A group of students from the Faculty of Humanities attended 2011 International Baltic Conference on Canadian Studies in Vilnius

This interdisciplinary conference welcomed case studies, theoretical papers and comparative analyses that explore the issues linked to the North as seen from the perspectives of history, politics, society, culture, literature and any other discipline. A group of students from the Faculty of Humanities attending the conference share their experience. Gatis Eņģevīrs:
I really enjoyed the trip. The conference itself was truly impressive. We had a great tour around the University of Vilnius campus which was a treat for me as I am really interested in arts. Both nights we went out to see the nightlife in Vilnius and met many peer students from all over Europe. I am grateful for being offered such an opportunity. Baiba Lazdiņa:
 As I have just recently started Canadian studies, the conference in Vilnius was a great and worthy experience. The presentations were extremely interesting and the professors knowledgeable and absolutely into their subject of research.. The organizers, as well as all the participants of the conference were very forthcoming and encouraging as we were the only students participating. I understood how little I know about Canada in general and this conference was the best motivation for me to continue exploring this fascinating country.  Inese Danovska:
This conference has been a true privilege in terms of receiving the cutting edge research findings regarding the current changes of the Nordic diaspora of Canada caused by global warming and development of hydroelectric mega-projects; the economic and territorial concerns of world’s leading countries in the North Pole; as well as the interpretation of Nordic Aboriginal culture. I find this conference to be encouraging and inspiring for prospective research. Marta Bieriņa:
It was a great opportunity to participate in International Baltic Conference on Canadian Studies in Vilnius. I learned many new things about Canada from different perspectives and met people from different parts of the world; all of them united by a passion for this country. Conference was very well organized and I would certainly advise students to get involved in this type of academic events. Elīna Šķendere:
I was a priceless experience as we were given a great opportunity to participate in the workshops and listen to the presentations delivered by the representatives from Canada, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia. As I study Canadian Cultural Studies only for the first year, I was interested to get acquainted with the historical facts, present situation and future visions for Canada. Knowledge that I gained will certainly help in my future studies. Antra Tūtere:
I have been in Canadian studies only for about a month and after this conference my interest in Canada has grown. It was really a great motivator for further studies. In Vilnuis we met many interesting people not only from Europe but also Canada. After this conference I look at the North of Canada differently; I used to think that there is only snow and really deep cold but now I see that there are beautiful landscapes and people with their cultures. The Faculty of Humanities maintains a good tradition of student participation in annual Baltic conferences on Canadian studies. Two students from the Faculty of Humanities participated in the annual Baltic conference on Canadian studies in Tartu last year. Elīna Šalaginova presented her research that provided a comparative analysis of the most popular museums in Riga and Ottawa according to the number of hits in the search engine Google and Ilze Ladusa explored mythologies and folk songs to determine the parallels and differences in time perception between the North American Northwest Coast Indians, the First Nations of contemporary Canada, and ancient Latvians. The next year conference will take place in Latvia.