsevko defended a thesis on the ideology of Neo-Slavism and its reception in the intellectual and political circles of Galicia in the early 20th century. She taught the History of Central and Eastern Europe and Intellectual History at the Faculty of History, University of Lviv, until 2007.
She is a Fellow of the German Institute of History and the Young Scientist Program of the Polish Government (2007-2008), IHS Alumni (Urban Heritage Strategies course 2023).
From 2008 to 2019, Iryna Matsevko was first an academic coordinator and then Deputy Director and Head of the Public History Programs at the Centre for Urban History in Lviv. She then became an independent researcher and manager of cultural projects focused on contested urban memories and current approaches to heritage.
Her professional experience encompasses various formats of public history: developing and coordinating a series of public lectures; organizing discussions and exhibition programmes in Lviv and Kharkiv; engaging wide audiences in dialogue about the multicultural pasts of cities in Ukraine and Eastern Europe; developing new heritage tools for varying professional audiences (methodology and content for city walks for tour guides and museum curators; curation of the memorial sites for municipalities and communities); team member of the Synagogue Space Commemorative Project in Lviv, Ukraine; coordinator of the three-year project “ReHERIT: Common Responsibility for Shared Heritage”. In 2021, she was a co-designer of signs for cultural heritage sites in Uman, Ukraine, and editor of “Uman. (Un)known Stories of the City”, a collection of texts about Uman’s past, memory, and heritage.
In April 2021, Iryna Matsevko joined the Kharkiv School of Architecture as Deputy Vice-Chancellor. In addition, as Humanities Block tutor, she designs courses on the cultural and social contexts of architecture, heritage studies and urban practices.
Academic interests include social and cultural history of Soviet Ukraine and Russia; public history; urban history and heritage focusing on inclusive approaches in research and work with heritage; and heritage practices in relation to sustainable development of cities and communities.
e-mail: [email protected]