Discussion between Prof. Milda Ališauskienė from Dept. of Sociology, Prof. Kathleen M. Moore from Dept. of Religious Studies
Discussion between Prof. Milda Ališauskienė from Dept. of Sociology at Vytautas Magnus University (Lithuania), Prof. Kathleen M. Moore from Dept. of Religious Studies at UC Santa Barbara (USA), and Assistant Professor Katarzyna Zielińska from the Institute of Sociology at Jagiellonian University (Poland). The participants discussed the subject of recent international conference in Lithuania, Religion(s) and Power(s), where Prof. Kathleen M. Moore and Ass. Prof. Katarzyna Zielińska were keynote speakers.
Culture&Cuisine
A national cuisine afternoon on October 11, Wednesday, at 12.30 pm on the first floor of Jonavos 66 building (near the bar). We warmly invite you to a traditional Faculty of Social Sciences community event. Please bring a national dish or snack, preferably made/cooked/baked by you and a label saying the name of the dish and the country or region that it represents. Also, do not forget to bring good emotions and smiles.
VMU Career days 2017 „Career 360“
Vytautas Magnus University invites you to “VMU Career Days”. This year there will be more intriguing messages and more new career opportunities.
See you soon!
Bilateral study exchange for VMU students
VMU International Cooperation Department has announced competition for bilateral exchange studies abroad in autumn semester of AY 2017/2018. Application deadline 5 March.
Participant Requirements
The participants eligible for the competition are students who:
- are Bachelor or Master students;
- have academic average higher than 8;
- are strongly motivated and have clear goals.
Students are requested to choose the accepting foreign university from the list of institutions that have signed bilateral agreements with VMU.
Application Documents
The following documents should be attached to the filled-in application:
- Curriculum Vitae (CV);
- your digital photo;
- confirmation from programme coordinator approving compatibility of the programmes.
Before choosing a foreign university, participants are requested to check if that university’s suggested courses match their study programme at VMU. Students are also welcome to consult with international relations coordinator in their faculties.
Selected students will be awarded the entire or partial VMU Bilateral Exchange Scholarship. Students who have not been awarded mobility grants but meet the criteria will have an opportunity to go to VMU Bilateral Exchange using their personal funds.
The size of the scholarship depends on the chosen length and country of the exchange.
| Country groups | I | II | III | IV |
| Countries | Argentina USA Canada Japan Israel Jordan South Korea Brazil Mexico Indonesia Malaysia India Taiwan |
Azerbaijan China Thailand |
KazakhstanCyprus Malta Russia Pakistan |
Armenia Belorussia Bulgaria Georgia Estonia Latvia |
| Study Scholarship | 500 EUR/month | 400 EUR/month | 350 EUR/month | 250 EUR/month |
More information
Public lectures about religion with M. Rothstein
Mikael Rothstein, Associate Professor of the History of Religions, University of Southern Denmark (Odense Denmark), will hold two public lectures at Vytautas Magnus University (VMU) on 23-24 November.
November 23th 2016 (Wednesday) at 16:45 PM at the Faculty of Social Sciences (Jonavos st. 66-324) VMU students are invited to attend the first public lecture „The Dynamics of Religious Change: Deliberate and Forced“.
“I have been engaged in the scientific study of new religious movements for the past 30 years. During the past ten years, however, I have focused on other subjects as well, particularly indigenous peoples’ religions. My recent monograph on the nomadic hunter-gatherers of Borneo’s rainforest is a comprehensive analysis of traditional religion and cultural changes, including a study of how these people have responded to Christian mission. In essence what has happened is this: The missionaries have destroyed the old religion (and thus the Penans’ society), but the Penan have not become Christian in the way the missionaries would have liked: In effect a new religion, a mixture of traditional and new elements, has come into being. In that sense the example from the rainforest of far-away Borneo reflects developments in Europe and elsewhere where new religions have emerged. I will try to talk about some of the sociological mechanisms that direct such developments. It is not enough to see the merging of traditions simply as “syncretism”. Merging take place all the time, it is a part of the religion-phenomenon. What we need to understand is how cosmologies, rituals, religious language, mythologies and religious organization blend and form new versions. Examples from a number of new religions will be included in my presentation to cover deliberate mergings as well as those faced upon people. Students are asked to bring examples of similar phenomena and present (very briefly) these cases for comparative purposes”, Mikael Rothstein said.
