Summer Schools – Centre for Latvian Studies of Daugavpils University - NEWS

Daugavpils University International Summer School 2021 “Regional Studies: The Case of Latgale” has ended successfully

Tue, 03 Aug 2021 10:00:00 +0000

From 23 July to 1 August 2021, the International Summer School, organised by Daugavpils University Latvian Studies Centre, “Regional Studies: The Case of Latgale”, took place. This year, the Summer School was held for the fifth time, but for the first time it was in hybrid form: the participants acquired the Summer School programme face-to face and remotely, synchronously and diachronically.

10 participants from Azerbaijan, Belgium, Italy, Indonesia, Cyprus, Georgia, Peru, Ukraine and Uzbekistan received State Education Development Agency scholarships for participation in the summer school.

Innovative methodological approach was developed, and different digital tools were used to execute the programme in a hybrid form. A special Moodle e-study platform site was specially designed to implement the study programme. Study materials, recording of classes from e-conference platform ZOOM, video-excursions were posted in the site. The participants were also able to use the platform to do homework and the final test.

Two modules – “Latvian Language as A Foreign Language Learning for A1 level” and “Regional Studies” were at the basis of the Summer School programme.

“Latvian Language as A Foreign Language Learning for A1 level” was intended to develop basic speaking, reading, listening, and writing skills of the participants, with a focus on the language use in daily situations and professional communication. Modern electronical resources and materials were used for acquiring Latvian language. At the end of the course, the participants completed a test on the relevance of their language skills to A1 level of knowledge.

In the “Regional Studies” module, students face-to-face or virtually visited many objects of Latgale's traditional and modern history, cultural and creative industries, exploring and analysing the cultural specificities of the region, tourism potential, natural resources and society. Practical tasks, discussion topics and support vocabulary in Latvian were integrated into the video-excursions filmed exclusively for the Summer School.

With participation in discussions and practical tasks, participants shared their views on the problems, opportunities and challenges of the development of Latgale region, analysed the region's society, culture and history, compared Latgale region with examples of their home country, and strengthened the newfound vocabulary in Latvian.

Multiethnic and religious diversity of the region was discovered in a tour of Daugavpils city, the characteristics of the region were examined during a visit of the home and garden of Pauls Sukatnieks in Dviete parish, the pottery workshop of Aivars Ušpelis in the Malta parish and the Rušona parish farm “Yuri”. The region's natural resources were analysed by watching the film about Nature Park “Dviete Floodplain”. Latvia culture canon and diversity of Latvia was discovered as a video-excursion to museum “Tadenava” was provided. In order to gain insight into Latgale's ethnographic heritage, a virtual visit was offered to Līvāni Art and Craft Centre, while an analysis of the cultural history layers took place on a tour of Daugavpils Fortress.

In order to acquire the traditions and religion of Latgale region in depth, hybrid-excursion to the Aglona bread museum and the Aglona Basillica took place. Some of the participants were attending it face-to-face, while other watched a live video. Although this was the first experience for both the Summer School participants and the organisers, overall, this innovative activity was successful.

The graduation of “Summer School” took place on August 1. The school's organizers and members looked back on the 10 days of training. A word-cloud was created in which the Summer School members “encoded” their impressions and memories of the Summer School. A map that marks the countries of the Summer School members was also created with participants, demonstrating the broad audience of the Summer School, which overlaps North America, South America, Europe and Asia. Participants of the school had produced a special letter to the teachers of the Summer School, with lovely words of thanks and good wishes in their native languages and Latvian.

A survey of this year graduates was conducted to provide feedback that would help improve organization of the school in upcoming years. The members of the Summer School welcomed the methods and solutions used by the organisers in the implementation of the hybrid training process, both in Latvian language training and in the regional study module. In addition, summer school participants provided a number of original methodological and technological recommendations and ideas for the implementation of the Summer School in the coming years. Most of the summer school participants acknowledged that they would like to meet in person after the pandemic's retreat.

Lūk, dažas no dalībnieku atsauksmēm:

Aytan Mukhtarova, Azerbaijan: Learning about Latvia and Latgale these ten days was a great, unforgettable experience. Thanks to the kind teachers for teaching so much! Təşəkkürlər! Paldies!

