On May 9, 15:00 the photo exhibition on Iran and Persian culture will be opened on the Library floor of the Faculty of Humanities (Donelaičio g. 52, 2nd floor). The exhibition will present the natural, historic and architectural sites and attractions of Iran and some samples of Persian handicrafts, works of metal, wood and cloth.

The exhibition will be opened by the first secretary of the Embassy of Islamic Republic of Iran in Warsaw, Mr. Hossein Ebrahimi. During the official opening, he will share some facts about Iran, Persian Language and society. Also, book donation ceremony from the Embassy for the VMU Library will take place.

The exhibition will continue for one month, till mid-June.

VMU Centre for Asian Studies invites everybody interested in East Asian countries to ”East Asia Day”, which is going to take place on May 10 at VMU Centre for Asian Studies (Vaizganto str. 30, Kaunas). This event is organized for the third time and it aims  to gather all graduate, present and future students of East Asian studies together with social partners interested in preparation of specialists in the field of East Asia region studies.

In ”East Asia Day” we will hear the presentations by H.E. Ambassador of Japan to Lithuania Kazuko Shiraishi, representatives from Kaunas Municipality, representatives of business and cultural organizations, which have established ties with such East Asian countries as Japan, China and Korea. During the event representatives from Centre for East Asian Studies will present the possibilities of East Asian Studies at VMU, developing opportunities for student and teacher exchange with academic institutions of East Asia region.

All the students and alumni of VMU East Asian study programs, lecturers, club members and everybody interested in East Asian cultures are kindly invited to participate at this event. (more…)

VMU Centre for East Asian Studies invites to a public lecture ”Korea’s influence to the history of Japanese ceramics”. This is one part of lecture cycle held in May and dedicated to Korean arts and music.  The artist from Korea will make a presentation on Korean ceramics, its historical development in East Asian context, Korean influence to Japanese ceramics.

Lecture will be held on May 13 at 16:00 in M. Gimbutiene room (Donelaičio str. 52 – 211). The entrance is free. Language of the lecture is English.

The presenter Byun Jaehyung graduated from the National University of Seoul Faculty of Ceramics and took part in different international exhibitions and competitions.

Haruna Akagi, Cherry blossoms in Lithuania, 2013

This is a book about Chiune Sugihara, a Japanese Consul who worked in Kaunas, Lithuania at the beginning of World War II. Consisting of two parts, the book tells about the Consul’s life in Kaunas as well as his struggle to save Jewish people from Nazi aggression. The first part is a “manga,” or a Japanese comic book by Ms. Haruna Akagi from Japan. The second part includes photos and information on Ms. Akagi, the Consul Chiune Sugihara and his comrade Jan Zwartendijk, the Sugihara Museum and exposition “Visas for Life” in Kaunas, VMU Japanese Culture Club HASHI, and the sponsors of this project. The text is written in three languages.

http://leidiniai.plc.lt/sakuros-lietuvoje-cherry-blossoms-in-lithuania-ritoania-no-sakura/

The Centre for Asian Studies kindly invites to the presentation of newly released book by e.p.Dr. Romualdas Neimantas ”Spirit of Nature”, published by the Centre of World’s Lithuanians. The presentation will take place in VMU Small Hall (S. Daukanto g. 28, Kaunas) on May 3 at 17:00. This book reveals the similarities of Lithuanian and Japanese views about ecological issues. Its publication was supported by the Japan Foundation. The photographs for the book were donated by the former students who had studied in Japan Mr. Andrius Žemaitis and Ms. Ieva Tamošaitytė. (more…)

We would like to cordially invite you to the opening ceremony of a new Chinese culture club “Wu Wei” ( 無為 ), which will be held on April 13th at 6 p.m. in East Asian martial arts studio “Wudang Tao” (P.Kalpoko 1-26, Kaunas).

During the opening ceremony visiting lecturers will briefly present philosophy of “wu wei”, traditional Chinese medicine, calligraphy and Chinese martial arts.

“Wu Wei” club is established by Vytautas Magnus University students’ initiative and it’s main goals are to get to know Chinese culture as well as to unite people who are interested in it.

Club‘s partner: “Wudang Tao“ East Asian martial arts studio
Club is patronized by the Centre for Asian Studies of Vytautas Magnus University.

We would like to invite proposals for the upcoming issue of a semi-annual open access blind peer review journal ‘International Journal of Area Studies‘ (IJAS) to be published in March, 2014. This issue is constructed on a trans-regional basis and we welcome the texts dealing with North Europe, East Asia, South Asia, Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Application Deadline: August 31, 2013

The Journal, published semiannually in March and October, is devoted to area studies from the humanities and social sciences perspectives (including but not limited to research on history, religion, philosophy, politics, and social processes in the regions of the world). We are interested in receiving article proposals related to different facets of the aforementioned scientific fields. (more…)

In March (2013), the Centre for Asian Studies successfully finished the research project “Representation of Japanese Popular Culture in Europe”, supported by Japan Foundation. As result, the 7th issue of the academic periodic journal “Regioninės studijos” was published.

