Gustavs Strenga
@strenga
Medievalist. Cultural historian. Interested in the late Middle Ages, collective memory, commemoration, gift-giving, medieval heroes after the Middle Ages, medieval Hanse and Livonia. Associate professor at the Latvian Academy of Culture (Riga)
Together with my colleague @letteruuta.bsky.social we are organising a session for the #IMC2027 #LeedsIMC2027 Here is our CFP: "Religiousness in late medieval craft communities". Please apply. #medievalsky
Though I am not a Lutheran, I am actively involved in preparing for Remembrance Sunday or “cemetery feast” (kapusvētki in Latvian) in my parents village. For every cemetery the feast is celebrated on a different Sunday of a year, usually in summer. A burial place of ancestors must be tidy.
Šodien saņēmu atbildi uz savu iesniegumu Saeimas Publisko izdevumu un revīzijas komisijas priekšsēdētājam Kasparam Melnim. Meļņa kungs nav sevi apgrūtinājis ar atbildēm uz manis uzdotajiem jautājumiem. Vienvārdsakot, atrunas, atrunas, atrunas un ļoti šaurs skatījums uz zinātni Latvijā.
Mans iesniegums Saeimas Publisko izdevumu un revīzijas komisijas priekšsēdētājam Kasparam Melnim, reaģējot uz viņa mēģinājumiem politiski ietekmēt pētniecību Latvijā.
Sometimes it is not only about values, but also about optics. In Latvia we discuss local political gambles behind yesterday's vote for the country to leave the Istanbul Convention, from the outside, it is clear - Latvia follows Hungary, Slovakia and other countries that head East.
Together with our wonderful colleagues, we honored Ilgvars Misāns, professor emeritus of medieval history at the University of Latvia, on his 70th birthday by publishing a Festschrift. lit-verlag.de/isbn/978-3-6... 1/3
My talented friend Kārlis Sils got his PhD today by defending his theses at European University Institute "Sowing the Seed to Reap the Harvest of Unity. Nationalization, Fascism, and Imperial Legacies in Authoritarian Latvia (1934-1938)" today.
In Riga, a really interesting conference 'Footprints of the Early Modern Book Trade: Transnational Mobility between the Low Countries and the Baltic Sea Region' is taking place at the National Library (25.-27.11). Speakers include Andrew Pettegree, Arthur der Weduwen, Pierre Delsaerdt et al.
Embla Aae successfully defended her thesis "Quantifying Devotion: A Mixed-Methods Study of Pious Donation in the Nidaros Province, c. 1160-1540" at the University of Bergen. It's a really good dissertation. For me it was the first time I've been examiner (opponent).
Off to Bergen for my first PhD defence as a reviewer (opponent). I think it will be pure academic fun.
My book "Remembering the Dead: Collective Memory and Commemoration in Late Medieval Livonia" has been published. www.brepols.net/products/IS-...