Department of Culture, Society and Environment
Established March 11, 2020, the new department is ILFA’s response to the changing research environment within and outside the Institute. Increasing orientation towards interdisciplinary studies, evolving awareness about the embodied and embedded nature of society and its cultures have propelled intellectual and personnel developments that have outgrown previous institutional structure. The Department identifies with an approach that addresses society and environment as research objects per se and not mere contexts for the study of literature, folklore and art. It aims at advancing novel epistemological ways of interpreting culture in dialogue with ideas originating in posthumanism, new materialism, ecocriticism, affect theory and the numerous recent ‘turns’ of humanities and social science.
At its initial stage, the Department particularly focuses on environmental humanities, gender and queer studies, and the study of place-related religious practices. Its work is based on two current projects: ‘Living Next to the Port: Eco-Narratives, Local Histories and Environmental Activism in the Daugava Delta’ (Latvian Council of Science); ‘Re-storied Sites and Routes as Inclusive Spaces and Places: Shared Imaginations and Multi-layered Heritage’ (Baltic Research Program).
- Kārlis Vērdiņš, leading researcher
Leading researchers
- Dace Bula
- Ieva Garda-Rozenberga
- Agita Misāne
- Jānis Ozoliņš
Research Assistant
- Ieva Melgalve
Last time modified: 29.12.2022 12:00:40
