International conference Riga Readings in Social Sciences

The conference this year will host more than hundred participants from 16 countries (Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Germany, Poland, Sweden, Russia, United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea, Italy, Slovenia, Czech Republic and Kazakhstan). Working language: English. Established scholars, early career academics and postgraduates will explore various themes from political science, sociology, media and communication studies, information and library sciences. The main sessions will cover the following topics: democracy and contemporary governance; Russia’s rhetoric and influence; the transformation of diplomacy: digitalization and innovations; diaspora and cultural diplomacy; public diplomacy and perception in foreign policy; foreign policy and law; historical memory and identity; national and cultural memories; language, identity and cultural heritage; social care and discrimination; local social movements; media and communications in the Baltic States; information literacy; biocultural rights and social ecology; peace research and security; international migration and cultural learning; territorial development and innovations. All participants will be invited to submit their papers. Selected papers will be published in the RRSS proceedings. The organizers or RRSS conference has announced four keynote speakers for the conference’s opening and closing ceremony: Dr. Corneliu Bjola (University of Oxford), “The digital transformation of diplomacy/social sciences”; Dr. Daunis Auers (University of Latvia), “The Baltic states at 100… How about the next 100?; Dr. Tom Schumacher (Kiel University), “Researcher mobility in the Baltic Sea Region – current situation and prospects”; Dr. Kazimierz Musiał (University of Gdańsk), “Raising the Baltic Sea Region’s attractiveness for researchers by focusing on scientific excellence”. The conference organizers:         Advanced Social and Political Research Institute (ASPRI) is the research institute of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Latvia. Since its creation in 2004, the task of ASPRI has been to coordinate interdisciplinary research projects involving the academic staff and graduate students of the four departments in the faculty, which are political science, sociology, communication studies, information and library sciences. Number of leading scholars, researchers and scientific assistants work in the institute. The Director of the ASPRI is Professor Aija Zobena. Programme