Melani Dzhanaralieva, Belgium: Thanks for the opportunity! You are the best teachers, and you were all very nice to us. I'll miss you, I hope I can visit Latvia sometime and see you all. You showed us how lovely Latvia is and how welcoming its people are. Merci, спасибо!

Cut Meurah Habibur Rahman, Indonesia: I would like to thank my teachers. Finally, I had a chance to learn Latvian. I was very pleased to participate in this summer school. If I succeed, I will be happy to come to Latvia to make practical use of the acquired Latvian language skills. Terima kasih! Thank you.

At the end of the Summer School, participants were issued certificates on the acquisition of the “Latvian Language and Regional Studies” programme at 6 ECTS (European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System) and on the compliance of acquired Latvian language skills with A1 level.

PHOTO GALLERY

The Summer School is organized by Centre for Latvian Studies of Daugavpils University Faculty of Humanities.

Summer School Team: Dr philol., prof. Maija Burima (Head of Summer School), Diane Skuķe, Ilmārs Mežaraups.

Follow the latest news of the International Summer School “Regional Studies: The Case of Latgale” on summer school home page and on Facebook.

This project is financially supported by the State Education Development Agency of the Republic of Latvia.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Dr. philol., Prof. Maija Burima

Head of Centre for Latvian Studies

Email: summerschool@du.lv

International Summer School "Regional Studies: The Case of Latgale" has started

Wed, 28 Jul 2021 13:05:00 +0000

On 23 July 2021, Daugavpils University (DU) International Summer School “Regional Studies: The Case of Latgale” was opened. DU Centre for Latvian Studies (LSC) has been organising this school for five years, offering a unique programme each year with the content of Latvian language learning, culture, history, and regional studies integrated. This year the Summer School takes place in hybrid form, with the participants of the school acquiring the programme both on-site and remotely, synchronically and diachronically. The school takes places from 23 July to 1 August (10 days). The programme developed by LSC received financial support for the organization of the summer school by participating in the competition of the State Education Development Agency.

This year, 10 participants from Azerbaijan, Belgium, Italy, Indonesia, Cyprus, Georgia, Peru, Ukraine and Uzbekistan participate in the Summer School. A total of 85 applications were received on the Summer School platform, 10 of which were selected on the basis of the motivational letters submitted. The decisive assessment was based on the eligibility of the candidates' motivation to target the modules of the programme developed by LSC.

At the opening of the summer school, participants were offered a lecture on Latgale, Daugavpils City, Daugavpils University and the methodology of regional studies. The content of the lesson also integrated the Latvian language's welcome vocabulary and courtesy phrases. At the opening of the summer school, participants told about themselves and their motivation for participating in the summer school. The willingness of participants to participate relates both to research and professional interests, and the possibility of personal growth.

The summer school programme is composed of a Latvian learning module and a regional study module. The training process is carried out in hybrid form. The lessons are available simultaneously, both on-site and in remote format. It is possible for participants to watch lesson recordings made by using ZOOM e-conference platform that are published on site of e-study platform MOODLE designed specifically for this Summer School, along with other digital learning materials. In the Latvian language module, the members of the Summer School will learn the Latvian language at the A1 level of knowledge, focusing on the use of the Latvian language in communication situations in daily and professional communication. In the regional study module, the participants travel virtually to the most important sites of Latgale region, exploring and analysing the region's culture, history, tourism, nature resources and society.

The aim of this year's summer school is to create an image of the regional study phenomenon, its research tools and to carry out field studies in Latgale region, by integrating the acquisition of the communication competence of the Latvian language into the regional study component at the basic level.

PHOTO GALLERY

The summer school is organized by Centre for Latvian Studies of Daugavpils University Faculty of Humanities.

Summer School Team: Dr philol., prof. Maija Burima (Head of Summer School), Diane Skuķe, Ilmārs Mežaraups.

Follow the latest news of the International Summer School “Regional Studies: The Case of Latgale” on summer school home page and on Facebook.

