News

Dr. Ernesta Kazakėnaitė, a researcher at the Department of Baltic Studies at the Faculty of Philology, says that her recent article on a Sami manuscript, co-authored with her colleague from Uppsala University Prof. Rogier Blokland, is only "a little bit special," but the manuscript's watermarks suggest that it is from the end of the sixteenth century or the first part of the seventeenth century, which means that she has found the oldest surviving Sami manuscript.

"A manuscript booklet in the collections of the National Library of Sweden entitled "Pater noſter: Varijs Linguis" came to my attention when I was working on a book about Latvian prayer in the 16th century and its spread around the world, because it contains 20 prayers, including a Latvian one described by H. Biezais in 1955. The last page of the manuscript is very defective and difficult to read, but I did not want to leave a sentence in the book saying that the text was illegible, so I tried to read it with the methods and technologies I knew. It was not easy because the spelling was very different and I was already losing the use of my hands. When I identified it as Sami, I could not find anything earlier. It was hard to believe that it could be the oldest, so I contacted several Finno-Ugric scholars and they all confirmed it. Together with a specialist in the Sami language, Professor Rogier Blokland from Uppsala University, we then began almost a year of research. Its existence in the collection is very unexpected and puzzling, and raises many new scientific questions for both Finougrists and historians of the region, which will hopefully be answered in the future." - said researcher Ernesta Kazakėnaitė.

Akira Takaki in Vilnius. Photo from personal archive.

Akira Takaki has spent nine years studying the Lithuanian language at the University of Helsinki. ‘I embarked on my Lithuanian language studies back in 2015, and three years ago, I graduated with a Master’s degree in General Linguistics; my thesis focused on Finnish, Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian onomatopoeia. This summer, I earned my second Master’s degree in Slavic and Baltic Studies, so now I am a double Master,’ he smiled

When asked how he discovered the Lithuanian language, Akira explains that his passion was ignited by Eurovision, adding that he has been listening to Lithuanian music daily for a decade now.

‘I wanted to understand the lyrics’

Akira’s interest in Eurovision was sparked by Finland’s victory in 2006 with ‘Lordi’: ‘I started following national selections in different countries and participating in discussion forums. There was an international forum that used to host various song competitions. Every month, in the ‘New Releases Game’, each participant had to submit a song from one country released within the past month, while others could vote for their favourite, and the song that scored the most points would win. I chose Lithuania and uploaded a song by a musician who had once competed in Eurovision selections. That marked the start of my regular involvement in such contests.’

Akira discovered a little-known Lithuanian artist named ‘GeraiGerai’: ‘This music fuelled my interest in the Lithuanian language, as I wanted to understand what the songs were about,’ he noted. He feels strongly that Lithuania should exclusively send Lithuanian songs to Eurovision, and even better – Samogitian or Prussian ones: ‘All countries should perform songs in their mother tongue. I believe that it’s ridiculous to sing in a language that is not your native one.’

When asked about his favourite Lithuanian Eurovision song, Akira mentioned Aistė Smilgevičiūtė’s ‘Strazdas’ (1999) as his long-time favourite. However, he believes that Silvester Belt’s ‘Luktelk’ from this year was the best entry in Lithuania’s Eurovision history.

Having been listening to Lithuanian bands and artists for already a decade, Akira likes different songs and is particularly drawn to folk or electronic and psychedelic folk music.

‘Perhaps my favourite Lithuanian artists are the avant-garde band ‘Driezhas’, blending elements of ethno, electro, ambient, darkwave, and synthpop music. The style of ‘Drumbacilos’ is also remarkable – dreamy and melancholic melodies combined with frenetic rhythms. I would like to mention the singer ‘Monikaze’, too – I love her inventive style of experimental pop music. I also listen to lesser-known bands and artists, such as ‘Romowe Rikoito’, a neofolk music group singing in Prussian. Other bands, such as ‘Golden Parazyth’, perform alternative pop music, while ‘Vėjopatis’ combines contemporary electronic music with Lithuanian folklore elements,’ explained Akira.

He went on to list other Lithuanian artists that he is familiar with who make music in a variety of genres: ‘Saulius Petreikis is a well-known folk musician and multi-instrumentalist, and ‘Solo ansamblis’ is an experimental post-punk band worth mentioning. The electronic ethno-dub project known as ‘Girių dvasios’ plays Lithuanian polyphonic songs, while you can hear the electronic and ambient music influences in the songs of ‘Kamanių šilelis’. ‘Vilniaus energija’ is a psychedelic rap band, while ‘Fume’ represents a combination of electronic ambient and classical music.’ Akira also listed other groups that piqued his interest: ‘Palmės žiedas’ plays alternative electronic music. There’s even a Latin American pop-funk band, ‘Planeta Polar’, which sings in Spanish. Rūta MUR performs retro synthwave with deep vocals. Vitalijus Špokaitis plays electronic music with satirical-intellectual elements.’

