Last week, VMU concluded signing cooperation agreements with two new partner universities in East Asia. In total, there are 38 such agreements now with institutions in the region.

Tōyō University became most recent and already 17th partner that VMU has in Japan. The university has more than 30 000 students who pursue their studies in 11 different faculties. Enrio Inoue, who established Tōyō University in 1887, was a famous philosopher of Japanese Buddhism. Representatives of the university visited the Centre for Asian studies last summer, and after negotiations the meeting resulted in signing the agreement. VMU and Tōyō University has plans to cooperate in different fields, including designing and launching a double degree study program of area studies.

National Dong Hwa University is the fourth VMU partner from Taiwan. It has 10 000 students and is located in Hualian prefecture – a very scenic mountainous part of the eastern part of Taiwan. Agreement with the university was signed during the visit of VMU vice-rector prof. Ineta Dabašinskienė.

Every year the Lithuanian Ministry of Education and Science offers scholarships for full-time Master degree studies in Lithuania. In total, 70 such scholarships are offered this year for citizens of 10 countries as well as foreign citizens of Lithuanian origin. The Centre for Asian Studies encourages everyone eligible for Lithuanian state scholarship to use this opportunity to gain high quality Master degree education at Vytautas Magnus University. The deadline for application is May 10, 2017.

One of the most attractive programs available for foreign students is East Asia Region Studies (EARS) program which during its 10 year history had a number of students who came to Kaunas thanks to state scholarships. EARS is the only graduate programme in Lithuania and the Baltic States that is taught in English and focused on East Asian contemporary politics and society. The two-year Master’s degree program is mainly concentrated on modern political, social and economic issues of East Asian countries, i.e. Korea, Japan and China, but also provides possibility for students to study region’s culture, history, traditions, religions, as well as to learn region’s languages. (more…)

On Monday, March 13, 2017, the signing on the agreement has been conducted at VMU that is located in Kaunas, the second largest city of Lithuania. Also, the opening ceremony of Global Japan Office (GJO) in Lithuania, which was founded as the 12th GJO of Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, was held on that day.

In the presence of His Excellency Mr. Toyoei Shigeeda, Ambassador of Japan to Lithuania, and other personnel from Vilnius, the Capital, the signing ceremony was solemnly held. Participants from VMU included President of the university, Dr. Juozas Augutis and Head of Centre for Asian Studies, Dr. Aurelijus Zykas. From TUFS, Executive Director/ Secretary-General Fumiyasu Hirashita, Prof. Kyoko Numano, and Lithuanian Lecturer Dr. Eiko Sakurai attended the ceremony. (more…)

Scholars of the Centre for Asian Studies participated at the International Symposium on Japanese Studies, which was hosted by the University of Bucharest, Center for Japanese Studies on March 4-5. The participants represented the academic institutions of France, Czech Republic, United Kingdom, Slovenia, Belgium and Japan.

Dr Linas Didvalis presented the presentation on the topic “Japanese Forest Culture: Lost between Urbanization, Depopulation and Globalisation”, while PhD student Arvydas Kumpis used the case study of Tsushima conflict to illustrate the Internet Radicalization. Dr. Aurelijus Zykas made a presentation “Challenges for Japan’s Public Diplomacy after 2009”.

The Symposium was a good opportunity not only to present and discuss the newest research, but also to meet the partners of Bucharest, Ljubljana and Prague and to talk regarding Erasmus+ exchange for students and teachers.

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We would like to invite you to participate in Vytautas Magnus University Asian Week 2017 (VMU Asian Week 2017), will take place on March 6–10 in various venues of VMU and other public places.

VMU Asian Week is a one-week long cycle of events, related to East Asia region. It aims to provide a better understanding of the region and to raise awareness about Japan, Korea and China in an accessible and attractive way. The events are open not only to university‘s community but also to everyone interested in East Asia. Asian Week is organized by VMU Centre for Asian Studies together with student clubs „Hashi“, „Wu Wei“ and „Hallyu“, in cooperation with our social partners. (more…)

Recently, Vytautas Magnus University was proposed to establish Global Japan Office, which is to be coordinated by Tokyo University of Foreign Studies (TUFS). This is to become the first centre of this kind in North East Europe.

GJO is based on the TUFS worldwide network of institutions that help to develop Japanese studies, coordinated by Tokyo University of Foreign Studies. In 2014, TUFS was recognized by Japanese Government as one of the Top Global universities in Japan, and since then the establishment of GJOs was started. The establishment of GJO in Kaunas is planned in mid-March. (more…)

On January 24th staff from Centre for Asian Studies and International Relations Coordinator in VMU Faculty of Humanities visited the Korean Cultural Center, located in the Polish capital Warsaw. During the meeting with the director Kim Hyunjin of the Korean Cultural Center our members presented longtime Korean studies in VMU and research based on Korea by the Centre for Asian Studies.  Director of the Korean Cultural Center was pleasantly surprised with Korea related activities in Kaunas and the number and initiative of students interested in Korea. (more…)

This January a representative of the Centre for Asian Studies dr. Linas Didvalis visited Autonomous University of Madrid (AUM). The visit included discussing study and research cooperation issues with prof. Taciana Fisac, the director of the Center for East Asian Studies at AUM, as well as meeting staff and students representing faculties of humanities and political science. In addition of valuable exchange of experience and good practices, the visit resulted in agreement to start academic staff exchange between VMU and AUM. Student exchange is also under consideration but requires further examination of the match between study programs and formal requirements. (more…)

In 2016, the MA program of East Asia Region Studies (EARS) went through a detailed inner and outer evaluation process coordinated by the Centre for Quality Assessment in Higher Education and a special committee that was comprised of such program stakeholders as lecturers, students and social partners. The evaluation culminated with the visit of independent experts’ group that visited VMU on November and gathered information necessary to prepare the final report.

This week the evaluation report was presented to CAS with very favorable results – the EARS program received high points in all six evaluation areas, such as program aims, curriculum design, teaching staff, facilities, study process and management. As a result, the program was accredited for the maximum period of 6 years. In the report, experts also proposed direction for further improvements in the program. The EARS committee will take these suggestions into consideration and strive to maintain high quality of East Asian studies at VMU. (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.

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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…)

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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…)