International Summer school “Soviet Military History Traces in the Territory of Latvia” has started
On 1 August, 2022 Daugavpils University (DU) International Summer school “Soviet Military History Traces in the Territory of Latvia” was opened.
The summer school takes place in hybrid form: the participants in the programme are participating in the programme on-site and remotely, synchronously and diachronically. The summer school will be held from 1 to 10 August (10 days).
By participating in the State Education Development Agency contest, the programme developed by DU Centre for Latvian Studies (LSC) was provided with financial support for granting 10 scholarships to foreign students and academic staff. There are 10 summer school sholarship holders from Georgia, Italy, Kazakhstan, Slovakia, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Moldova and Mexico, who have been awarded the grant on the basis of the motivational letters submitted. The decisive eveluation was based on candidates' motivation in compliance to the aims of the LSC summer school programme. A total of nearly 50 applications were received.
At the opening of the summer school, participants were offered a lecture on Latgale, Daugavpils City, Daugavpils University and Soviet military history issues. The content of the lesson also integrated the Latvian language's welcome vocabulary and courtesy phrases. At the opening of the summer school, participants told about themselves and their motivation for participating in the summer school. Participants' willingness to participate relates not only to research and professional interests, but also to personal impressions and unanswered questions raised when confronting Soviet military infrastructure in childhood.
The training process is carried out in hybrid form. The lessons are in sync, both on-site and in remote format. It is possible for participants to diachronnically watch recordings of the classes made using e-conference platform ZOOM that along with other digital learning materials are placed in a module of the e-study platform MOODLE specifically designed for this Summer School.
The summer school programme comprises of field studies in former Soviet military sites in Latgale, Kurzeme and Riga regions (Lociki military airfield, Liepāja Military Port, Irbene radio telescope complex, military town in Mežgarciems, etc.), visits to military history museums, lectures and discussions on the Soviet military heritage in the Baltic States.
The programme also includes a meeting with writer Andra Manfelde, who has written on the events of Liepājas Military Port during Soviet times in her novel “Virsnieku sievas”.
The aim of this year's school is to raise awareness among the members of the Summer School about the Soviet hegemony in the history of the Baltic States and the Soviet military heritage in the territory of 21 st-century Latvia.
The summer school is implemented by the Centre for Latvian Studies of Daugavpils University Faculty of Humanities.
Summer School Team: Dr philol., Prof. Maija Burima (Head of the Summer School), Sergejs Poļanskis, Diāna Skuķe, Ilmārs Mežaraups.
This project is financially supported by the State Education Development Agency of the Republic of Latvia.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Dr. philol.,
Prof. Maija Burima
DU Faculty
of Humanities
Head of Centre
for Latvian Studies
Email:
summerschool@du.lv