Among Akira’s top picks is ‘Fanera’, a band that creates open and humorous dance music. Another favourite is Gabrielė Vilkickytė, who performs atmospheric indie music with touching and multi-layered lyrics. In his opinion, ‘Garbanotas’ is Lithuania’s best psychedelic rock band. Alina Orlova is one of the best-known alternative folk musicians in the country. When asked about the most important aspect of a song, Akira believes that the melody is key.

Lithuanian language studies

When he was still at gymnasium, Akira was not sure which university to choose: ‘A friend of mine suggested General Linguistics at the University of Helsinki, as I already spoke several languages at that time. I studied Latin in high school and, later, at my gymnasium. Our high school class was the only one in Finland where you could advance your knowledge of Latin. Naturally, I was raised in a bilingual family: my mum speaks Finnish, and my dad speaks Japanese. I am also fluent in English and Swedish, as learning the latter is mandatory in Finnish schools. I studied Russian at gymnasium and later at university; I also have some basic skills in Hungarian, Georgian, Estonian, and Bulgarian. Moreover, I took a course in Sumerian at university and can speak Okinawan. While living in Hokkaido, I studied Ainu – an isolated language that used to be spoken in Japan, but I don’t think there are any native speakers left anymore.’

Akira learnt Lithuanian at the University of Helsinki. After spending a year in Japan, he continued his Lithuanian studies remotely at Vilnius University (VU) and once attended a summer course in Kaunas.

‘Kaunas is such a beautiful, clean, and compact city – I could live there,’ remarked Akira. ‘I’ve also attended camps near Panevėžys and in Samogitia. In 2016, after a year of studying Lithuanian, I tried to speak with locals in Vilnius, but it didn’t go too well. I was slightly disappointed because I felt confident in my skills, but I couldn’t understand what others were saying.’

Today, Akira confidently speaks Lithuanian and has no difficulties keeping up a fluent conversation.

The Department of Baltic Studies at the VU Faculty of Philology continues its series of articles featuring alumni from foreign centres of Baltic studies. 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.

Baltic Studies at the University of Helsinki were introduced upon the restoration of Lithuanian and Latvian independence. Currently, the University of Helsinki offers a Bachelor’s degree programme in the Lithuanian and Latvian languages and a Master’s degree programme in Baltic Philology. The Baltic Studies Centre teaches the Lithuanian and Latvian languages, literature, and cultural studies, as well as offers introductory Baltic studies and various special courses. For more information on the Baltic studies available at the Faculty of Arts of the University of Helsinki, please visit the Baltnexus website.

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.

Prepared by Assoc. Prof. Dr Veslava Sidaravičienė, Research Assistant at the Department of Baltic Studies at the VU Institute for the Languages and Cultures of the Baltic.

Anna Krawczyk and her translations. Photo of personal archive.

Anna Krawczyk, a graduate of the Department of Baltic Studies at the University of Warsaw, spent part of her studies in Lithuania learning the Lithuanian language. According to her, ‘People in Lithuania tend to take care of each other, and Vilnius is a wonderful city to live in’. For Anna, translating poetry has become a bridge connecting the two nations.

Lithuanian language studies in Warsaw and Lithuania

Encouraged by her boyfriend to learn Lithuanian, Anna started studying the new language in 2017 at the University of Warsaw. Although the relationship ended, her interest in the Lithuanian language has not waned.

‘Love for a man turned into love for a language,’ she smiled.

She is proud of her decision and emphasises the inherent beauty of the Lithuanian language. Later, Anna advanced her skills through summer schools in Klaipėda under various study programmes. She remarks that the focus of such summer courses was not solely on language learning, as you simply cannot gain enough knowledge in just a month; instead, the focus was on building a sense of community. In Klaipėda, she met people from all over the world who shared an interest in the Lithuanian language and culture.

For one semester, Anna had the opportunity to study at the Faculty of Philology of Vilnius University (VU), where she enhanced her skills and knowledge.

