Multiple Baltics

10/12/2025

Participants are grateful for the unique opportunity to visit
Latvijas Universitātes bibliotēka collection of rare books and manuscripts, "Bibliotheca Rigensis," which is one of the oldest collection of its kind in the Baltic Sea region, to learn about its history and research potential.

10/12/2025

We are thankful for opportunity to hear Associate Professor's at the Latvian Academy of Culture and lead researcher's at the LKA Kultūras un mākslu institūts Gustavs Strenga lecture where he conceptualised reception of medieval heroes as culturally constructed phenomena “Eternal Struggles for Freedom: Long Life of the Baltic Medieval Heroes between Crusades and Nation States”. It is also contextualized in the collective monograph “Doing Memory: Medieval Saints and Heroes and Their Afterlives in the Baltic Sea Region (19th–20th centuries)” (De Gruyter, 2024), which he edited and contributed.

10/12/2025

Multiple Baltics: International History Seminar Unites Students from 15 Countries in Riga

For the first time in Riga, the ISHA - International Students of History AssociationWinter seminar “Multiple Baltics: Reimagining social, cultural and spatial dimensions of history” took place. The seminar brought together around 40 students and early-career researchers from 15 countries: Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, Germany, Austria, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Croatia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, Serbia, Ukraine, and Romania. For the four days, participants were engaged in multiple workshops, roundtables, and featured keynote lectures at the University of Latvia Humanities and Social Sciences centre at Kalpaka bulvāris 4.

Participants heard insightful keynote speakers:
Mārtiņš Mintaurs (University of Latvia):“The Baltic World in History and Heritage Representations: Looking Back at the 20th Century”.
Gustavs Strenga (Latvijas Kultūras akadēmija): “Eternal Struggles for Freedom: Long Life of the Baltic Medieval Heroes between Crusades and Nation States”.

Thank you for all workshop leaders for their vibrant energy and inspiration for all participants:
Kristina van Kuyck (Dublin City University): Reading Monuments: Semiotics, Power, and Memory in the Public Space
Elina Ziehm (Leipzig University) and Anika Olbrisch (Greiswald University): Complex Cultural Heritage in Urban Environments: Critical City Tours
Haralds Matulis (University of Latvia): Digital Approach in History Research – Visualization, Computational Methods, and Artificial Tools
Anna Pečerska (Riga Technical University) and Elīza Dāldere (Helsinki University): Linking Socio-cultural Data with Historical Memory in the Baltic Urban Streetscapes
Rūta Bruževica (Tallinn University): Digital Livonia: a digital approach to medieval sources
Konrad Gergely (European University Institute) and Viktória Švigárová (Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice): PhD workshop
Alise Akermane-Pokšāne (Latvian Biomedical Research and Study Centre) and Jānis Ķimsis (Latvian Biomedical Research and Study Centre): Boxes, barriers and embarrassment: the not so attractive side of interdisciplinary research

Thanks to Latvijas Universitātes bibliotēka for the opportunity to engage directly with historical sources by visiting the University of Latvia Library's collection of rare books and manuscripts, "Bibliotheca Rigensis," which is one the oldest collection of its kind in the Baltic Sea region.

Financial support for the event was generously provided by the AABS Academic Events & Projects Grant 2025/2026 and the Students Council of the University of Latvia (Latvijas Universitātes Studentu padome).

The seminar was organised by ISHA - International Students of History Association in collaboration with the Latvijas Universitātes Humanitāro zinātņu fakultāte.

More information: https://lnkd.in/ddHMaC55

Photo: Gregors Laķis

Zinātne Latvijai - Research Latvia

05/12/2025

Study visit to the Library of Rare Editions and Manuscripts “Bibliotheca Rigensis”
📍 University of Latvia Library
Latvijas Universitātes bibliotēka

KEYNOTE SPEAKER: GUSTAVS STRENGA
“Eternal Struggles for Freedom: Long Life of the Baltic Medieval Heroes between Crusades and Nation States”

The Bibliotheca Rigensis (1524) is historically significant as one of the oldest public libraries in the Baltic Sea and German cultural regions. Its founding is linked to a 1524 donation of five religious books by the Riga City Council to Pastor Nikolaus Ramme, intended for the common good (salus communis). The library's core collection today comprises medieval manuscripts and printed works that represent knowledge production and preservation within the region. Of particular cultural and historical value are the medieval Latin parchment manuscripts, which were primarily sourced from former monasteries and churches in Riga. Highlights of the manuscript collection include the 13th-century French-transcribed works Psalterium Davidis (Psalms of David) and Parabolae Salomonis (Parables of Solomon), a 15th-century Book of Hours decorated with ornate miniatures. An exceptionally important historical source is Missale Rigense (mid-15th century).

