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The Baltic Heritage Network International Conference
EIGHTY YEARS AFTER 1944: THEN AND NOW
June 26-28, 2024
Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania, Vilnius
PROGRAM

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 26
8.30-9.00 Registration and coffee (Atrium 5th Floor)
9.00-9.15 Opening of the Conference (Conference Hall 5th Floor)

09.15-10.00 KEYNOTE SPEECH

• Prof. Egidijus Aleksandravičius. The Generation of Poets & Soldiers in the History of Emigration of Baltic People (Vytautas Magnus University)

10.00-11.15 PANEL 1
(Moderated by Piret Noorhani)

• Dr. Jolanta Budriūnienė. The Range of Diaspora Content Activities at the National Library of Lithuania (National Library of Lithuania)
• Birgit Kibal. Estonian Diaspora Archives: At Home and Abroad (National Archives of Estonia)
• Dr. Maarja Merivoo-Parro. A Travelling Space and Place: Fifteen Years of Diaspora Researcher’s Seminars (University of Jyväskylä)

11.15-11.30 Coffee break (Atrium 5th Floor)

11.30-12.45 PANEL 2
(Moderated by Dr. Dalia Cidzikaitė)

• Dr. Robertas Vitas. The Influence of Lithuanian Displaced Persons in the US (Lithuanian Research Center, USA)
• Dr. Jolanta Kuznecovienė. Lithuanian Diaspora in Kazakhstan: Devaluation Cultural Heritage and Mercantilization of Ethnic Identity (Lithuanian University of Health Sciences)
• Prof. Vytis Ciubrinskas. Moral Economy and Social Remittances of Lithuanian-American Diaspora (Re)migrants (Vytautas Magnus University)

12.45-14.00 PANEL 3
(Moderated by Birgit Kibal)

• Dr. Ilona Strumickienė. Interpreting Lithuanian Historical Trajectories through Jadvyga Damušienė‘s Memoirs (National Library of Lithuania)
• Assoc. Prof. Žydronė Kolevinskienė. Narratives of War in Lithuanian Diaspora Women‘s Writings (Vytautas Magnus University)
• Tina Tamman. The Legacy of Great Men (independent researcher)

14.00-15.00 Lunch (Submarine restaurant, Gynėjų St. 2)

15.00-16.15 PANEL 4
(Moderated by Kristina Lapienytė)

• Regina Butkus. Historical Memory of the Consequences of WWII Based on the Experiences and Testimonies of the DPs (Lithuanian American Community)
• Dr. Dalia Cidzikaitė. Inquiring about Everyday Life: The Oral History Project-2 (National Library of Lithuania)
• Dr. Lara Lempertienė. Memorial Books of Lithuanian Jewish Communities: Between Idyll and Heartbreak (National Library of Lithuania)

17.00-19.00 Exhibition Opening and Reception (Education Lab-Laimė Lukošiūnienė Hall 5th Floor)

THURSDAY, JUNE 27

8.00-8.30 Registration, coffee (Atrium 5th Floor)
8.30-10.00 BaltHerNet member general meeting (Conference Hall 5th Floor)

10.00-11.30 PANEL 5
(Moderated by Dr. Jolanta Budriūnienė)

• Prof. Danutė Petrauskaitė. From Song to Symphony: Musical Activities of Jeronimas Kačinskas in the DP Camp in 1945-1949 (Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theater)
• Maarja Hollo. Reports from a DP Camp: Gert Helbemäe’s Letters to Valev Uibopuu (Estonian Literary Museum)
• Arvydas Pakštalis, Brigita Tranavičiūtė. How Higher Education Was Fought for: Lithuanian Aspects of UNRRA University, 1945-1948 (Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas University of Technology)
• Ignas Stanevičius. Staying with the Flock: The Role of Lithuanian Catholic Priests in Sustaining the Diaspora Community in Germany, 1951-1990 (Vilnius University)

11.30-11.45 Coffee break (Atrium 5th Floor)

11.45-13.15 PANEL 6
(Moderated by Dr. Ilona Strumickienė)

• Dr. Vaidas Petrulis. The Political Mission of Lithuanian Architecture in the Exile: Debates and Projects (Kaunas University of Technology)
• Dr. Daiva Litvinskaitė. Lituanus Journal: Its Past and Present (Vilnius University)
• Dr. Egidijus Balandis. World Lithuanian Sports Games and the Shaping of Lithuanian Diaspora, 1978-1988 (Vytautas Magnus University)
• Dr. Regina Laukaitytė. The Power of Family Ties: Contacts Between the Lithuanians of the Free World and Their Relatives Left Behind in the Occupied Homeland (Lithuanian Institute of History)

13.15-14.30 Lunch (Submarine restaurant, Gynėjų St. 2)

14.30-16.00 PANEL 7
(Moderated by Riina Reinvelt)

• Piret Noorhani. Estonian Museum Canada VEMU as a Community Builder (Estonian Museum Canada VEMU)
• Andris Ķesteris. Demographics, Politics, and Threats in a World at War (Canadian Latvian Archives and Museum)
• Kristina Lapienytė. Researching DP Archives at the Lithuanian Research Center (Lithuanian Research Center, USA)
• Sigita Balzekas. No Home to Go to: Lessons from the Decade-long Baltic DP Exhibition (Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture, USA)

16.30-18.00 Screening of the film “The Story of the Baltic University” (directed by Helga Merits, 2015, 52 min.) (Conference Hall 5th Floor)

FRIDAY, JUNE 28

9.30-10.00 Registration, coffee (Atrium 5th Floor)

10.00-11.30 PANEL 8
(Moderated by Birgit Kibal)

• Dr. Laima Vincė Sruoginis. Exploring the DP Experience Through the Memoirs of the Second Generation (Vytautas Magnus University)
• Helga Merits. The Suffocating Loyalty (independent researcher, filmmaker)
• Dr. Dainius Genys. The Traits of Lithuanian Consciousness in the Course of Cultural Modernization: Antanas Škėma’s Baltoji Drobulė (Vytautas Magnus University)
• Thomas Svaneborg, Brian Traantoft Rasmussen. ESCAPE: A Book About an Overlooked Danish Refugee History (Gads Forlag Publishing House)

11.30-11.45 Coffee break (Atrium 5th Floor)

11.45-13.15 PANEL 9
(Moderated by Piret Noorhani)

• Ann Tunder-Smith. Blogging Baltic Biographies (Estonian Archives in Australia)
• Hiljar Tammela. The Estonian flight to Sweden During World War II: Some Facts and Figures on the Brink of the 80th Anniversary (Estonian Institute of Historical Memory)
• Dr. Maija Krūmiņa. The Flight Motivation in the Life-Stories of Exile Latvians (Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the University of Latvia)
• Keila Kopvillem, Kerly Ilves. The Great Escape of 1944 Told Through VEMU’s Archives (VEMU Estonian Museum Canada) 

13.15-13.45 Closing remarks