‘I particularly appreciate the fact that Lithuanian grammar, culture, and communication were taught separately – in my opinion, it is an excellent approach. The major challenge was mastering participles, half-participles, and adverbial participles. Some of these forms coincide with those in Polish grammar, but others seem very archaic and complex. Participles felt like a different universe to me! I also developed an interest in Lithuanian slang. I distinctly remember the word moralkė (moral hangover), which also exists in Polish. It perfectly describes those inner moral dilemmas after a night of binge drinking when you feel embarrassed about your actions the morning after. That is when we say that we ‘have moralkė’,’ fondly noted Anna.

During her studies, Anna found it challenging to make Lithuanian friends because of the international environment she was part of and her limited language proficiency. However, everything changed after the event ‘The Seimelis of Literature of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth’ organised by the Lithuanian Writers Union. The Seimelis brings together Lithuanian authors and Polish translators to work together for a week. The participating poets involved Anna in their translation activities and gradually became her close friends.

Anna has heard the stereotype that Lithuanians are unfriendly and reserved but completely disagrees with it: ‘I was welcomed very warmly in Vilnius, perhaps because I spoke Lithuanian. I always felt part of the community and never like a foreigner. In this country, people seem to genuinely care about each other. For instance, bus and trolleybus drivers often wait a bit for late passengers, and if someone loses their wallet, at least ten people immediately step in to help. All this truly warms my heart – local people are attentive and care for each other.’

 ‘It’s true that the first impression might be the opposite, but even if Lithuanians seem unfriendly, they are still incredibly kind! For example, once in Klaipėda, I said viso gero (goodbye) to a cashier, and she replied, somewhat bitterly, with viso geriausio (all the best). I wondered if she was angry because I didn’t wish her the same,’ Anna laughed.

Poetry as a bridge between two nations

Anna spent two years as a project coordinator at the Polish Institute in Vilnius, where her responsibilities included teaching Polish language courses, organising educational activities for children attending Polish schools in Lithuania, hosting events like the Poetry Spring Festival, managing social media, and translating texts from Lithuanian to Polish. Anna started translating during her study years, and this activity became integral to her professional path.

At the Department of Baltic Studies of the University of Warsaw, a particular focus is devoted to translation skills – all the lecturers are professional translators. Over the course of four semesters, students work on different types of texts.

‘Students translate film scripts in the first semester, poetry in the second, short stories in the third, and official documents during the final semester,’ listed Anna.

After completing her studies, she started translating content for social networks and event descriptions; she was even asked by a publishing house to translate the introduction to a bilingual anthology about Zbigniew Herbert. However, as Anna admits, the key challenge in translation lies in bridging cultural differences.

‘For example, I struggled with the Lithuanian word profsąjunga (trade union). While I perfectly grasped its meaning in Lithuanian, the Polish equivalent, związek zawodowy, felt too lengthy and formal. I even asked my parents for help but realised there wasn’t a shorter alternative. It even made me question my poor Polish language skills!’ joked Anna.

Currently, Anna is working on the translation of a theatre website and a book, though she is keeping the latter project under wraps for now.

From 20 to 21 May 2023, the University of Warsaw hosted the Poetry Spring Festival, which brought together renowned Lithuanian poets Antanas A. Jonynas, Gytis Norvilas, and Indrė Valantinaitė. For the students and alumni of the Department of Baltic Studies, this event is not only a literary festival but also serves as a valuable platform for beginning their acquaintance with the Lithuanian language through translating texts for the Poetry Spring almanacs. It is a great opportunity to try one’s hand as a translator.

‘Poetry is like a bridge that connects us. We are neighbours, yet so few works have been translated,’ remarked Anna.

The Department of Baltic Studies at the VU Faculty of Philology is launching a series of five articles featuring alumni from foreign centres of Baltic studies. 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.

The University of Warsaw introduced Lithuanian Language Studies in 1990 when the Department of Baltic Philology was established at the Faculty of Polish Studies under the leadership of Prof. Dr (HP) Wojciech Smoczyński. Later, the department was restructured into the Subdepartment of Baltic Studies, which has been headed by Dr Joanna Tabor since 2014. Currently, the University of Warsaw offers Bachelor, Master, and doctoral study programmes that include courses on the Lithuanian and Latvian languages, grammar, and literature, alongside an introduction to the history and contemporary realities of the Baltic States. Students also have the opportunity to learn the art of translation.

The Baltic studies community in Warsaw actively organises various events, such as meetings with Lithuanian poets during the Poetry Spring Festival and translation workshops. Moreover, in collaboration with colleagues from VU and Tartu University, they host the international conference ‘Bridges in the Baltics’. For more information about the Baltic Studies programme at the University of Warsaw, please visit the Baltnexus website.

