University level courses and programs

November 28, 2008

Courses in the Latvian language are offered at several universities worldwide. The list below focuses mainly on European universities, but if you know of a university-level Latvian language program elsewhere in the world, and we will add it to our list.

According to a study by the National Agency for Latvian Language Training (LVAVA) in 2008, Latvian language courses are now offered by 20 European universities outside of Latvia. Several of these language and cultural studies programs began in the early 1990s. Some of the universities listed below have developed a strong Baltic studies program, while others offer Latvian language instruction only through interdisciplinary studies or as an additional or elective subject.

Czech Republic

Charles University in Prague
http://www.cuni.cz/UKENG-1.html

Masaryk University in Brno, Faculty of Arts
http://www.muni.cz/to.en/

Estonia

Tallinn University
http://www.tlu.ee/?LangID=2

University of Tartu
http://www.ut.ee/index.aw/set_lang_id=2

Finland

University of Helsinki
http://www.helsinki.fi/university/

Germany

Ernst Moritz Arndt University of Greifswald
http://www.uni-greifswald.de/en.html

Humboldt University in Berlin
http://www.hu-berlin.de/standardseite/?set_language=en

Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz
http://www.uni-mainz.de/eng/

University of Cologne
http://www.pressoffice.uni-koeln.de/

University of Münster
http://www.uni-muenster.de/en/

Hungary

University of Western Hungary in Szombathely, Department of Philology (Uralistics Section)

Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest, Department of Philosophy (Slavic and Baltic Languages Section)

For more information contact Lāsma Ģibiete at , , or +371 298 44 524.

Latvia

University of Latvia
http://www.lu.lv/eng/studies/courses/latvian.html

Lithuania

Klaipeda University, Faculty of Humanities
http://www.ku.lt/en/

Siauliai University
http://www.su.lt/en

Vilnius University
http://www.vu.lt/en/

Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas
http://www.vdu.lt/

Poland

Adam Mickiewicz Univeristy in Poznan
http://www.guide.amu.edu.pl/amu/index.htm

University of Warsaw
http://www.uw.edu.pl/en/

Russia

Saint-Petersburg State University
http://www.spbu.ru/e/

Scotland

The Department of Central and East European Studies at the University of Glasgow offers Latvian language courses (basic reading knowledge and communication skills) to its Honours and Masters students. For more information contact Dace Prauliņa at d.praulins @ lbss.gla.ac.uk (remove spaces before and after @).

Sweden

Stockholm University
http://www.su.se/english

United States

The University of Washington’s Baltic Studies Program allows students in Scandinavian Area Studies to specialize in Latvian, Estonian or Lithuanian studies.

Requiring less commitment, but still fairly intensive, is the Baltic Studies Summer Institute (BALSSI), hosted each summer by a different participating university. BALSSI offers language classes in elementary Estonian, Latvian or Lithuanian. Additional English-language courses in Baltic history and culture, as well as a variety of cultural events, are also offered. The Center for Russian, East Europe and Central Asia (CREECA) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison will host BALSSI in the summer of 2009, from June 15 to August 7, 2009. For more information visit the BALSSI Web site or contact Jennifer Tishler at .

— Amanda Jātniece