This project is financially supported by the State Education Development Agency of the Republic of Latvia.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Dr. philol., Prof. Maija Burima
Head of Centre for Latvian Studies
Email: summerschool@du.lv

Participate in Latvian Language and Culture Summer School For Charge

Thu, 01 Jul 2021 11:00:00 +0000

For the fifth time Centre for Latvian Studies of Daugavpils University welcomes students, academic staff and other interested people to international Latvian language and culture Summer School. This year the school’s topic is “Regional Studies: The Case of Latgale” and the school will take place from 23rd July to 1st August.

This year we offer participation in a hybrid form. Thus, some of the participants will arrive to Latvia (face-to-face) and some will stay at their countries and join remotely (online). All participants will be able to use digital resources and watch exciting video excursions. The participants can choose the preferable format.

The school comprises two parts: Latvian Language Learning Module and Regional Study Module. It is possible to participate in just one of the modules or both of them.

The school is a great opportunity to get acquainted with regional study phenomenon, get new international friends, learn the basics of Latvian language using innovative methods, experience the multicultural, multi-ethnic and diverse region of Latgale through field studies, video excursions discussions and team-works.

All of the participants will receive a certificate (3 or 6 ECTS) and the participants of Latvian Language Learning Module will have a chance to take a test for their level of language proficiency according to level A1 of A2.

The participation fee is 90 euros for Latvian Language Learning Module and 45 euros for Regional Study Module. The payment is done through a bank transfer. Please mind, that this includes only the cost of participation in the classes and socio-cultural activities, study materials, and technical support. The costs of travel (including the safety measures for COVID-19 prevention), have to be covered by the participants themselves.

Our team sincerely recommends participating in the face-to-face form only to EU-citizens who can present a valid digital certificate, thus, no self-isolation or additional testing rules have to be complied with.

To participate, register here: https://summerschool.mozello.lv/2021/charge/

The Summer School Team will e-mail you to give you all the details.

In case of questions, contact us!

Update 23 April 2021: The round of applications for Latvia state scholarships has ended

Sat, 03 Apr 2021 17:00:00 +0000

The round of applications for Latvia state scholarships has ended.

We have received 85 applications from 18 countries around the world. All of the candidates are eager to study Latvian language and culture in our summer school but only 10 of them will receive the scholarship.

Next week our team will work together with the scholarship funders – State Education Development Agency to select the best participants for our summer school.

We will contact all the applicants about the results.

This project is financially supported by the State Education Development Agency of the Republic of Latvia.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Dr. philol., Prof. Maija Burima
Head of Centre for Latvian Studies
Email: summerschool@du.lv

Daugavpils University receives financial support for organization of Latvian language and culture summer school

Thu, 14 Jan 2021 13:00:00 +0000

For the fifth time Daugavpils University Faculty of Humanities Centre for Latvian Studies has received financial support for organization of Latvian language and culture summer school. In 2021 the participants of Summer school will be provided with programme "Regional Studies: The Case of Latgale".

State Education Development Agency of the Republic of Latvia (SEDA) received 15 project applications from higher education institutions of Latvia, of which only the best eight were chosen, including the application of Daugavpils University Summer School "Regional Studies: The Case of Latgale". It received 18 points from total of 18 in the commission’s evaluation. Summer school has been awarded with 10 scholarships that will be used to cover the participation costs of foreign students and academic staff. The amount of scholarship is 711 euros to each participant for all the school time.

This year the school’s aim is to create a picture of regional study phenomena, its research tools, and do field studies in Latgale region, integrating the basic acquirement of Latvian language communicative competence into regional study component. Summer School programme is flexible and digitally-based, therefore, it can be carried out in face-to-face, online, or mixed format.

In the international online Autumn "Summer School" 2020 "Challenges of Ethnotourism and Ecotourism in Latgale and Selonia" 10 students and academic staff form Azerbaijan, South Korea, Greece, Georgia, Peru, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan received SEDA scholarships and took part in the classes. The participants acquired Latvian language and discovered the tourism opportunities of Latgale and Selonia.

The School will be coordinated by Daugavpils University Faculty of Humanities Centre for Latvian Studies

This projected is funded with support from State Education Development Agency of the Republic of Latvia.

More information:
Head of Summer School:
Dr. philol., prof. Maija Burima
maija.burima@du.lv
+371 29789096