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Jörundur Garðar Hilmarsson

On June 5–6, Vilnius University (VU) will host a conference titled “Hidden Bridges, Rediscovered Paths: Iceland – Lithuania Through Time” dedicated to the memory of scholar and translator Jörundur Garðar Hilmarsson (1946–1992) and the 35th anniversary of the reestablishment of diplomatic relations between Lithuania and Iceland. 

The Icelandic linguist Jörundur G. Hilmarsson made a significant contribution to the development of cultural and political ties between Iceland and Lithuania. He initiated the first Icelandic-language seminar at VU and the first Lithuanian-language seminar at the University of Iceland, was the first to translate a Lithuanian book into Icelandic, and became the first Honorary Consul of Lithuania in Iceland. He would have turned 80 this year.

The opening presentation of the conference, titled “Morality and Expediency: Icelandic-Lithuanian Relations, 1918–1988,” will be delivered by Guðni Thorlacius Jóhannesson, former President of Iceland (2016–2024) and professor at the University of Iceland. 

Eight other guest scholars from Iceland, Lithuania, Norway, and Taiwan will present their research on the shared cultural memory of Lithuania and Iceland, lesser-known connections between Lithuania and Iceland dating back to the Viking Age, which took unexpected forms during the interwar period and World War II, were nurtured during the Cold War, and flourished after 1991. 

We will hear about the origins of Icelandic studies at VU, Icelandic literature in Lithuanian and Lithuanian literature in Icelandic, the parallels and differences between the ideologies and practices of language policy in Iceland and Lithuania, teaching methodologies for the Icelandic and Lithuanian languages, Jörundur G. Hilmarsson’s scholarly work and cultural legacy. 

The event will be officially opened by Harald Aspelund, Ambassador of the Republic of Iceland to Lithuania; Prof. Rimvydas Petrauskas, Rector of Vilnius University; Dalius Radis, Honorary Consul of Iceland; Prof. Mindaugas Kvietkauskas, Dean of the Faculty of Philology; and Dr Erika Sausverde, Director of the Institute for the Languages and Cultures of the Baltic at the Faculty of Philology.

The conference will also feature the opening of the exhibition “Intertwined Realities” by artist Þorgerður Jörundsdóttir (the daughter of Jörundur G. Hilmarsson, who lived with him in Lithuania in 1971) and an exhibition dedicated to the memory of Jörundur G. Hilmarsson. Conference participants will also take part in the opening discussion of the “Takk, Island”(“Thank You, Iceland”) festival, titled “Between Lithuania and Iceland: Shared History of Politics, Culture, and Lives”.

A detailed program of the conference and accompanying events can be found here. 

All events will be held in English.

The DN34 International Conference on Discourse, Identity and Polarisation will be held on November 10–12 2026 at Vilnius University in person and online via MS Teams. The call for papers and panel proposals is open until June 1st 2026 (extended).

The conference provides an interdisciplinary forum for exploring how identities, subjectivities and social divisions are discursively constructed, negotiated and challenged in increasingly polarised societies. We welcome contributions from scholars at all career stages working in the transdisciplinary field of Critical Discourse Studies.

The conference will also feature two pre-conference workshops on 9 November aimed especially at doctoral candidates, postdoctoral researchers and other early-career scholars.

Further information about the themes, abstract guidelines, registration and workshops can be found on the conference website: https://www.dare.flf.vu.lt/call-for-papers

Iceland holds an almost mythical place in Lithuanian cultural memory as a political David – a small but courageous nation that was the first to express political support for Lithuania’s independence through the Icelandic Althing’s vote on 11 February 1991, followed by the establishment of diplomatic relations in August of the same year.

The year 2026 will mark the 35th anniversary of these historic milestones. Since then, political, business, and cultural ties between the two countries have steadily deepened. Today, an Icelandic community has taken root in Lithuania, while the Lithuanian diaspora in Iceland ranks among the country’s largest foreign communities. Diplomatic relations are maintained through ambassadors accredited to each other’s states, complemented by active honorary consulates in both countries.

