Open Call: CBSS Summer University 2023 in Gdańsk

The University of Gdańsk and Zatoka Foundation, in cooperation with IFZO at the University of Greifswald and other YoPeNET for Balticness project partners, the Council of the Baltic Sea States, and the City of Gdańsk are organising the 2023 CBSS Summer University. The event will be held on 16-24 September 2023 at the University of Gdańsk, Poland.

Join one of the key summer programmes with a focus on the Baltic Sea Region, and experience exciting lectures led by brilliant faculty. Be inspired by the international environment with participants from all over the region.

What is your perspective?

This year’s CBSS Summer University is for you if you wish to explore interdisciplinary academic approaches to identity and the Baltic Sea Region in general, and this year there will be a greater focus on the connections between cultural and ecological perspectives. It draws on a variety of academic disciplines including history, art, politics, rhetoric and communication studies. The summer university will not only equip you with academic competencies, but you will experience first-hand how research and knowledge creation interact with public policy on the national and supranational level. During our engaging sessions, we will talk about the glue that holds people together as Baltic Sea residents as well as issues that divide them, and discuss whether it is desirable to think in terms of large geo-cultural regions. Such topics correspond particularly well with the nature of the social-ecological challenges of the 21st century, both real and imagined, material and symbolic. You will also get the chance to work together with different partners to co-create cultural texts and media projects to demonstrate your perspective on these issues. 

What will you learn?

This year, as ever, we aspire to reach a threshold level of “regional literacy” connected to the Baltic Sea region, but the programme will approach Balticness both in theory as well as practice. First, we will learn the ropes by getting to know each other and by interrogating the foundations of identity. Next, we will explore the power of myth, borderlines of knowledge(s), and strategies of social communication, which will give you a chance to open discursive spaces and jointly develop tools for an academic dialogue on Balticness. Then, we will navigate through the issues of migration and integration, mapping, and New Medievalism, as well as security challenges in the BSR, using narrative analysis as a compass. After our dry-land training, we will set sail and cross the Gulf of Gdańsk on our way to the Hel Marine Station to experience first-hand the challenges of marine governance. Finally, we will drop anchor and reflect upon identity dilemmas, the nature of boundaries in marine governance through the lens of ecocultural identity, and the students’ own narratives of Balticness. Such a theoretical and experiential journey will help you understand how identity formation works and know what kind of influences accompany these processes. 

Registration and application

Submit an application including a statement of intent and a short description of your interests and motivation for taking the course. There are no registration or tuition fees.

The deadline for applications is on 30 June 2023.

The organisers cover the cost of accommodation, lunches and some dinners. Travel expenses to and from Gdańsk must be covered by the participants. Housing can be provided free of charge in a student dormitory.

The detailed programme and syllabus will be updated on the YoPeNET website.