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On March 4-11, Linas Didvalis, Associate Professor at the Department of Cultural Studies, Faculty of Humanities, Vytautas Magnus University, visited Cracow University in Poland. During the visit, the students were presented with the documentary film "Visas of Life. The Chain of Courage“ that tells the story of the beginning of the Second World War, when Jewish refugees arriving in Lithuania from Poland were helped by the Japanese consul in Kaunas, Chiune Sugihara, and a wide network of other people. Dr. Didvalis also gave lectures on Lithuanian-Japanese relations and the peculiarities of the East Asian region. In between the lectures, there were meetings with researchers, lecturers, international relations coordinators. This allowed to exchange experiences and discuss future plans.

On 4-11 March, 2023, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Laima Anglickienė and Dr. Giedrė Barkauskaitė from the Department of Cultural Studies at Vytautas Magnus University were visiting the Department of Linguistics and Baltic Studies at Masaryk University in Brno. They gave lectures on Lithuanian traditions and customs of calendar festivals, Lithuanian ethno choreography and other topics. Students and teachers of the Baltic studies programme also enjoyed traditional folk dances and songs, tasted Lithuanian food.

Students and teachers of the Baltic studies programme

From 23 February to 1 March, Agnieszka Rembialkowska, a Lithuanian language teacher at the Baltic Centre of Eötvös Loránd University, came from Budapest for a short-term visit in Lithuania.

From 23 February to 27 February 2023, Greta Lemanaitė-Deprati, lecturer at the Lithuanian Cultural Centre of Krakow Jagiellonian University, was visiting Vilnius and Vilnius university.

On 20-27 January, assoc. prof. dr. Laimutė Anglickienė and dr. Jurgita Macijauskaitė-Bonda from Vytautas Magnus University paid a visit to INALCO (National Institute of Oriental Languages and Civilizations in Paris), where they met students studying the Lithuanian language and culture and delivered a series of lectures on Lithuanian folklore, customs, and traditions.

Assoc. prof. dr. Laimutė Anglickienė and dr. Jurgita Macijauskaitė-Bonda from VMU

On 18-31 January 2023, Alyona Shyba from the Centre of Lithuanian Studies at Chernovcy National Jurij Fedkovich Pedagogical University was visiting Vytautas Magnus University. In Vilnius, she met with Vilma Leonavičienė, Head of the Centre for Lithuanian Studies and International Programmes, to discuss further cooperation and the inclusion of Ukrainian students in VMU summer and winter Lithuanian language and culture studies. The visit also included a visit to the Ukrainian Centre, established in cooperation with the Embassy of Ukraine, the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Lithuania and Vytautas Magnus University.

In Kaunas, meetings were held with Ilona Kazlauskaitė, Head of the International Relations Department of Vytautas Magnus University, and representatives of the Faculty of Humanities implementing the project, Giedrius Janauskas, Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Humanities, Greta Garnytė, Head of the International Projects, and Daiva Kielaitė, Project Coordinator, who discussed the remaining activities of the project and the involvement of Ukrainians in them, as well as the possible activities to be carried out at the end of the project. Alyona Shyba also met with students from Chernovcy National Jurij Fedkovich Pedagogical University who were studying Lithuanian in Vilnius and Kaunas at the time. The students talked about their studies and their progress.

In Vilnius and Kaunas, shy also visited the libraries of Vilnius University and Vytautas Magnus University, where she collected materials for teaching Lithuanian Language and Culture.

Photographs from Alyona Shyba's personal archive.

International academic conference dedicated to the 700th Anniversary of Vilnius

Vilnius University and the Institute of Lithuanian Literature and Folklore

29-30 May 2023

Scholars, doctoral students and young researchers from the international Baltic studies centres, and Lithuanian researchers, are invited to participate in the international academic conference “Urban Cultural Space: The Baltic Narratives”. The purpose of the conference is to present and discuss the latest research on urban literature and culture, urban identity and memory narratives of the Baltic region, and to analyse the multi-ethnic culture and literature of Vilnius in the context of other Baltic cities. We propose the following main topics for presentations:

• Urban literature of the Baltic region

• Vilnius literary and cultural discourse

• Narratives of identity and memory of the Baltic cities

• Cultural and literary connections of the cities in the Baltic region

• Baltic images of urban space and their comparative studies 
 
Conference venue: Vilnius University Faculty of Philology

Conference languages: Lithuanian and English

Send the title and abstract of your presentation (up to 300 words) by March 12, 2023 to
laurusaitel@gmail.com. We will confirm your participation by March 20, 2023

For more information: CALL FOR PAPERS.

More

On 8-15 October, 2022, assoc. prof. dr. Laima Anglickienė and dr. Giedrė Barkauskaitė from the Department of Cultural Studies at Vytautas Magnus University were visiting the Baltic Center at Prague Charles University. They gave lectures on Lithuanian traditions and customs of calendar festivals, Lithuanian ethno choreography and other topics. In between the lectures there were meetings with lecturers and students in which future plans were discussed.

Assoc. prof. dr. Laima Anglickienė and dr. Giedrė Barkauskaitė

On December 3-10, Linas Didvalis, Associate Professor at the Department of Cultural Studies, Faculty of Humanities, Vytautas Magnus University, visited Adam Mickiewicz University in Poland. During the visit, the students were presented with the documentary film "Visas of Life. The Chain of Courage“ that tells the story of the beginning of the Second World War, when Jewish refugees arriving in Lithuania from Poland were helped by the Japanese consul in Kaunas, Chiune Sugihara, and a wide network of other people. A discussion with the students after the film revealed the links with today's events, when Russia's war against Ukraine has forced millions of Ukrainians to seek refuge abroad. There were also meetings with researchers and lecturers and discussion of future plans. Spending time at Adam Mickiewicz University allowed not only to share knowledge but also to strengthen ties that were inevitably weakened during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. Alyona Shyba organised a contest „Yellow, green and red in everyday life“ for the students of the Centre of Baltic Studies at Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University. The winners of the contest are students currently studying Lithuania at Vytautas Magnus University. They were happy to receive books published by the Institute of Lithuanian Literature and Folklore.

Photos by assoc. prof. dr. Jurga Trimonytė-Bikelienė