News

The 12th Baltic Student Conference "Bridges in the Baltics" will take place this year in Rīga, Latvia.

We warmly invite students in the fields of Baltic linguistics, philology, literature, folklore, and culture to submit their abstracts by June 30, 2025, using the online form below:
https://forms.gle/3wVJV6u6DPtRQDsK7

Dates: July 7, 2025 – August 5, 2025

Formats: Kaunas | Vilnius | Online

Registration deadlines: 

• April 18, 2025 for tuition fee waivers (for online courses) or scholarships (for contact courses) candidates.
• May 1, 2025 for paying candidates who need a visa (for contact courses).
• June 1, 2025 for paying candidates who don’t need a visa (for contact or online courses).

For more information see here.

15 scholarships are available for foreigners and foreigners of Lithuanian origin (except Russian and Belarusian citizens).

30 scholarships are availabe to students, teachers and researchers from Lithuanian Language (Baltic) Centres (except Russian and Belarusian citizens).

Deadline to apply for the scholarship: 6 May 2025.

For more information on eligibility requirements and application procedure see here.

For more information on semester studies see here.

A research group “Linguistic, Literary and Cultural Research” organises an international interdisciplinary scientific conference "The Region: History, Culture, Language" on the 15th–16th of May, 2025.

Researchers of different fields are invited to participate and discuss the subject using different perspectives.

Suggested topics:

• Methodologies and methods in regional research;
• Regions in historical research;
• Cultural and communication memory in the region;
• Regional policy and governance;
• Region in ethnology, anthropology and cultural research;
• Regional identity, mentality and self-awareness;
• Ethnographic peculiarities of regions;
• Linguistic understanding of the region, territorial and social dialects, language specifics;
• Regional literature and regional authors, regions and regionality in literature;
• Traditional and contemporary applied and visual art expression in the region;
• Development opportunities for the design sector in the region;
• Regions in the context of informal art education;
• The specifics of musical folklore in the regions;
• The peculiarities of creation, dissemination and perception of professional music in the regions.

Conference languages: Lithuanian, English.

The conference will be held at the Šiauliai Academy (Vytauto st. 84, Šiauliai) and online via the Microsoft Teams.

Articles, prepared based on the conference presentations, will be published in the online journal Acta humanitarica academiae Saulensis (ISSN 2783-6789).

Registration forms including a summary of the presentation (200–300 words) should be submitted by email: regina.kvasyte@sa.vu.lt till the 17th of April, 2025.

Available at: https://www.sa.vu.lt/renginiai/1770-14th-international-interdisciplinary-scientific-conference-the-region-history-culture-language

Authors will be informed about the inclusion of their papers into the conference programme till the 30th of April, 2025.

We are pleased to invite foreigners and foreign Lithuanians to register for Lithuanian language and culture summer courses!

Please complete the registration form by 20 April.

We invite you to submit papers for the 14th International Congress of Balticists on current topics in Baltic linguistics and related fields. The International Congress of Balticists is organized every five years in Vilnius or Riga; in 2025 it will take place at Vilnius University.

Abstracts can be submitted either for the general session or for one of these workshops:
• At the intersection of historical morphology and syntax: The Baltic verb
from a diachronic perspective
• Baltic-language digital resources in grammar research
• Current topics in Baltic phonetics and phonology
• Digital approaches to Old Baltic linguistic monuments
• Germanic–Balto-Slavic: Phylum or phantom?
• Latgalian and other regional varieties of the Baltic languages:
Interdisciplinary solutions and research opportunities
• Meaning in Baltic languages: A cognitive perspective
• Prosody and segments in Baltic comparative grammar
• The tradition and perspective of Baltic onomastic research

Abstracts are to be submitted on the Congress website: https://www.baltistukongresas.flf.vu.lt/en/abstract-submission

Deadlines:
• Submission of abstracts – by June 1, 2025
• Notification of accepted papers – by July 1, 2025

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We kindly invite you to participate in the 30th international scientific conference of Jonas Jablonskis “Language and Linguistics: Continuity of Tradition and Emerging Trends”.

