Dr. Olena Morozova is a linguist and scholar of Ukrainian Studies whose teaching and research explore the relationships among language, culture, identity, and social change. Drawing on insights from linguistics, literary and film studies, psychology, sociology, and cognitive science, she examines how people make sense of themselves, their histories, and the world around them.

Dr. Morozova is Professor at V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, Ukraine, where she has taught since 1975. From 2022 to 2025, she served as Assistant Professor (Limited Term) of Ukrainian Studies at UBC and has been Lecturer in Ukrainian Studies since 2025. Since joining UBC in 2022, she has spearheaded the revival of Ukrainian Studies through the development of Ukrainian language instruction, the creation of new interdisciplinary courses, and curriculum initiatives, re-establishing the field after more than two decades without dedicated Ukrainian Studies programming.

At UBC, Dr. Morozova teaches Ukrainian language as well as interdisciplinary courses on Ukrainian and Eastern European culture, literature, media, memory, and war. Drawing on her ongoing collaboration with colleagues in Ukraine, she brings contemporary perspectives into the classroom, offering students insight into a society navigating war, resilience, and rapid change. Her content courses examine how language, cultural narratives, and media representations shape understandings of history, identity, and current events, with particular attention to Russia’s war against Ukraine and the information environments that accompany armed conflict. In her language courses, she emphasizes practical communication and cultural engagement, helping students develop linguistic skills through meaningful real-world contexts while making Ukrainian accessible to learners from diverse backgrounds and levels of experience.

Through her teaching and research, Dr. Morozova seeks to help students understand the power of language in shaping human experience and to provide meaningful pathways into the study of Ukraine, its culture, history, and its place in the contemporary world.

Dr. Morozova’s research lies at the intersection of language, cognition, culture, and society. Her work examines how language shapes collective memory, cultural identities, and public understandings of major social and political events, with particular attention to Russia’s war against Ukraine. She investigates how narratives, media discourse, and symbolic representations shape perceptions of history, conflict, and belonging. Her scholarship also explores innovative approaches to language pedagogy that integrate linguistic learning with cultural knowledge and lived experience.

Dr. Morozova is the author of more than 200 scholarly and educational publications, including a monograph, book chapters, peer-reviewed journal articles, a textbook, and numerous conference papers. The publications below constitute a representative selection of Dr. Morozova’s work, highlighting her research on Ukrainian Studies, discourse, identity, language pedagogy, and the relationship between language, culture, and society.

Journal Articles

Morozova, O., & Oliynyk, N. (2025). Discursive Practices of Cultural Heritage in Shaping Ukrainian National Identity. Topical Issues in Foreign Philology, 23, 96–102. https://doi.org/10.32782/2410-0927-2025-23-13

Morozova, O., & Oliynyk, N. (2025). Decolonizing Space and Discourse: Ukraine’s Language Policy in Action. KELM: Knowledge, Education, Law, Management, 7(75), 52–56. https://doi.org/10.51647/kelm.2025.7.7

Morozova, O., Meleshchenko, O., & Oliynyk, N. (2025). Digital Transformation of Language Education: Insights from the European DigiFLEd Project. Studies in Comparative Education, 1–2, 33–43. https://doi.org/10.31499/2306-5532.1-2.2025.346718

Morozova, O., & Morozova, I. (2026). War Crimes against the Environment through the Lens of Cinematic Discourse: A Case Study of the Kakhovka Dam Breach within an Ecolinguistic Framework. Modern Philology, 5, 200–205. https://doi.org/10.32782/modernph-2026.5.29

Morozova, O. (2019). Ukraine’s Journey to Europe: Strategic Macronarrative and Conceptual Metaphors. European Security, 28(3), 323–340. https://doi.org/10.1080/09662839.2019.1648255

Morozova, O., Panasenko, N., Gałkowski, A., et al. (2020). COVID-19 as a Media-cum-Language Event: Cognitive, Communicative, and Cross-Cultural Aspects. Lege Artis: Language Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow, 5(2), 122–210. https://doi.org/11.34135/lartis.19.4.1.04

Book chapters

Morozova, O., & Pinych, I. (2025). ANGER in Ukrainian: He Is Getting into a Bottle. In Z. Kövecses, R. Benczes, & V. Szeld (Eds.), Metaphors of ANGER across Languages: Universality and Variation (Vol. 2, pp. 1321–1396). Berlin/Boston: De Gruyter. DOI:  doi.org/10.1515/9783111559780-026 https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783111559780-026/html

Morozova, O. (2017). Transparency Across Semiotic Modes: An Ecological Stance. In E. Chrzanowska-Kluczewska & O. Vorobyova (Eds.), Language – Literature – the Arts: A Cognitive-Semiotic Interface (pp. 49–68). Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang. https://www.peterlang.com/view/9783631702505/xhtml/chapter02.xhtml

2024–25, UBC Killam Teaching Prize: Awarded in recognition of outstanding teaching at the University of British Columbia.

2000, Fulbright Visiting Professor: University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona.

2000, Open Society Institute Research Grant.

2023–24, CENES Excellence in Mentorship Award: Awarded by the Department of Central, Eastern, and Northern European Studies, University of British Columbia.

2021, Medal for Service to Karazin University: Awarded by V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University for distinguished service to the university.

2003, Certificate of Honour, Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine: Awarded in recognition of contributions to teaching and scholarship.

1999, Mayor’s Commendation, City of Kharkiv: Awarded in recognition of contributions to the development of sister-city relations between Kharkiv and Cincinnati.

Dr. Morozova has supervised eight doctoral dissertations in linguistics and related fields, with successful completions between 1993 and 2021. Her doctoral students have pursued research in discourse studies, cognitive linguistics, language and culture, and related areas of linguistic inquiry.