Invitation to Odes/sa’s Own Oxford Debate
20 December 2025
Motion: This House believes that Ukraine needs a cultural front.
In the Oxford tradition — a great democratic tradition of free and spirited argument — which we bring to Odes/sa, our debate begins with a provocative motion — which half our speakers will support and half will oppose. The motion is not a statement of the organisers’ belief, but an invitation to argument. 
The Ukrainian Cosmopolis is an international intellectual collective based in Odes/sa, dedicated to upholding Ukraine’s culture of democracy — a culture of free, open, and spirited discussion. We believe that the great questions facing Ukrainian society today should not be settled by slogans, decrees, or rules imposed from above, but argued directly — openly, publicly, intelligently, and in good faith.
We insist that disagreement can unite rather than divide. In a time of growing polarisation, we hold that honest argument — even when passionate or fierce — can build trust and civic solidarity. Parties to a dispute need not agree in the end, but a serious, reasoned, and open exchange is the surest path to mutual understanding.
Why this motion?
The idea of a “cultural front” has become one of the most powerful — and divisive — ideas in Ukraine today. For some, it means that writers, artists, and scholars should join the war effort by turning culture into a tool of resistance. For others, it risks turning culture itself into a battlefield — replacing creativity and freedom with propaganda and control. Worse still, many fear that this approach leads to a war not against Russia, but against Ukraine’s own citizens.
That is precisely why this question must be debated openly. It touches the deepest moral and civic foundations of the country. We believe such disagreements should be argued directly — sharply, passionately, even combatively — but always in a spirit of respect, curiosity, and civic trust.
Two teams of speakers — Ukrainian and international — will take opposing sides on the motion. The audience will vote before and after the debate to see whether arguments have changed minds.
Whatever views we enter with and whatever we leave with — whatever we mean by “culture” and whatever we mean by “front” — we are united by a shared aim: to express the true spirit of Ukrainian democracy.
That spirit is best shown in our ability to debate the hardest questions at the hardest of times.
We warmly invite you to take part — in person in Odes/sa or online.
For those travelling from Ukraine and Europe, we have funding for travel and accommodation in Odes/sa. For those travelling from abroad we can help organise affordable, high-quality medical insurance.