Please submit participant forms and abstracts (200–300 words) here: https://forms.gle/gRULm1Do3pxTYtyLA. Deadline for the submission of registration form and abstract – 20 May 2025.

For more information please visit website https://lki.lt/kvieciame-dalyvauti-30-ojoje.../

The 7th International Conference of Applied Linguistics Languages and People will be held from 25–27 September 2025 at the Faculty of Philology, Vilnius University.

Paper proposals are welcome across a range of disciplines, including sociolinguistics, language policy, discourse analysis, translation, pragmatics, language teaching and learning, language testing, language acquisition, lexicography, corpus linguistics, cognitive linguistics, and more. 

Deadline for the submission of abstracts: 17 February 2025.

For more information, click here: https://litaka.lt

Contact person: lina.vaskeviciene@flf.vu.lt   

INVITATION

On 20-21 November 2025, the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities of Klaipeda University will host the 8th International Conference "The Interaction of Tradition and Modernity", dedicated to the 200th anniversary of the publication of the first collection of Lithuanian folk songs - Ludwik Rhesa's "Dainos, oder littauische Volkslieder" (Königsberg, 1825).

The conference theme and dedication open up opportunities for a variety of presentations. This event is dedicated to the latest research on the interaction of tradition and modernity in the indicated areas and to a scholarly dialogue on the significance of folk creativity and culture, both from a historical perspective and in the current context.

We kindly invite You to participate: The Interaction of Tradition and Modernity | Klaipeda University

Registration form:  Konferencijos „Tradicijos ir modernybės sąveika 2025“ dalyvio anketa / Application form for "The Interaction of Tradition and Modernity 2025" conference

INVITATION

Since secondary school, Vanesa Feldmane has known that her future would be tied to Lithuania and the Lithuanian language. Despite her visual impairment, Vanesa remains determined to pursue her life goals. Currently, she is studying in Lithuania and feels part of the community here. She hopes to stay in the country, as she appreciates the local language.

The student first developed an interest in the Lithuanian language while still at school. "I have relatives in Lithuania. My grandmother’s brother is Latvian. I thought that it was great that I could communicate with him, but his wife only speaks Lithuanian and Russian, and I don’t speak Russian." So, in her free time after school, Vanesa started learning Lithuanian on her own initiative, listening to YouTube videos and music.

"People, don’t torture yourselves by learning a language through political discussions! During the lockdown, I listened to Lithuanian National Radio and Television broadcasts, so I initially learnt to talk about politics. Later, during university seminars on food, I realised: "Now, I finally get to learn how to talk about this topic," laughed Vanesa.

She is currently pursuing her Master’s degree in Intermedial Studies of Literature at the Faculty of Philology of Vilnius University (VU).

Vanesa Feldmane. Photo from personal archive                                       

Lithuanian language studies in Latvia

Vanesa knew she wanted to study Lithuanian, so there was no hesitation before enrolling in Baltic Philology at the University of Latvia. In addition to learning practical Lithuanian, students there also take courses in Lithuanian literature, folklore, and history, compare Lithuanian and Latvian grammar, and study translation theory. The Centre for Lithuanian Studies at the University of Latvia plays an active role in supporting the academic growth of students by organising research expeditions, collecting the latest Lithuanian literature and publications and hosting Lithuanian-Latvian translation workshops. It serves as a lively bridge for knowledge and cultural exchange between the two countries.

"I’m very happy that my teacher, Edmunds Trumpa, finally helped me fix my Lithuanian grammar. When I started university, I already spoke Lithuanian, but my grammar was kind of all over the place," she recalled.

During the first year of studies, in 2021, Vanesa took part in Lithuanian language and culture courses organised by Vytautas Magnus University. "Next year, my teacher suggested that I go to Vilnius to study Lithuanian there," remarked the student.

Even when she is back in Latvia, Vanesa now communicates exclusively in Lithuanian, speaking Latvian only with her parents and a few friends.

