Tomas Palšis, Stepas Telešius, and Stede Ingram – three alumni of Vilnius University (VU) Kaunas Faculty and founders of ‘ACME Group', a group of companies specialising in wholesale trade of electronic devices and other business areas – have recently donated EUR 100,000 to the VU Foundation. At the request of the sponsors, the support funds will form the Kaunas Faculty Endowment Sub-fund, with its return on investment to be used for student scholarships.

‘Education is a priority of both our own social responsibility and that of ‘ACME Group’ in general. I believe that we all gain from every investment in this field. First and foremost, Lithuania’s greatest wealth and capital stem from talented people who can create well-running unicorns, open up new business areas, and promote our country. That is why we believe that public education is up to all of us,’ states T. Palšis, co-founder of ‘ACME Group’.

S. Telešius, a shareholder of ‘ACME Group’, agrees that an educated nation is a prosperous nation and that lifelong learning is, therefore, of the utmost importance: ‘At university, we learn to systemise, analyse, and create. With a strong academic grounding, lifelong learning can become much easier. Having been an active VU student myself, I consider it a great honour and pleasure to support the students of this institution and, in general, contribute to the knowledge economy in Lithuania.’

The EUR 100,000 donation by ‘ACME Group’ will have an everlasting effect on VU Kaunas Faculty, as the support funds will be invested rather than spent. In the first year, the return on investment will amount to EUR 2,500. In 100 years, with no additional financing, solely due to exponential growth driven by reinvestment*, the value of the sub-fund established by ‘ACME Group’ will reach EUR 3.2 million, while the return payout to the faculty will be EUR 3.1 million.

At the 15th International Conference on Culture & Creativity Dr. Giovanni Ercolani is willing to present his recent book The Maidan Museum: Preserving the Spirit of Maidan - Art, Identity, and the Revolution of Dignity which examines the relation between art created during the so-called Revolution of Dignity–Maidan Events (November 21, 2013 – February 23, 2014, Ukraine) and the mission of the Maidan Museum (Kyiv, Ukraine) born from the ashes of Euromaidan, to preserve the ‘Spirit of Maidan’.

The Maidan events, defined as the Maidanization process, produced a post-colonial discourse language, a new apolitical ideology based on the concepts of dignity and Ukrainianness; generated symbols, social myths, and collective imaginary; triggered the ‘Spirit of Maidan’ that changed the consciousness of the participants in the demonstrations; and functioned as a ritual of intensification-aggregation-initiation passage, in which the identity of new Ukraine was shaped.

In this transformative process, in which the human being is seen as an ‘animal identitarium’ struggling, defending, and fighting for his/her own identity, artists played a crucial role in assembling the main elements of the post-Maidan Ukrainian identity (homo Maidan), were able to empower the whole movement with concrete ideas, and finally reworked objects, symbols, and music already present in the Ukrainian DNA through a process of meaningization, symbolization, mythization, canonization, sacralization, and interpellation.

This volume is based on interviews with artists who dramatically participated in the Maidan events and fieldwork at the Maidan Museum, and unfolds and identifies the main elements, emotions, expectations, and motivations of the relation of art creation and Ukrainian post-Maidan identity formation based on the ‘Spirit of Maidan’.

On October 26th, a welcoming event for doctoral students will take place at Vilnius University's (VU) Theatre Hall. This event will focus on discussions about collaboration between doctoral students and their academic supervisors, emphasizing the importance of feedback. The event will feature the participation of VU's Pro-Rector for Research Prof. Edita Sužiedėlienė, as well as representatives from the Doctoral and Postdoctoral Department, the PhD committees of different research fields, and VU Student Representation.

All VU PhD students (especially those in their first year) are invited to a welcome event. The event will be conducted in both Lithuanian and English on October 26th, from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM at the VU Central Palace, Theatre Hall.

You can register for the event here.

Programme

3:00 PM - 3:15 PM - Welcome Address by Prof. Edita Sužiedėlienė

3:15 PM - 3:45 PM – “Collaboration Between Doctoral Students and Supervisors. The Importance of Feedback” (Dr. Mariana Sueldo)

3:45 PM - 5:00 PM - Small Group Discussions using the “World Café” Method: by rotation at different tables we will engage in informal conversations with representatives of Doctoral Committees, experienced Doctoral Students, and Doctoral Department Staff.