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.

Prepared by Assoc. Prof. Dr Veslava Sidaravičienė, Research Assistant at the Department of Baltic Studies at the VU Institute for the Languages and Cultures of the Baltic.

The majority of the academic literature on non-motherhood is dominated by a clear distinction between voluntary and involuntary childlessness. Recently, the prestigious Palgrave Macmillan publishing house has published a collection of articles entitled 'Negotiating Non-Motherhood: Representations, Perceptions, and Experiences', which seeks to break down this distinction and to look at what the experiences of childlessness have in common and to see childlessness as a complex sociocultural phenomenon. The collection contains articles by researchers from different disciplines within the international Mothernet project, who examine childlessness in different cultural and national contexts. The volume is edited by Jenny Björklund (Uppsala University, Sweden), Dovilė Kuzminskaitė (Vilnius University, Lithuania) and Julie Rodgers (Meinut University, Ireland),

The Mothernet project is launched in 2020 with funding from EU Horizon 2020 TWINNING. The project brought together the Thinking Motherhood group at Vilnius University, Mother Anyway at Uppsala University and Motherhood at the University of Meignut. The MotherNet project was coordinated by Prof. Dr. Eglė Kačkutė-Hagan, a researcher at the Faculty of Philology of Vilnius University, who is also the leader of the group Thinking Motherhood. One of the authors of the publication Negotiating Non-motherhood: Representations, Perceptions and Experiences is Dovilė Kuzminskaitė, PhD, Associate Professor at the Institute of Literature, Culture and Translation Studies, Faculty of Philology, and belongs to the VU group  Thinking Motherhood.

For more information, see the link below:

Please find the List of Open Electives for the 2024/2025 Spring semester here. These subjects can be chosen by MA students with the individual study plan instead of the electives suggested in your study programme.

3rd year BA students who wish to create an individual study plan can choose subjects from the list of subjects offered by the Faculty of Philology in the Individual Studies list.

More information can be found here>

Photo by Ugnius Bagdonavičius / Vilnius University

Dr. Vilius Bartninkas, an Associate Professor at Vilnius University’s Faculty of Philology, has been honored with the prestigious 2025 Manfred Lautenschlaeger Award for Theological Promise for his monograph titled "Traditional and Cosmic Gods in Later Plato and the Early Academy."

This recognition comes from an international jury, marking a significant achievement in the field of theology.

"I can hardly express my excitement. This is my first international award, and it’s in theology! It's remarkable for the jury from the University of Heidelberg, which typically recognizes biblical and contemporary theologians, to choose a winner from the realm of pagan theology. I am incredibly grateful to my supervisors, Gábor Betegh and Vytautas Ališauskas, for their invaluable support," Dr. Bartninkas shared on Facebook.

In 2023, Dr. Bartninkas published a 300-page monograph with Cambridge University Press.

"This book reflects my childhood dreams surrounding Greek myths and gods, and it delves into the broader dream world we all share — exploring the universe and our desire to learn more about celestial bodies like Mercury and Venus. These two realms came into sharp focus in Plato's thought when he recognized celestial bodies as gods. For example, Mercury is simply the Greek translation of Hermes, and it was through the works of Plato and his disciples that these celestial bodies began to be referred to by their Greek names as gods. This brings up the question: how this transition affected other traditional gods, such as Athena? The answers can be found in my book," Dr. Bartninkas explained his work in 2023.

The Manfred Lautenschlaeger Award for Theological Promise annually honors 10 young scholars from around the world for outstanding dissertations or first post-doctoral works within the thematic complex of "God and Spirituality." This selection process involves 20 reviewers from 15 countries, and the laureates are celebrated at a festive ceremony held at Heidelberg University in Germany.

This online module is a great opportunity not only to learn basic Lithuanian, but also to get acquainted with various theoretical aspects about languages and cultures.

The best part is…these theoretical lectures are open to all members of the Arqus alliance! It means, that even if you are not part of this module, you can register and listen to it.