In her final year of secondary school, Vanesa met members of the Lithuanian Association of the Blind and Visually Impaired and found her best friend through Zoom. Now, she has many friends in Lithuania.

"I’m part of a community. These are people with whom I share common interests and can talk about anything. I’d really like to keep living, studying, and working in Lithuania. I truly enjoy Vilnius and its Old Town. The Lithuanian language is worth learning just for the way it sounds. It feels so good to speak Lithuanian," said Vanesa.

Although she is fluent in Lithuanian, some misunderstandings still happen. "For instance, with the names of plants. I told my friend: ‘You know, you could even poison me!". I’m not really on friendly terms with plants; I don’t even know their names in Latvian," she quipped. The student also remembers some funny moments with the word bauda, which in Lithuanian means "a fine" (as in a monetary penalty). In Latvian, the same word denotes "pleasure". It was the first word she learnt.

However, Vanesa does not let these small mistakes bother her – true friends would never laugh at her, even if she slips up.

Studies at Vilnius University

After completing her Bachelor’s degree, Vanesa did not think twice about pursuing her dream of moving to Lithuania. "My colleague and I were exploring study options at Vilnius University when we came across Intermedial Studies of Literature. That summer, I applied to three different programmes, thinking that even if I didn’t get into my first choice, at least I’d be living in Lithuania. It’s amazing – and a bit surreal – that I ended up exactly where I wanted to be and even secured a free study place," said Vanesa.

She is certain that, no matter what happens, her life will always be inseparable from Lithuania.

Vanesa is planning to write her Master’s thesis on gastropoetics: "This is a literature analysis based on descriptions of food and drink found in different texts. I’ll compare Lithuanian and Latvian works, examining how food is depicted and in what contexts it appears."

Vanesa is glad she had the opportunity to read a wealth of Lithuanian literature during her studies at the University of Latvia: "I’ve read "Metai" ("The Seasons") by Kristijonas Donelaitis, "Balta drobulė" ("White Shroud") by Antanas Škėma, and many other works. Since I had already learnt Lithuanian quite well during the lockdown, I could already read books while other students were still grasping the basics. I am deeply grateful to my professor, Edmunds Trumpa, for introducing me to Lithuanian literature. That solid foundation has given me the confidence I need for my studies at Vilnius University.’

When asked whether she has any difficulties finding professional and fiction literature in audio format, Vanesa is quick to respond: "I’ve never had trouble finding what I need at Vilnius University. The Lithuanian Audiosensory Library also has a vast collection of audiobooks, including the latest ones. Of course, you won’t find a book that was published just a week ago, as no one can release it in audio format that fast. In Latvia, just three or four books are turned into audiobooks each month, whereas in Lithuania, that number is far higher every week. Moreover, the Audiosensory Library has provided me with access to bookshare.org, a large database where I can find everything I need for my studies. Of course, the teaching staff are always there to support me as well."

She has been using the resources of the Audiosensory Library since 2020, when a colleague helped set up her account. "Imagine my excitement – being able to download all the books I want right away. All of them and hassle-free!"

Vanesa’s favourite Lithuanian author is Kristina Sabaliauskaitė. "No question! There’s no two ways about it," she added confidently.

According to Vanesa, "People with various disabilities, other than visual impairments, can also thrive at Vilnius University. The VU Disability Affairs Coordinator is an amazing person. She always makes sure everything is tailored to my needs."

This article concludes the series of five articles featuring alumni from centres of Baltic studies in other countries compiled by the Department of Baltic Studies at the VU Faculty of Philology. After graduation, they not only continue to deepen their knowledge of Lithuanian but also integrate the Lithuanian language, literature, and culture into their professional activities.

This article is part of the project "Information and Coordination Portal of Baltic Studies Centres" (No. 1.78 Mr SU-1006) implemented by the Department of Baltic Studies at the VU Institute for the Languages and Cultures of the Baltic and supported by the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport of the Republic of Lithuania.

Dr Veslava Sidaravičienė, Research Assistant at the Department of Baltic Studies of the Institute for the Languages and Cultures of the Baltic of Vilnius University