Hasso Krull is the next professor of liberal arts of the University of Tartu

In the 2021/2022 academic year, the position of the professor of liberal arts of the University of Tartu will be held by poet, essayist and translator Hasso Krull. The position will be handed over to him by Olga and Priit Pärn on 9 June in the round auditorium at Jakobi 2, followed by a discussion about whether the joke is a fading phenomenon in today’s Estonian society.

Hasso Krull is a well-known intellectual who is active in various fields. His work often contains motifs from the heritage and mythology of Estonia and even more distant cultures. He has published more than 15 collections of original poetry, numerous collections of essays and also children’s literature. Krull’s works have been translated into many languages, such as Finnish, English, German, French, Swedish and Dutch, and he has received several prestigious cultural awards. Besides this, he is also known as a translator of fiction and philosophical literature and an active literary critic, he has written opera librettos and collaborated with several composers. For a long time, Hasso Krull taught at the Department of Cultural Theory of the Estonian Institute of Humanities, and has since dedicated himself to freelance work.

The lecture course starting in the new academic year “Gods of the Future: Ontological War and the Art of Attunement” focuses on understanding the society of the future. “Long ago, gods lived on Mount Olympus. Today, they live in the marketplace, or, more precisely, at the supermarket. But where will the gods of the future live?” asks Hasso Krull in his course. “A hundred years ago, our great-grandparents could hardly imagine the way we live now. Yet, we now have even less idea of how our descendants will live in a hundred years’ time. This is why we need to learn the art of attunement. Let us ask: how can we still exist? And how can somebody exist after us?”

“Hasso Krull’s activities in the cultural and literary landscape have been very diverse and therefore the lectures of his year of professorship are certainly of interest to teaching staff and students from a wide range of research directions of the university,” said Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Arts Anti Selart, commenting on the choice of the professor.

On 9 June at 14:15, current professors of liberal arts Olga and Priit Pärn will hand the position over to Hasso Krull at the round auditorium at Jakobi 2. The three will talk about whether the joke is a fading phenomenon in the Estonian culture, in our everyday reality. Inspired by Jüri Üdi’s poetry, Olga and Priit Pärn and Hasso Krull raise the question of the right and freedom to joke in today’s society. Who gets the last laugh?

The handing over of the professorship can be watched live on UTTV or at Jakobi 2. The event is in Estonian.

Registration for Hasso Krull’s lecture course “Gods of the Future: Ontological War and the Art of Attunement” (HVKU.05.037, in Estonian) starting in autumn has already begun and the lectures are open for everyone. For registration information, contact the Academic Affairs Specialist Ene Paldre (737 5669, ene.paldre@ut.ee).

Further information: Anti Selart, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities of the University of Tartu, 5340 6116, anti.selart@ut.ee