The Center for Social Anthropology (CSA) was established of the Vytautas Magnus University (VMU) in 2005 following the initiative of two anthropologists, Prof. Romas Vaštokas (University of Trent, Canada), of Lithuanian diaspora and Dr. Vytis Čiubrinskas (Vilnius University), who along with Dr. Jolanta Kuznecovienė, sociologist of VMU, have launched a Master’s Program in Social Anthropology there.
The Center serves as anthropological research unit of the Faculty of Social Sciences conducting research and curriculum development projects as well as organizing scholarly activities – programs, conferences, seminars, etc. and preparing publications.
MISSION
- To conduct anthropological research and to make research materials available for Masters’ in Social Anthropology students and other graduate students;
- To contribute to academic and public debates on key issues for Lithuanian society;
- To organize anthropology conferences, workshops, seminars, courses and summer schools and to prepare academic publications;
- To maintain professional links with other academic and research institutions in the field of anthropology and related disciplines;
- To contribute to visibility and development of the field of anthropology as a new discipline in the country and in the Eastern European region.
RESEARCH SCOPE
- transnationalism and migration,
- anthropology and sociology of religion,
- anthropology of postsocialism,
- epistemology, politics and development of the discipline of sociocultural anthropology,
- social memory and cultural heritage studies,
- economic anthropology
Field research sites are in Europe, North America, South Asia
SEMINARS
Since the beginning of the establishment of the Center for Social Anthropology, in the autumn and spring semesters of the academic academic year, the SAC seminars “Problems and Perspectives of Contemporary Anthropology” have become a tradition, during which Lithuanian and foreign colleagues give presentations and hold discussions on topical issues of social and cultural anthropology.