However, little is known about the earlier history of these ties, which can be traced back to the Viking era, took intriguing turns during the interwar period and Word War Two, and persisted throughout the Cold War. A key figure who maintained this thread at a time when no official links were possible – since Lithuania did not exist as an independent state – was the linguist and specialist in Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, and pioneer of Tocharian studies, Jörundur G. Hilmarsson. He was the first to conduct the Icelandic seminar at Vilnius University, the first to teach Lithuanian at the University of Iceland, the first translator of a Lithuanian book into Icelandic, and the first Honorary Consul of Lithuania in Iceland. He would have turned 80 in 2026, and this conference is dedicated to his memory.

The conference will feature a series of talks examining the parallels, contrasts, and interactions between the two countries over time, while also addressing topics directly connected to Jörundur Hilmarsson’s academic and cultural legacy. The conference will also feature an exhibition dedicated to Jörundur Hilmarsson’s memory, followed by a second exhibition by the Icelandic artist Þorgerður Jörundsdóttir who is Jörundur Hilmarsson’s daughter.

The detailed program of the conference and accompanying events can be found here. All events will be held in English.

On May 14, the Faculty of Philology at Vilnius University (VU) will host an inter-faculty academic debate “Discourse and Society.” The debates will bring together teams of undergraduate and graduate students from the Faculties of Philology, Philosophy and Communication, as well as the School of Business into a single discussion space. Such academic events contribute to Vilnius University’s goal of strengthening an open, dialogue-based culture of study and fostering a critically thinking academic community.

The event is the final part of the university-wide course “Academic Debates,” offered within the English Philology programme at the Faculty of Philology. The goal of the debates is to strengthen a culture of critical thinking at the university, encourage reasoned academic discussion and foster collaboration across different fields of study. Drawing on their skills in argumentation, public speaking and facilitating academic dialogue, students will debate three topical issues: the challenges of social competitiveness, the discourse on reproductive rights and the phenomenon of hyperreality created by the media.

Dr. Linara Bartkuvienė, chair of the English Studies programme, notes that “academic debates give students the opportunity to test themselves in a real intellectual space where different experiences, values and argumentation strategies converge. This year’s topics invite participants not only to analyse the challenges arising in society but also to speak responsibly about complex social issues. Debates foster academic courage, the ability to articulate one’s position reasonably, and the pursuit of dialogue even when opinions diverge.” 

The event’s ambassador, Prof. Mindaugas Kvietkauskas, Dean of the Faculty of Philology at Vilnius University, emphasises that “the university is, first and foremost, a place where reasoned discourse about society and its future is born. Academic debates allow students to transcend the boundaries of their study programmes and learn from one another, dialogue across different disciplines becomes an important part of contemporary university culture. Such events strengthen the tradition of critical thinking and remind us that the academic community is built through open and respectful discussion.” 

The debating students will be evaluated by an independent panel of experts composed of professionals in their respective fields: Mark Pass, a diplomat from the Embassy of the United Kingdom; Prof. Vilmantė Pakalniškienė, Vice Rector for Community Affairs at Vilnius University; Assoc. Prof. Karolis Ažukaitis, Vice Dean for Research and Innovation at the Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University; and Dr. Silvia Peterssen, a Marie Skłodowska–Curie postdoctoral fellow. The debate will take place on May 14 at 5:00 p.m. in the V. Krėvė Auditorium of the Faculty of Philology (Universiteto St. 5). The event will be moderated by Associate Professor Liudmila Arcimavičienė of the Faculty of Philology. The debate will be conducted in English.

The lecture will explore the concepts of coercive narratives and narrative causality as represented in Terry Pratchett’s novels Wyrd Sisters and Witches Abroad. A speculative fiction model of a textualised world provides a clear framework for analysing how texts influence the human mind at multiple levels, from spelling and phonetics to narrative clichés. The lecture will demonstrate strategies of resisting propaganda: identification, interruption, and refusal -- as depicted in Pratchett’s works. It will also include a comparative linguocultural and lexicographic analysis of translations of coercive narrative fragments into Slavic languages.

