Today Vytautas Magnus University (VMU) and Korea University (KU) signed a partnership agreement which allows both institutions to start student exchanges and pursue closer academic cooperation. KU is one of the oldest, most prestigious and highest ranked private universities in South Korea. According to QS World University Rankings, KU falls among top-100 universities in the world and is considered to be among top-3 universities in South Korea. The KU campus is located in the northern part of Seoul where more than 28 000 students seek education in 17 colleges and schools.

Interaction with Korea University was initiated by the Centre for Asian Studies already in 2016 when Prof. Sunhyuk Kim, a renown specialist of Korea’s civil society, was invited to Center’s annual international conference as a keynote speaker. (more…)

July 28, the documentary “Kaunas. The City of Sugihara and Japan” created by the Centre for Asian Studies will be introduced for Japanese society. The Japan Premiere will be taking place on July 28, 13:00 in Gifu City Library. On the same evening, the movie will be shown at Yaotsu Town (which has a museum dedicated for Č. Sugihara). During the screenings, Dr Aurelijus Zykas, one of the creators of the movie, will participate. These screenings are a part of the festival “Lithuania NOW” which is organized for the first time by Gifu Prefecture and aims to introduce Lithuania.

In the documentary, the story of Kaunas–Japan bilateral relations is revealed through four personalities who prior the World War II became bridges between the two countries. It is Yukichi Fukuzawa – the first Japanese who mentioned and wrote about Kaunas in his diary. In 1862 together with the mission of 36 (more…)

VMU Centre for Asian Studies is entering summer holiday season. Due to that, if you are planning to visit the Centre on July 9 – August 13 please contact our staff in order to arrange a meeting. We apologize for the inconveniences.

The staff of the Centre for Asian studies are grateful to students, their clubs and all partners for the fruitful collaborations during the past study years. We hope that during the summer vacation all of You will get plenty of rest and come back full of energy and fresh ideas which will be needed in the upcoming semester.

Last week Centre for Asian Studies staff dr. Linas Didvalis spent five days at Waseda University (Tokyo, Japan) as a visiting scholar. The visit was based on Erasmus+ Staff Mobility for Teaching program and consisted of a number of lectures for Waseda University students that covered such topics as Europe-Japan relations and China’s current foreign policy. The visit also allowed for Dr. Didvalis to conduct his own research and to have meetings with local professors to discuss cooperation between Waseda University and Vytautas Magnus University. The two universities entered partnership in 2001 which since then resulted in numerous student exchanges and increasingly strong academic connections. (more…)

Public Bachelor thesis defense of the students of East Asian Cultures and Languages program will take place this year on June 4th, 5th and 6th at the Faculty of Humanities in Putvinskis str. 23, room 310. On July 4 the defense will start at 10:00, during the other days – at 9:30.

The public Master thesis defense of East Asia Region studies program student Kristina Gedminaitė will be held on June 4. Her topic is “Korean Peninsula: the impact of Sunshine policy and United Nations’ sanctions”. The defense will be taking place at 9:30 at the Faculty of Humanities in V. Putvinskis str. 23, room 310.

Everybody is invited to listen the presentations and to participate in the discussions.

The list of students and their topics.

The end of May marked official announcement of decision to establish King Sejong Institute (KSI) at Vytautas Magnus University. This new institution will contribute to the spread of Korean language and culture in Lithuania and strengthen Korean studies that began at VMU more than a decade ago. The Institute will also provide additional value to already existing study programs: East Asian Cultures and Languages (BA level) and East Asia Region Studies (MA level). (more…)

The Centre for Asian Studies invites all interested in China, Japan and Korea to apply for the East Asia Region Studies program (EARS), which is the only graduate program in Lithuania and the Baltic States that is taught in English and focused on East Asian contemporary politics and society. VMU also provides scholarships for selected foreign students.

EARS program’s applicants must hold a bachelor’s degree of humanities or social studies. Same as earlier, the best and most motivated students will be encouraged to study at least one semester abroad at one of our partner universities in East Asia. After graduation students acquire the MA degree of political science. All the courses of the program are taught in English. Research paper and master’s thesis are also written in English.

More information about the program, the application process and other requirements can be found in EARS page. Application deadline: June 28th.

On May 24 – June 30 VMU Centre for Asian Studies invites you to visit Japanese post stamps exhibition “Prefectures”. The exhibition displays a part of Mr. Leonas Veržbolauskas collection of Japanese post stamps. The exhibition is located in the 4^th floor gallery at the VMU Multifunctional Research and Studies Centre (V. Putvinskio st. 23, Kaunas).

Japan began issuing stamps for its prefectures, also known as furusato (ふるさと – hometown) stamps in 1989. However, they are not trully regional stamps as they are issued by Japan Post and are sold at the post offices not only in their prefectures but also all around the country. Prefecture stamps provide an excellent opportunity to experience the sights and scenes for which Japan’s prefectures are famous for. (more…)

On April 17 we are inviting everyone to an open lecture called “World peace through ancient Indian wisdom” which will be held in Putvinskio str. 23-310 from 11:15. The lecture will be given by Prof. C. Upender Rao who is a scholar of Sanskrit and India studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University (New Delhi, India). Prof. Rao has been involved in Sanskrit studies for more than 30 years already, and plans to talk about the concept of “peace” in ancient Indian tradition and how that connects with both global and individual attempts to achieve peaceful coexistence. More information about the lecture is in the provided PDF file.

The lecture will be held in English. The admission is open and free to all.

“Time for Asia” is a cycle of events, organised by the Centre for Asian Studies and aimed to present contemporary issues and topics in the fields of Asian politics, society, culture and economics.

Vytautas Magnus University Centre for Social Anthropology invites you to the seminar “Networks of Resilience: Legal Precarity and Transborder Citizenship Among the Karen from Myanmar in Thailand”. Speaker of the seminar – Indrė Balčaitė. The seminar will be taking place on April 12th, 2018 at room 103 in Gediminas st. 44, Kaunas. 

The paper probes the relationship between legal precarity and transborder citizenship through the case of the Karen from Myanmar (Burma) in Thailand. (more…)

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…)