November 24th 2016 (Thursday) at 15:15 PM at VMU (Gedimino st. 44-302) Professor will attend the second public lecture: “Religion in the Public Sphere in Denmark (and the rest of Scandinavia)”.
Denmark may be one of the most secularized countries in the world. “Belonging without believing” is typical to the average citizen. In Denmark you can live your life with virtually no contact to religion, if you choose to do so. However, religion at the same time is an integrated element in society, even in public institutions. Denmark actually has a kind of State Church. This strange balance is difficult to understand, even in terms of standard sociological explanations. It is a rare mixture of religion and no religion. Apart from the dominating Lutheran Christianity, a multitude of other religions spawn in Denmark; immigrants’ religions and a host of NRMs.
Mikael Rothstein is Associate Professor of the History of Religions, University of Southern Denmark. He is also tenured Visiting Professor at the Department of Sociology, Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania. He is author and editor of several volumes on new religions and comparative religion in general. Among his English-language publications are Belief Transformations (1996); Secular Theories in the Study of Religion (ed. with Tim Jensen, 2000); New Age and Globalization (ed. 2001); and Handbook of the Theosophical Current (ed. with Olav Hammer, 2012). Presently Rothstein is engaged in the study of various new religions and indigenous peoples’ religions, especially in Borneo and Hawai’i.
Apply Now: Bilateral Exchange Abroad
VMU International Office has announced competition for bilateral exchange studies or internship abroad in spring semester 2016/2017. Application deadline 30 September.
Participant Requirements
The participants eligible for the competition are students who:
- are Bachelor or Master students;
- have academic average higher than 8;
- are strongly motivated and have clear goals.
Students are requested to choose the accepting foreign university from the list of institutions that have signed bilateral agreements with VMU.
Application Documents
The following documents should be attached to the filled-in application:
- Curriculum Vitae (CV);
- your digital photo;
- confirmation from programme coordinator approving compatibility of the programmes.
Before choosing a foreign university, participants are requested to check if that university’s suggested courses match their study programme at VMU. Students are also welcome to consult with international relations coordinator in their faculties.
Selected students will be awarded the entire or partial VMU Bilateral Exchange Scholarship. Students who have not been awarded mobility grants but meet the criteria will have an opportunity to go to VMU Bilateral Exchange using their personal funds.
The size of the scholarship depends on the chosen length and country of the exchange.
| Country groups | I | II | III | IV |
| Countries | Australia, Argentina*, Ecuador, USA*, Canada*, Japan, Israel*, New Zealand, South Korea*, Venezuela, Singapore, Brazil*, Mexico, Indonesia, Malaysia*, India*, Taiwan* |
Ireland, Azerbaijan*, Denmark, Island, Lichtenstein, China*, France, Germany, Belgium, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, Luxemburg, United Kingdom, Thailand* |
Austria, Greece, Spain, Italy, Netherlands, Kazakhstan*, Cyprus*, Malta, Portugal, Russia*, Pakistan* |
Armenia, Belorussia, Bulgaria, Georgia*, Czech Republic, Estonia*, Latvia*, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey, Hungary, Ukraine |
| Traineeship Scholarship | 600 EUR/month | 500 EUR/month | 450 EUR/month | 350 EUR/month |
| Study Scholarship | 500 EUR/month | 400 EUR/month | 350 EUR/month | 250 EUR/month |
* – asterisk marks the countries which you may choose for VMU Bilateral Study Exchange.
More information is available at the faculties and the International Office.