Yevheniia Kanchura is Head of the Department of Theoretical and Applied Linguistics at Zhytomyr Polytechnic State University (Ukraine), where she teaches literature and translation studies https://ztu.edu.ua/teacher/189.html.

She is also Deputy Head of the Centre for Fantasy Literature Studies at the Shevchenko Institute of Literature, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Her research focuses on postmodern fantasy, comparative literature, and translation studies, with particular attention to the methodology and terminology of fantasy studies and models of secondary worlds. In 2023, she was a Visiting Research Fellow at the Trinity Long Room Hub (Trinity College Dublin) as part of the Pratchett Project.

The event will take place on May 14 at 1:00 PM in the Krėvė Auditorium.

The 2nd Student Conference, held on April 23, brought together a large and diverse academic community – the opening ceremony in the Donelaitis Auditorium was so well attended that there was not enough seating for everyone.

Building on last year’s initiative, the conference continues to grow: this year, participants included students from Vilnius University, LCC International University, Erasmus students from Italy and Poland, as well as students from Kazakhstan, further strengthening international academic dialogue.

The conference became a vibrant academic space in which students acted as active contributors – presenting their research, engaging in discussions, reflecting, and evaluating their academic development. This experience provided not only an opportunity to rehearse for thesis defences, but also to recognise the value of their work and identify areas for further improvement.

We are also pleased that the conference attracted international attention – Her Excellency Jeanette Sautner, Ambassador of Canada to Lithuania, and Robin Gingerich from LCC International University participated in the event and have already expressed interest in the upcoming Third Conference.

We sincerely thank everyone who contributed – both lecturers and students – to the development and continuity of this initiative.

Learn more 

On April 28, we invite you to an event dedicated to celebrating the Days of the Georgian Language at Vilnius University and marking the tenth anniversary of teaching the Georgian language at the university!

The opening session will feature welcome remarks by VU Rector Rimvydas Petrauskas, President of Caucasus University Kakha Shengelia, Ambassador of Lithuania to Georgia (2020–2024) Andrius Kalindra, Dean of the Faculty of Philology at VU Mindaugas Kvietkauskas, and Prof. Dr. Vilija Targamadzė, Member of the Seimas.

Presentations: 

1. Roma Kriaučiūnienė (Vilnius University, Lithuania) – Opening the Door to Georgian: Teaching and Learning at Vilnius University
2. Mariam Manjgaladze (Cauacasus University, Georgia) – "I Love Georgian – My State Language!": Project Based at Vilnius University in 2016
3. Birutė Jonuškaitė (Lithuanian Writers’ Union, Lithuania) – Georgian-Lithuanian Literary Relations
4. Violeta Meiliūnaitė (State Commission of the Lithuanian Language, Lithuania) – Commonness of the Lithuanian Language: Between Values ​​and Pragmatics
5. Jolanta Zabarskaitė (Kazimieras Simonavičius University, Lithuania) – Why Handwriting Becomes Essential in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
6. Nestan Bagauri (Georgian Calligraphers Association, Georgia) – The Calligrapher's Heritage: History and Modernity
7. Laima Niciene (Vilnius University, Lithuania, Former Student) – My Experience - Studying Georgian Language and Culture.

The event will conclude with an awards ceremony recognizing outstanding contributions to the promotion of the Georgian language and literature, as well as honoring the winners of the Georgian Dictation Contest and presenting certificates to participants of the Calligraphy Masterclass (registration is open until April 24).

Guests will also have the opportunity to visit an exhibition, enjoy a Georgian folk performance, and socialize over wine and refreshments.

If you plan to participate, please fill out the registration form.

The event will take place from 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM in the K. Donelaitis Auditorium.

Organized by:

• Caucasus University
• Vilnius University, Faculty of Philology, Institute of Foreign Languages

Supported by:

• Lithuanian Writers' Union
• Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania to Georgia
• Georgian Calligraphers Association
• Publishing House "Intellect".