05/12/2025

Boxes, barriers and embarrassment: the not so attractive side of interdisciplinary research

Workshop leaders: Alise Akermane-Pokšāne (Latvian Biomedical Research and Study Centre),
Jānis Ķimsis (Latvian Biomedical Research and Study Centre)

The workshop aims to challenge participants to confront three core issues related to cross-disciplinary collaboration: Thinking Inside the Box, Scientific Language Barriers, and Inherently Human Shortcomings (related to disciplinary expertise). Participants will bring pre-prepared examples, which small groups will use to collaboratively identify priorities and devise concise, minute-long solutions. This interactive session is designed to deepen critical engagement with interdisciplinary analysis and build essential soft skills in precise, structured problem-solving.

04/12/2025

02/12/2025

The last thematic session: PhD Workshop

Title: Research projects presentations

Workshop Leaders: Viktória Švigárová (Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice, Slovakia), Konrad Gergely (European University Institute, Italy)

Order of presentations:

-Iveta Berga-Muižniece (PhD candidate, University of Latvia)
The Image of the Virgin Mary in Livonia: Archaeological and Visual Material (13th–16th centuries)

-Matthieu Accary (MA, Lycée International Jules Verne de Riga/Sorbonne Université)
The civil war during the fourteenth century in Byzantium: historiography and new approaches.

-Renata Deshlieva (MA, University of Primorska/Koper)
In the labyrinth of History: A journey through the Wars of the Roses.

-Vasile Alexandru-Marian (PhD candidate, University of Bucharest)
Transformation and modernization in Ottoman Dobruja (1856-1878)

-Denis Smetanin (PhD candidate, Nordost–Institut, Hamburg University)
Uncertainty at the Imperial Borderland? Local Politics and Public Sphere in Riga and Reval in Late Tsarist Russia

-Mihajlo Srdanović (MA, University of Belgrade)
The main causes of the rebellion in Pilsen (1953) and the influence of the geography on the outbreak of the rebellion

02/12/2025

Our second parallel session, Digital History: Spatial and Social Aspects of the Baltic History

Title: Digital Approach in History Research – Visualization, Computational Methods, and Artificial Tools

This workshop offers a brief overview of digital methods for historical research, introduces ready-made tools you can apply in your work, and shows how basic programming (Python in Google Colab) and AI tools like ChatGPT or Gemini can enhance your digital humanities skills.

Workshop Leader: Haralds Matulis (University of Latvia, Latvia)

Title: Linking Socio-cultural Data with Historical Memory in the Baltic Urban Streetscapes

Street renaming reflects historical memory by removing old meanings and creating new ones. In Europe, it often follows regime changes as societies rethink their past. This workshop introduces what counts as data in digital humanities and how to use QGIS for spatial analysis.

Workshop Leaders: Anna Pečerska (Riga Technical University, Latvia), Elīza Dāldere (University of Helsinki, Finland; ISHA Riga)

Title: Digital Livonia: a digital approach to medieval sources

This workshop teaches beginner skills in the Transkribus handwriting recognition tool and offers practical transcription of 15th-century Hanseatic documents from the UNESCO-listed Latvian archives. It includes a brief overview of the digital collection and hands-on training with Transkribus.

Workshop Leader: Rūta Bruževica (Tallinn University, Estonia)

02/12/2025

Let’s explore the first parallel session, Critical Cultural Heritage: Narratives, Conflicts, and Transformations in the Context of the Baltics.

