News

Saksa Kevad is a series of events in spring, in which various aspects of Germany are presented in Estonia. At the same time the aim is to strengthen the relationships between Estonian and German institutions.

The Polish Culture Days hosted by the UT College of Foreign Languages and Cultures is a three-day event with lectures, workshops and many other activities for discovering Polish culture.

This year we wanted to send a very special Christmas card to the friends of the College of Foreign Languages and Cultures. We announced a drawing competition for all the kids of our college members up to the age of 12 on the topic “Christmas and Winter”, because what could be more full of joy and sincere wishes than a drawing from a little artist. We got a total of 30 drawings and since all of them were so lovely, we decided to draw the winner. Our holiday greetings will be delivered with the painting titled “Morning” by the 7-year-old Kristiina.

The international interdisciplinary research seminar Translation Strategies and State Control, organised by the Department of Slavic Studies, takes place at the University of Tartu on December 8-10.

The Austrian Embassy in Tallinn has announced two Estonian translators receiving the Austrian State Prize for Literary Translation in 2016. The prize for translation of contemporary Austrian literature into foreign languages was awarded to Terje Loogus and Piret Pääsuke.

On Gustavus Adolphus Day and the anniversary of founding the university, the ambassador of Sweden to Estonia, following the decision of His Majesty Carl XVI Gustav, gave the 1st class Order of the Polar Star to Tiina Mullamaa, teacher of Swedish of the University of Tartu.

The 11th of November is Lāčplēsis Day, the day of the bear killer, and it also is the first day of the Latvian week held in Tartu this year. In addition to the annual event of commemorating Latvian soldiers and war refugees at Uus-Jaani cemetery, the Latvian association "Tērbata" together with the Estonian Ministry of Culture and the Latvian embassy have organised a whole week of festivities for everyone interested in finding out more about Latvian culture.

The 3-day mini festival starts on the 26th of May at the UT College of Foreign Languages and Cultures. At 12.30 the Ambassador Extraordinary of Georgia to the Republic of Estonia Tea Akhvlediani is opening a photo exhibition dedicated to the Georgian alphabet.

Students from Hokkaido University will be studying in intensive English language courses in Tartu until 19 March. The Japanese are living with host families where they can also participate in the everyday life of Estonians and practice English outside the classroom.

A series of events will take place at the University of Tartu on 9-12th March, which include the opening a photo exhibition, the presentation of the novel “My name is Marytė”, a public lecture, screenings of prizewinning films and also a workshop of making the famous Lithuanian national dish cepelinai.

The 4th symposium of Old Norse Folklorists Network is dedicated to the question of the ontology of supernatural encounters in Old Norse-Icelandic literature, myth and legend, as well as in later Scandinavian folklore.

On Tuesday, 1 December, the University of Tartu celebrates the 96th anniversary of the national university with the traditional ceremony, torch-light procession and ball. Two honorary doctorates and 112 doctorates will be conferred at the ceremony and the University of Tartu Contribution to Estonian National Identity award will be presented. The ceremony is broadcasted live on www.uttv.ee.

The Medal of the Baltic Assembly was awarded to the University of Tartu Faculty of Philosophy’s Professor Valter Lang and Teacher of Latvian Ilze Zagorska for their outstanding contribution to strengthening cooperation of the Baltic States. Member of the Estonian Academy of Sciences and one of the leading archaeologists in the Baltic States Professor Valter Lang said that the medal is a great recognition of years-long work which in retrospective does not even seem as actual work.

Celebrating the Day of Gustavus Adolphus at the University of Tartu on Tuesday, 10 November: 1pm - Lectures, Jakobi 2-144: Gunnar Åselius, Professor of Military History at the Swedish National Defence College "The Generalship of Gustavus Adolphus" Pärtel Piirimäe, Associate Professor of Contemporary History at the University of Tartu "Gustavus Adolphus and Hugo Grotius“ 3 pm - Opening of the photo exhibition "Life Puzzle" at the Department of Scandinavian Studies, Lossi 3

1st Korean Speech Contest 2015 The Korean speech contest is a competition organised by the Korea Foundation, Korean Embassy in Finland, Academy of Korean Studies ja Finnair to celebrate the Korean Alphabet Day (Hangeul Day).

Estonian – German – Russian Representations in literature and media of a tense cultural relationship Interdisciplinary conference in cooperation with the Seminar für deutsche Philologie at the University of Göttingen Venue: University of Tartu, Department of German Studies Date: October 8-9 2015 Organization: Silke Pasewalck, Anna Bers, Reet Bender

Students and teaching staff from the Department of Classical Philology visited the Copenhagen Ny Carlsberg Glyptoteket in late April. Their trip focused on two main subjects: Mediterranean burial customs and traditional hair styling. Students practised their observing and citing techniques and associated material objects with written sources. Students teams will now compile E-portfolios that will be used as study sources in the next year's course.

Mart Kuldkepp, Tartu University, is the 2015 recipient of the AABS Emerging Scholar Award. His project is a biography of the Estonian politician Aleksander Kesküla. In Estonia, Kesküla is notorious as one of the most radical leaders of the 1905 revolution, but internationally he is primarily known for being the first to bring Lenin to the attention of the German General Staff in 1914 and for mediating as a German agent between the Germans and the Bolsheviks in their joint attempt at “revolutionizing” Russia.

On March 6th, 2015 at 10.30 o'clock the Department of Classical Philology organizes the international conference: Basic Latin and Greek in high school and university in the beginning of the 21st century: challenges and advantages

The Juri Lotman Seminar will take place from February 27th to March 1st 2015. See the programme in Russian and in Estonian. More information on the homepage of the department of Slavonic languages. Print the programme.