This issue focuses on the acceptance of Japanese Popular culture in Europe, which could be considered as one of the most influential factors in constructing the image of Japan from interdisciplinary point of view, in order to examine how have images of Japan been constructed and developed through Japanese Popular Culture Reception in Europe and if they changed or been consistent before and after Japanese popular culture boom in Europe.

On March 31, 2013, the new Website “Asian studies in Lithuania” was improved and got new functions. Now the users have the possibility to upload their information.

Asianstudies.lt is supposed to become an electronic data base where data regarding the history and present situation of Asian studies in Lithuania is collected. Here you can find the information about the personalities (scholars, travelers, educators, translators), working in the field or Asian studies, the books and dissertations on Asian countries, the academic and cultural events, the resources (library funds, art collections, textbooks, etc.) needed for studies, etc.

This website deals with the mission to promote Asian studies in Lithuania. Its main aims are to fasten the access of Lithuanian society to the information on Asian studies; to enhance the mutual cooperation and sharing the information among the scholars; to increase the understanding about the situation of Asian studies in Lithuania abroad. (more…)

The Centre for Asian Studies invites to a lecture Japan’s environmental politics since 1945, which will be delivered via Internet by Linas Didvalis, a doctoral candidate at International Christian University (Tokyo). Lecture will be held on April 04 (Thursday) at Gedimino 44, room 103), 13:15-14:45. The lecture is part of the MA course “Postwar Japan’s Society and Politics”.

This lecture is an introduction to both domestic and international Japan’s environmental politics from the late 1940s to the most recent developments. The first half of it will be a historical review of major events and the economical, political and sociological factors that caused them. This will be followed by an introduction to some important academic research and current debates on topics related to Japan’s environmental politics. Throughout the lecture a list of more detailed study sources will be provided for those students who are interested in starting their own independent research in this field.

We are happy to announce a call for papers for the 5th annual international students’ conference on Asia. The conference will take place on April 9 at Vytautas Magnus University (V. Putvinskio 23, Kaunas).

If you are interested in East Asian cultures, languages, arts, economics or other areas, this event is just for you. The conference, organized by VMU East Asian Languages ​​and Cultures students, together with the Centre for Asian Studies and the Department of Cultural Studies, is a great opportunity to share your accumulated knowledge, work or research with colleagues in this field and not only, to gain experience and improve your public speaking skills, or even get some inspirations. (more…)

We are sharing the invitation to submit abstracts for the 4th annual Student academic Conference, focusing on Asia. The conference will be held on April 24, 11:00-14:00, V. Putvinskio 23-310 in Kaunas, Lithuania.

This event, which has become an integral part of VMU Asian Week, is organized by VMU Regional Studies Asian specialization students and VMU Center for Asian Studies together with the Department of Cultural Studies. As every year, students from various fields whose work and research touch on the topic of Asia are welcome, both from the humanities, social sciences, arts and other disciplines. (more…)

The National Taiwan Library announced “Guidelines to the National Taiwan Library Fellowship for International Visiting Scholars and Students”.
The library provides Fellowship for experts and scholars to pursue their academic goals in Taiwan studies or Southeast Asia studies. Please click here to read more.

Sorry, this entry is only available in Lithuanian.

It is time for all who are interested in East Asian cultures, languages, economics, politics and more to come together for what has become an annual student research conference, organised by the VMU East Asia Cultures and Languages students.
This conference is a great opportunity to share your knowledge, work and research with colleagues in the field, to try and improve your public speaking skills, to gain experience and to listen to presentations by like-minded people. (more…)

Sorry, this entry is only available in Lithuanian.

Are you interested in politics of Japan? Maybe you are interested in economy of China? Maybe you are fascinated in Korean art and traditions? It does not matter in which field you are interested in, as long as it is related to East Asia we have a very interesting proposition to you. (more…)

VMU Department of International Relations informs about ongoing studies exchange and internship contests as well as “Erasmus Days’21” which are going to take place on February 17th, 18th, and 19th, during which students will be able to learn more about exchange opportunities. (more…)

Beijing Normal University entrusts the European Federation of Overseas Chinese and Chinese Associations to recruit 100 candidates for MBA and MPA studies (conducted fully in English) from all over the world. Appropriate students are welcome to sign up. (more…)

Applications for scholarships for studies in China in 2021-2022 are open. Persons who are nationals of Lithuania, EU or persons from the third countries having the right to live in Lithuania are welcome to apply.

Applications may be submitted by representatives of various fields of Lithuanian science and studies institutions/ representatives of science fields – Bachelor, Masters and PhD students. (more…)