AFS Latvia is once again offering a one-month program of intensive Latvian language and culture study in Latvia for teenagers and young adults from around the world.

Students can choose either July 2011 or December 2011—January 2012, depending on what fits better with their home country school schedules. The program offers not only lessons in language, history, and culture, but also many cultural activities, such as dancing, singing, cooking, handicrafts, and participation in traditional solstice celebrations.

The program takes place in the coastal city of Liepāja. Students live with host families, thus experiencing the language and culture at its very heart—in the home. AFS Latvia is able to host 10-15 students, age 15 to 30 years. No previous knowledge of the Latvian language is necessary.

Application deadlines for the summer and winter programs are April 1 and Oct. 1, respectively. For more information and to register, contact your local AFS office (see www.afs.org). If there is no AFS office in your country, contact AFS Latvia at www.afs.lv or Ieva Vīksna at ieva.viksna@afs.org or +371 67280646.

Last year’s students prepared promotional videos, which can be seen on YouTube and on www.liepajniekiem.lv.

This program is an opportunity for the children of second- and third-generation Latvians living abroad to explore their ethnic heritage. It is a chance to be fully immersed in the culture—to speak, think and live in Latvian.

The Center for Russia, East Europe, and Central Asia (CREECA), together with the Department of Scandinavian Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, will host the Baltic Studies Summer Institute (BALSSI) from June 13 to Aug. 5.

Instruction in first- and second-year Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian will be offered. BALSSI 2011 will also include lectures in English on Baltic history and culture and a rich program of cultural events and field trips related to the Baltic countries.

Thanks to a grant from the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS), the program fee for first-year Estonian and second-year Latvian will be waived for graduate students specializing in East European studies in any discipline. These students will, however, still be responsible for paying UW-Madison segregated fees.

The priority deadline for admission and the fee remission grant is April 11. Information and application materials are available on the BALSSI website, www.creeca.wisc.edu/balssi.

BALSSI is sponsored by a consortium of 10 U.S. universities and receives additional support from the Association for the Advancement of Baltic Studies, ACLS and the Lithuanian Foundation. BALSSI at UW-Madison is also grateful to Madison Vilnius Sister Cities for its generosity and assistance, said Jennifer Ryan Tishler, CREECA’s associate director.

For further information about BALSSI 2011, contact Nancy Heingartner, BALSSI program coordinator, at balssi@creeca.wisc.edu or +1 (608) 262-3379.