Akadēmiskais centrsAbout us
The Center for Judaic Studies at the University of Latvia was established in July 1998 with the financial assistance of the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture (USA, New York). The University of Latvia has located the rooms for the Center in the representative part of the University Central Building in the very center of Riga. Center is functioning as a separate unit under direct auspices of the Rector of the University of Latvia.
The main goals of the Centre are:
- to preserve the legacy of Latvian Jews and to perceive their contribution to
European and worldwide culture; - to carry out research in the history of Jews in Latvia and Baltic region, including the history of Holocaust;
- to offer the students a wide range of lectures in the field of Jewish history, philosophy, religion and Hebrew language.
Activities:
The main activities of the Center are aimed at promoting and maintaining the positive development of Latvian-Jewish relations by means of an accurate research work and different educational projects.
Brief history of the Center: - July 1998 – Center for Judaic Studies is established at the University of Latvia with the financial assistance of the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture (USA, New York).
- October 26-27, 1999 – The Third International Conference "Jews in a Changing World" (Riga), since then the Center for Judaic Studies is the chief organizer of the Conference among other Jewish representatives.
- October 16-17, 2000 - The International Conference „The Issues of the Research of the Holocaust in Latvia” (Riga, Big Hall, University of Latvia). The Center was one of the Conference organizers. This is the first Conference to mark the beginning of wide scale and State sponsored research on the Holocaust.
- February, 2001 - Center for Judaic Studies was visited by the President of State Vaira Vike-Freiberga.
- November 20-22, 2001 - The Fourth International Conference "Jews in a Changing World" (Riga, the Assembly Hall of the University of Latvia).
- 2002 – The Latvian Names Project recovering the names and identities of the members of the Latvian Jewish Community who perished as a result of the Holocaust during the period from 1941-1945 is launched as an independent Research Project of the Center for Judaic Studies, which is beforehand (in 2001) presented to the President of Latvia Vaira Vike-Freiberga, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia and several international organizations.