Participants of the module already listened to 3 engaging lectures:

Language acquisition through sensory engagement" by assoc. prof. Giedrė Balčytytė (October 25, 12:00–13:30 CET)

Dr. Giedrė Balčytytė is an associate professor at the Department of English Philology, as well as the Head of the Department at The Institute of English, Romance, and Classical Studies, Vilnius University (VU), Lithuania. She is an active member of the academic community, serving on the committee boards of both the BA English Philology and MA English Studies programmes, and overseeing The Pedagogical Internship for English Philology at VU. Dr. Balčytytė is also a long-standing member of the International Phonetic Association (IPA, UK) and LEUTE/ESSE (The Association of English Language Teachers of Lithuanian Universities/ The European Society for the Study of English). Her expertise spans a range of fields including English Phonetics and Phonology, contemporary didactics of English as a foreign language (EFL), alternative methods in teaching EFL, and the integration of music in language teaching. These subjects form the foundation of her teaching for both BA and MA students, where she combines theory with innovative practical approaches.

In her upcoming lecture, Dr. Balčytytė will explore perceptual approaches to foreign language acquisition through sensory engagement and Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligences theory. She will focus on how music, the rhythmic qualities of language, and auditory elements can influence language learning, particularly how rhythm and sound patterns can enhance linguistic proficiency by tapping into different cognitive and sensory channels. By emphasizing the role of music and sound, she will offer insights into how these elements can deepen learners' connection to a new language, making the process more intuitive and effective.

“Every-day-life culture in Lithuania” by assoc. prof. Inga Hilbig (October 30, 11:00–12:30 CET)

Inga Hilbig is an associate professor at the Department of Lithuanian Studies, Faculty of Philology, Institute of Applied Linguistics, Vilnius University. Her research interests comprise sociolinguistics of childhood bilingualism and family language policy. She is also interested in cross-cultural communication. Inga Hilbig teaches Lithuanian as a second language and also Lithuanian culture. The aim of the lecture will be to introduce students to a concept of every-day-life culture, highlighting selected aspects of how contemporary Lithuanians behave and think.

More about Inga Hilbig:

“Current sociolinguistic situation in Lithuania” by prof. Meilutė Ramonienė (( November 11, 14:00–15:30 CET (15:00–16:30 Lithuanian time))

Meilutė Ramonienė is a professor of the Institute of Applied Linguistics at Vilnius University. Her research interests include applied linguistics, sociolinguistics, bilingualism and multilingualism, heritage language studies, language policy, teaching Lithuanian as a second language, Lithuanian onomastics. She has led research projects “Language usage and ethnic identity in urban areas of Lithuania”, “Sociolinguistic map of Lithuania: cities and towns”, “Language of emigrants”, „The Lithuanian language in diaspora: proficiency, usage, attrition“. Her published output includes several edited books on language use and language attitudes, language and identity, she is the author and co-author of textbooks for teaching Lithuanian as a second language, including „Teach Yourself Lithuanian“ (Hoder education, 2006), „Colloquial Lithuanian. The Complete Course for Beginners“ (Routledge, 1996, 2010), pedagogical grammars, including „Practical Lithuanian Grammar“ (in Lithuanian, English, Russian, Hungarian), „Lithuanian: A comprehensive Grammar" (Routledge 2020). She is the author and co-author of numerous research articles and book chapters published in Lithuania and abroad, and is editor-in-chief of the journal „Taikomoji kalbotyra“(Applied linguistics“. She has lectured at universities in Helsinki, Tartu, Zurich, Basel, Bern, Parma, Siena, Rouen, Seattle, Hobart.

The lecture will present the current sociolinguistic situation in Lithuania and the use of languages and dialects of the Lithuanian population in various domains. It will cover mother tongues and foreign languages, language proficiency and use, language attitudes and language policy.

And another 3 lectures will be delivered during upcoming weeks.

“The socio-cultural context of Lithuania from International Students' perspectives” by associate professor Loreta Chodzkienė (November 20, 15:00–16:30)

Assoc. Prof. Dr Loreta Chodzkienė graduated from Vilnius University in English Philology, did her internship at the University of Kent (UK), obtained a CELTA diploma at SIH, defended her PhD “EU Pedagogue’s Intercultural Communicative Competence and Its Developmental Socio-educational Factors” (Social Sciences). In 2017, she won a grant for a teaching visit at Gunma University (Japan).

Currently L. Chodzkienė has been running the courses on Communication across Cultures, Design of Academic Texts and Research Methodology at the Faculty of Philology, Vilnius University. She also supervises students’ (Inter)cultural internships. L. Chodzkienė investigates the factors contributing to the development of a person’s Intercultural Communicative Competence, analyses International (Incoming) students’ perspectives on the Lithuanian socio-cultural realia and conducts trainings on Intercultural Issues. Since 2021 the researcher has been exploring the benefits of Virtual Exchange through telecollaboration projects which provide an opportunity for Vilnius University students to collaborate with the students from the University of Latvia, Leon University (Spain), Los Lagos University (Chile) and Austral University (Chile). The L. Chodzkienė designed a study book on “What Should Every Student Know about Intercultural Communication?”, disseminated her research findings in a more than 25 scientific publications, made presentations at more than 30 international scientific conferences.

