VU Faculty of History, the Office of the Chief Archivist, and the Centre for Geopolitics of the University of Cambridge Organise a Summer School
From 1–5 July, for the second time, Vilnius University (VU) will host the summer school on the “Competition Among Great Powers, and the National State of Lithuania in the First Half of the 20th Century” organised jointly by the VU Faculty of History, the Baltic Geopolitics Network of the Centre for Geopolitics of the University of Cambridge, and the Office of the Chief Archivist of Lithuania.
“The Baltic Summer School of Vilnius University and the University of Cambridge is the result of several years of cooperation between the two universities. We are delighted that the Baltic region and Lithuania are receiving ever-increasing attention from the academic community of the University of Cambridge. The main objective of the school is to provide Lithuanian and British researchers with a space to share their experience in the field of Baltic research and strengthen academic ties. The school will be attended by lecturers from both universities, as well as master’s and doctoral students,” says Dr Kęstutis Kilinskas, the organiser of the summer school.
The summer school will include an extensive programme of events: academic presentations, tours to museums and historical sites in Vilnius, Kaunas, and Elektrėnai, as well as a roundtable discussion on the current security challenges in the Baltic States organised in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and a reception at the British Embassy in Vilnius.
The school will focus on the documents stored in the Lithuanian Special Archives.
“A workshop at the Lithuanian Special Archives will be organised for the participants of the summer school, where they will get acquainted with the archive's collections, the activities of the KGB that were related to the British intelligence operations carried out in the region, as well as publications prepared in Lithuania and Western countries based on the files of the Special Archives,” says Dr Inga Zakšauskienė, one of the summer school’s organisers and the Chief Archivist of Lithuania.
The summer school will feature discussions with and presentations by Dr Antanas Terleckas, Dr Steven Ward, former British Home Secretary – Charles Clarke, former British Ambassador to Israel and Estonia – Sarah Squire, Dean of the Faculty of History – Dr Loreta Skurvydaitė, representatives from the Think Tank of the British Land Forces, and other participants.