Title: Reading Monuments: Semiotics, Power, and Memory in the Public Space
The workshop invites participants to critically examine monuments and memorials as texts that communicate political, cultural, and ideological messages. Using tools from semiotic theory and critical heritage studies, participants will learn to “read” the visual and spatial language of public heritage — analyzing what is shown, what is silenced, and how meanings change over time. In small groups, students will dissect contested monuments from the Baltic region and beyond, then design creative strategies of re-signification that move beyond demolition versus preservation.
The workshop combines theoretical input with hands-on exercises, equipping participants with transferable skills in critical analysis, argumentation, and innovative heritage interpretation.

Workshop Leader: Kristina van Kuyck (Dublin City University, Ireland)

Title: Complex Cultural Heritage in Urban Environments: Critical City Tours

Participants will be introduced to newly developed educational materials by researchers from the Critical History Tours project (research consortium: ISHA, EuroClio, Uncomfortable Oxford, The Liberation Route Europe (ELB), Balkan Region Museum Network, ATRIUM) on how to create multifaceted and thematic guides to complex and sometimes uncomfortable cultural heritage in urban environments. During the four-hour workshop, participants will learn about the methodology and discuss how to develop a critical view of urban cultural heritage. Divided into smaller groups, participants will either create a completely new city tour or improve an existing tour of their hometown or university. At the end, participants will present their newly created or improved critical city tours and reflect on each other's results.

Workshop Leader: Elina Ziehm (Leipzig University, Germany), Anika Olbrisch (University of Greifswald, Germany)

07/10/2025

🌟 ISHA Winter Seminar 2025 Featured in AABS Annual Bulletin! 🌟

We are delighted to share that the AABS has launched their Annual Bulletin, which highlights ISHA - International Students of History Association upcoming Winter Seminar 2025 Multiple Baltics: Reimagining Social, Cultural and Spatial Dimensions of History!
It's a fantastic recognition of our mission, which was also one of the first grant recipients of the AABS "Academic Events and Projects Grant."

Project manager and ISHA Treasurer Elīza Dāldere shares her vision behind the project, discussing the seminar's core mission: introducing a wider academic audience to the history of the Baltic Sea region while emphasizing interdisciplinary collaboration and the development of transferable skills.

The seminar features three thematic sessions:
1) Digital History: Spatial and Social Aspects of the Baltic History;
2) Critical Cultural Heritage: Narratives, Conflicts, and Transformations in the Context of the Baltics;
3) PhD Workshop (for doctoral students and those considering a PhD).

If you are a student or young researcher interested in the Baltics, this is a prime opportunity to engage with leading scholars and peers!
The deadline for applications is October 10th. Be sure to submit your application soon!
Read the full interview here: 🔗 https://lnkd.in/dh3t5UfJ

Apply for the seminar by October 10th! More information: multiplebaltics.lv .

This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn

24/09/2025

📢 Call for PhD Workshop Leaders!
Are you a PhD student or a young researcher interested in sharing your expertise? The ISHA PhD & Training Committee is looking for workshop leaders for the ISHA Winter Seminar 2025!

The seminar "Multiple Baltics: Reimagining Social, Cultural and Spatial Dimensions of History" will take place in Riga December 3-7, 2025.

We're are opening registration for a PhD workshop, designed for both current doctoral students and Master's students considering a PhD. This workshop focuses on developing transferable skills and navigating the key challenges of the PhD process.

We'll cover your travel expenses, accommodation, and meals.

Ready to apply? 📧 Send your workshop proposal to phd-training[at]isha.international by October 7, 2025.

The Organising Committee will review all proposals and let you know the results in the middle of October.

23/09/2025

📢 Applications are officially OPEN for the ISHA Winter Seminar 2025! 📢

Join us in Riga, Latvia, for "Multiple Baltics: Reimagining Social, Cultural and Spatial Dimensions of History," in December 3-7, 2025.

The International Students of History Association, in cooperation with Latvijas Universitātes Humanitāro zinātņu fakultāte, invites history students and young researchers from all levels to explore new perspectives on the Baltic region.

Ready to apply? 📝 Fill out the application form: https://forms.gle/X1x9FuZVKLKGtrrq6 📧 Submit your motivation letter or an abstract if you're applying for the PhD workshop.

Application Deadline: October 10, 2025

For more information, visit our official webpage: multiplebaltics.lv

Follow the news on Facebook event: https://fb.me/e/69hg66rau

Don't miss this opportunity to connect with fellow historians and engage in exciting discussions. We can't wait to see you in Riga!