List of universities
More information
Results: Competition for Erasmus+ Studies Abroad
VMU International Office has announced the list of students who have been selected for Erasmus+ studies abroad.
The competition was dedicated to those who wished to gain even more international study experience, improve their foreign language skills, become VMU Ambassadors and a part of even bigger international community.
Eligible applicants were full time and part time students. Students with disabilities or special needs may receive additional funding.
Additional information about Erasmus+ studies, partnerships with higher education institutions in foreign countries, criteria of the selection, scholarships, contacts:
- VMU website page “Erasmus+”
- Individual consultations with International Programme’s Coordinators in faculties
Erasmus+ Coordinators at VMU International Office
Faculty of Economics and Management
Faculty of Natural Sciences
Faculty of Humanities
Faculty of Informatics
Faculty of Catholic Theology
Music Academy
Faculty of Arts
Faculty of Political Science andDiplomacy
Faculty of Social Sciences
Faculty of Law
Call for applications for full-time master’s degree or integrated studies at Lithuanian higher education institutions is now
The Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Lithuania opens a Call for applications for 70 Lithuanian state grants for full-time Master degree or Integrated studies at Lithuanian higher education institutions for the academic year 2018/2019. The funding under the Call shall be provided to the nationals of the Republic of Ukraine, the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Georgia, the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Republic of Moldova, Japan, the People’s Republic of China, the Republic of Korea, the State of Israel and foreigners of Lithuanian origin.
Competition for ERASMUS+ studies in partner countries
ATTENTION TO ALL VMU STUDENTS!
COMPETITION FOR ERASMUS+ STUDIES
IN PARTNER COUNTRIES (non-EU COUNTRIES)1
VMU International Cooperation Department invites all VMU students to use possibility to gain international study experience by studying in Erasmus+ partner countries‘ higher education institution (HEI).
Students have to submit completed online application form until 8th of March, 2018.
Selection criteria:
• compatibility between the plan for studies or research at the HEI abroad and the study programme at VMU;
• motivation;
• results of studies or research during the last two semesters;
• good knowledge of the language in which lectures will be taught2.
Awarding of the Nordplus adult education project coordinated by the VMU institute of education
The conference for evaluation of the acitivities of the NORDPLUS programme 2012-2017 in Lithuania (Junior, Adult, Horizontal and HigherEducation) took place in Kaunas on the 4th of October 2017.
One of the projects of this programme „Innovative approaches in developing key competences for adults“, coordinated by the team from Vytautas Magnus University Institute of Education (project manager prof. Genutė Gedvilienė, researcher assoc. prof. Vidmantas Tūtlys and administrator Virginija Bortkevičienė) was awarded for the development of inter-sectoral cooperation in implementing innovative solutions of adult education in the Baltic and Nordic countries. This project has been implemented by the partnership consisting of different educational institutions from Lithuania, Latvia, Norway, Finland and Denmark.
During the conference not only the members of the Institute of Education shared about good experience but also the Director of the Kaunas National Drama Theater dr. Egidijus Stancikas emphasized good and unusual academic experience that they gained in the project.
The products of the project include innovative methodology for development of key competences of adults referring to the needs of personal, professional and civic development of personality. This methodology became a basis for the modules for development of key competences of adults. The modules are placed in the on-line learning platform http://akc.vdu.lt/. The modules are accessible to learners and education providers in English and in the languages of project partner countries. Online learning platform provides attractive and helpful space for the further cooperation between the adult education providers from the Baltic and Nordic countries. Developed modules will be used by learners and by education providers, who could integrate these modules in their own curricula.
After the implementation of this project the team will pay a lot of attention and efforts to the sustainability and further development of designed modules, also inviting the users and learners to participate in this undertaking.
Project team expresses sincere gratitude to the Education Exchanges Support Foundation for the possibility to implement this project and for the provided administrative support, as well as to the Institute of Innovative Studies at the Vytautas Magnus University (director dr. Airina Voliungevičienė) for the provided expertise and technical support in the design of the online learning platform