The autumn wind has ushered us into the 59th academic year. This year is special for the VU Kaunas faculty community because the term of the dean of the Faculty is coming to an end.

We invite you to discuss what is important to us this autumn, and, of course, to share the cake of “Friendship“, the goodies of the garden harvest, and some new ideas.

The Dean of Vilnius University Kaunas Faculty invites the community of teachers, students and non-academic workers for a conversation

Tempus disputandi – Time to discuss about the 59th academic year of Kaunas Faculty

on Wednesday, 18 October, at 11:15 AM

At the Student leisure space, in the cellar of Building No 3

Topics on the agenda: 

• celebrate the establishment of the Faculty of Vilnius University in Kaunas; 
• Start the brainstorm of ideas for the 60th aniversary of the Faculty; 
• current issues of the 59th academic year; 
• the plans of this semester and... your expectations.

International students might face some challenges regarding their employability in Lithuania. That’s why we invite everyone to online seminar “Landing your dream job in Lithuania: how to maximize your opportunities.” The seminar will be held on Microsoft Teams platform on the 18th of October, starting at 15:00 h. The seminar will be led by Work in Lithuania Business Advisor Karolina Zelbienė.

Don’t hesitate and register here: https://forms.office.com/e/NkBT7P32qg

More information about Work in Lithuania:

“We encourage highly-skilled professionals from around the globe to build their lives in Lithuania. Together with our partner companies, aiming to build international teams, we enable global talents to achieve their full career potential.”

This event is organized by Vilnius University Career Centre.

You can find more information about Vilnius University career services here: https://www.vu.lt/en/studies/student-services/for-your-development-and-career

For more training events organized at Vilnius University, please click here: https://www.vu.lt/trainings

 At the 15th International Conference on "Culture & Creativity" Prof. Dr. Paul Long is willing to share his work concerned with the political representation of migrants in terms of their individual and proportional presence and inclusion in the Australian cultural economy. This approach to representation encompasses the role of makers, intermediaries, producers, entrepreneurs and, potentially, policy makers. This research is based on exploratory empirical work that seeks insight into migrant practice and narratives qua migrants, of their roles and experiences in the sector.

Paul Long is Professor in Creative and Cultural Industries and Director, Monash Migration and Inclusion Centre. He has published widely on issues in popular cultural history, participation, and creative work. He co-founded the Birmingham Centre for Media and Cultural Research at Birmingham City University in 2009 and is founding co-editor of the Journal of Beatles Studies (Liverpool University Press). He is currently researching the role of migrants in the creative and cultural industries as well as Australian home-made, amateur, and DIY creative production.

The Institute of Social Sciences and Applied Informatics at Vilnius University Kaunas Faculty invites to the 35th seminar of Prof. Vladas K. Gronskas on „Leadership for Sustainable Development in the Context of Higher Education Institutions“. 

The seminar will take place at 14:00 on 30 October 2023 in auditorium III (Muitinės Str. 8, Kaunas) and will be also available online on Microsoft Teams platform. The language of the seminar will be English. 

On 28 September 2023, the Kaunas Faculty Council elected a new Dean of Vilnius University Kaunas Faculty during a public meeting.

 Assoc. Prof. Dr. GIEDRIUS ROMEIKA was elected as the Dean.

 Election results:

 15 out of 15 voting members of the Kaunas Faculty Council participated in the election.

 14 members of the Kaunas Faculty Council voted IN FAVOUR of Assoc. Prof. Dr. Giedrius Romeika, i.e., more than half of the members of the Kaunas Faculty Council.

 1 member of the Kaunas Faculty Council voted AGAINST Assoc. Prof. Dr. Giedrius Romeika.

 There were no invalid ballots.

The results of the election may be appealed against to the Central Election Commission of Vilnius University within 2 working days from the date of their publication.

Kaunas Faculty Election Commission

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Audronė Rimkutė (Chairperson), e-mail:

Deimantė Dubovskienė, phone +370 37 422523, e-mail  

Ernestas Žiogas (member of the Students’ Representative)

28 September 2023