8th international winter school successfully held in Kääriku

The University of Tartu and the Higher School of Economics, Moscow have successfully conducted the 8th winter school in Kääriku as a part of the international project "Escapes from Modernity" which has been organizing summer and winter schools across all Europe since 2007. Traditionally, the school took place in Kääriku Leisure and Sports Centre of the University of Tartu, situated in a beautiful area in Valga County. 26 students from 12 countries, including Estonia, Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia, Turkey, Belarus, Finland, the US, Australia, Thailand and Italy have come together in the midst of Estonian winter to discuss biopolitics.

Geopolitical and biopolitical facets of international relations became the main topics of the winter school. Focusing on the Black Sea and the Caucasian regions, students discussed them through the territorial lens, on the one hand, and the people-centric prism, on the other. The learning process consisted of lectures and interactive classes based on students' inclusive participation, including topical presentations and group-based debate.

The format of the "Escapes from Modernity" project suggests that a school is held in proximity to the nature, giving participants enough time for active and healthy leisure. Since the participants could spend about one third of the day outdoors doing physical exersises and enjoying the nature, the unity of mind and body has become the core of the project. In Kääriku, everyone could try skiing, hiking, ice skating and experience traditional Estonian sauna including jumping into a snowy lake.

The school was enriched by the lecturers from University of Birmingham, Södertörn University, Higher School of Economics, University of Tartu, University of Oslo, Uppsala University and London School of Economics. The school was summarized by the trip to Tartu and the round-table discussion on ethno-, geo-, and bio-politics in a Wider Europe, held in Johan Skytte institute of political studies. 

A full gallery of pictures from the winter school is available here. 

This activity has been funded with support from the European Commission under the Jean Monnet Module “on the EU’s engagement with Russia and post-Soviet neighbors". 

 


Forwarded by:

Olena Solohub
Coordinator
Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies
University of Tartu
olena.solohub [ät] ut.ee