The aim of this lecture is to explore empirical insights gathered from 2012 to 2023 on the attitudes of 112 international students regarding Lithuania as their host country and Vilnius University as their academic destination. Drawing from diaries recorded by students from 22 countries, this lecture will address the question, 'Why Lithuania?' while examining how incoming students perceive and experience the cultural, physical, social-relational, and perceptual dimensions of life in Lithuania.

“History of the Lithuanian languge” by associate professor Gintarė Judžentytė-Šinkūnienė (November 28, 15:00–16:30)

Gintarė Judžentytė-Šinkūnienė is an Associate Professor of Semantics and Baltic Languages at Vilnius University. Her main research fields include lexical semantics, pragmatics (especially reference: spatial deixis and deictic gestures), semantics and pragmatics interface, Baltic linguistics. She is particularly interested in the expression of place deixis in the Baltic languages, i.e. how Lithuanians and Latvians construct space using deictic words. An integral part of this research is the conditions that determine the choice of deictic words. The researcher also focuses on students' academic language, problems of cognitive semantics and some issues of Lithuanian and Latvian Old Writing.

In this webinar, Gintarė Judžentytė-Šinkūnienė, Associate Professor of Semantics and Baltic Languages at Vilnius University, will reveal the origins of the Lithuanian language, its development and its journey to the present day. Among the Indo-European languages, Lithuanian is conservative in its grammar and phonology. It retains archaic features that are otherwise found only in ancient languages such as Sanskrit or Ancient Greek. Exposing this conservatism is therefore the aim of the lecture. Firstly, the speaker will introduce some terms necessary to understand the overall context, such as “balts”. Later, she will explain how the Baltic language group separated from the Indo-European language group, and what are the scholarly views on this separation. The focus will be on the Baltic proto-language and its transformation, the emergence of the Lithuanian language as a distinct linguistic unit and, to some extent, the formation of dialects.

“Lithuanian women’s literature” by dr. Daiva Litvinskaitė (December 3, 13:00–14:30)

Dr. Daiva Litvinskaitė works in the Department of Lithuanian Studies at the Faculty of Philology, Institute of Applied Linguistics, Vilnius University, where she teaches Lithuanian as a second language and Lithuanian literature. Her research interests also include women’s and gender studies. The lecture will examine the development of Lithuanian women’s literary tradition from the 19th century to the present, analyzing shifts in thematic focus among female writers and highlighting the contributions of prominent authors.

There is still time to register!

Fill out this form to register:

The Arqus teaching innovation online workshop, organised by the Vilnius University, will showcase how academic debate can be used as an effective teaching activity to enhance students’ presentation skills, critical thinking, research abilities, argumentation, leadership, and teamwork.

Participants will learn how to develop students’ academic competencies for constructing research-based arguments. In addition, the seminar will illustrate how students can strengthen subject-specific skills, such as analysing discipline-related research articles and applying real-life examples.

The seminar will feature the demonstration of the academic debate activity, including its content, structure, and assessment strategies. Participants will be introduced to teaching worksheets, created specifically for this activity. The assessment strategy used for the debates will be explained, with an emphasis on innovative teaching methods such as flipped classroom sessions, peer-led debates and real-life scenario debate competitions.

As a highlight of the event, first year undergraduate students from the Institute of International Relations and Political Science will engage in a live debate on the motion: “Climate denialism should be criminalised during election campaigns.” The students, who have been developing their debate skills over the past three months (September to November, 2024), will demonstrate their progress. Tomas Valiūnas and Ieva Navickaitė will represent the Proposition team, while Adrija Sagatytė and Kajus Razulevičius will debate on the Opposition side.

Trainer: Associate professor Dr. Liudmila Arcimavičienė, Vilnius University, Faculty of Philology, Department of Foreign Language Teaching and Research

Date and time: November 26, 2024, 15:00 – 16:30, Vilnius time (EET)
Place: Online, via MS Teams
Registration deadline: 21st November 2024

Register here

The link to the meeting will be provided by the facilitators and will only be sent to registered participants.

We look forward to your participation in this engaging and insightful seminar!