Autumn School of Criticism to Be Held at the UL Faculty of Humanities

From October 21 to 25, 2024, the University of Latvia Faculty of Humanities will host the Autumn School of Criticism as part of the State Research Programme project “Narrative, Form, and Voice: The Embeddedness of Literature in Culture and Society” (VPP-LETONIKA-2022/3-0003).

Organized in collaboration with the online magazine Punctum, the school will feature masterclasses by literary critic and scholar Ilva Skulte (RSU), literary scholar Zanda Gūtmane (RTU Liepāja), literary critic and writer Ieva Melgalve (UL ILFA), and Punctum editor Linda Mence.

The Autumn School is especially intended for MA students from the University of Latvia, Liepāja University, and other Latvian higher education institutions in the humanities. Classes will be held remotely via MS Teams in the evenings from 18:00, and will also involve practical assignments and independent preparation (details in the programme).

Registration:
To register and receive MS Teams links and detailed assignments for each session, please email your application to Ingus Barovskis (ingus.barovskis@lu.lv) by October 18.

Participants who complete the course will receive a certificate.

Programme & Task

Final assignment (due October 24):
Write a review of a freely chosen short story or poetry selection published in a cultural periodical. Send it to ingus.barovskis@lu.lv and ilze.jansone@lu.lv.

October 21 – 18:00
Contemporary Criticism in the Context of the Media Environment – led by Ilva Skulte

October 22 – 18:00
Recognize, Understand, Interpret: Writing a Prose Review – led by Zanda Gūtmane

October 23 – 18:00
The Challenges of Poetry Criticism – led by Ieva Melgalve

October 24 – 18:00
Workshop in collaboration with Punctum: The Unfathomable Text – Choosing Aspects to Focus on in a Review – led by Linda Mence

October 25
Closing seminar and discussion – led by Ingus Barovskis and Ilze Jansone

This project is implemented within the State Research Programme “Letonika for the Development of a Latvian and European Society” (Project No. VPP-LETONIKA-2022/3-0003-0).