2024 at the Institute of Literature, Folklore and Art of the University of Latvia

This year has been vibrant, significant, and eventful at the Institute of Literature, Folklore, and Art of the University of Latvia. We are thrilled about what has been accomplished and planned, and we extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone who collaborated with us this year.

Celebrations:

• The 100th anniversary of the Archives of Latvian Folklore.
• The 10th anniversary of the digital archive garamantas.lv.

Events and conferences organized:

• ISFNR 19th Congress – one of the world’s largest scientific events for folklore researchers.
• International conference “Traditional Cultural Archives: 100 + 10”.
• The first Baltic Digital Humanities Forum.
• International conference “Rainis and Aspazija among Contemporaries in the European Cultural Space”.
• Cultural festival “Gunars Saliņš and the Hell’s Kitchen”.
• Many other smaller and larger scientific and science-promotion events.

Congratulations to our distinguished colleagues:

• Laine Kristberga became the Head of the Department of Art Studies in early 2024.
• Beatrise Reidzāne and Arnolds Laimonis Klotiņš were recognized as emeritus researchers.
• Inguna Daukste-Silasproģe was elected as a full member of the Latvian Academy of Sciences.
• Rita Grīnvalde and Arnolds Laimonis Klotiņš received Cabinet of Ministers Certificates of Appreciation.
• Inguna Daukste-Silasproģe and Kārlis Vērdiņš received the Latvian Literature Annual Awards.
• Ivars Šteinbergs received the Normunds Naumanis Art Criticism Award.
• Digne Ūdre-Lielbārde defended her doctoral thesis at the University of Tartu and earned her PhD.

European recognition:
The Institute received the European Union’s Citizen Science Honorary Award for the platform iesaisties.lv, which facilitates public involvement in humanities and cultural heritage research.

Publications by the Institute’s publishing house:

• Two new issues of the journal “Letonica”, which was ranked in the top quartiles (Q1 and Q2) of the Scopus database.
• Six new books:
  1. Arnolds Klotiņš – "Mūzikas modernisma daudzās sejas" (The Many Faces of Music Modernism).
  2. Dace Bula – "Literārās dabkultūras: Regīnas Ezeras zooproza ekokritiskā lasījumā" (Literary Nature Cultures: Regina Ezera’s Zoo-Prose in an Ecocritical Reading).
  3. Sandis Laime – "Latviešu teiku tipu un motīvu rādītājs" (Index of Latvian Tale Types and Motifs).
  4. Jana Kukaine – "Viscerālā estētika: afekti un feministiskā māksla postsociālismā" (Visceral Aesthetics: Affect and Feminist Art in Post-Socialism).
  5. Mudīte Austriņa – "Saules Spēles" (Sun Games) (edited by Kārlis Vērdiņš).
  6. Aigars Lielbārdis – "Latviešu buramvārdi. Teksti, tradīcijas, konteksti" (Latvian Spells: Texts, Traditions, Contexts).

• Ivande Kaija, "Es stāstu visu" (I Tell Everything) (compiled and annotated by Gundega Grīnuma).
• Liisa Steinby, Benedikts Kalnačs, Mikhail Oshukov, Viola Parente-Čapková (eds.), "The Politics of Literary History".

New challenges ahead:

• Four new fundamental and applied research projects will be implemented by the Institute.
• Starting in 2025, Digne Ūdre-Lielbārde will take over as Head of the Archives of Latvian Folklore, succeeding Rita Grīnvalde, who has skillfully led the Archives for the past 11 years.
• Sanita Reinsone has become a Associated tenured professor at the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Latvia.
• Toms Ķencis was appointed Vice-Dean for Research at the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Latvia.
• A heartfelt thank you to those retiring from active work at the Institute this year – Elga Melne, Arnolds Laimonis Klotiņš, Ieva Kalniņa, and Gundega Grīnuma – for decades of dedication and outstanding research.

We hope that 2025 will also be full of exciting discoveries and achievements in science! May the New Year bring inspiration and success to everyone!

Last time modified: 27.12.2024 18:25:26