The top four teams from each group will advance to the Quarter-Finals, at which point the competition continues through to the Final – on 8 July – in a standard knock-out format.

The draw was conducted by FIBA in collaboration with the Lithuanian Basketball Federation (LBBF), with FIBA Hall of Fame inductee and LBBF President Arvydas Sabonis in attendance as well as Senior Men’s National Team player Jonas Maciulis.

Groups:

Group A: Australia, China, Czech Republic, Egypt, France, USA
Group B: Argentina, Canada, Croatia, Korea, Lithuania, Spain

The faculty’s other 5 programmes in English are for those who seek a Master‘s degree. Baltic Region Studies and East Asia Region Studies analyze the political and economic processes in the countries of their respective areas, and graduation paves the way for work at public and private institutions, diplomatic missions, etc. Academic career can be pursued further by enrolling in PhD studies in the field of social sciences. VMU offers doctoral studies as well, in no less than 18 different fields.

Social and Political Critique is an MA programme tailored for those who wish to acquire the skills to not just analyse social and political processes in a manner which would reflect their political and social realities, but also to examine and care for human self-expression and existence evident in these processes. Diplomacy and International Relations prepares highly qualified specialists and analysts who are able to evaluate the evolution of international relations, including major changes and events in the field, as well as their causes.

Students may also enrol in the Journalism and Media Analysis programme, which produces qualified and dependable journalism professionals who have skills to not only produce content but also critically assess communication processes in the context of the changing media and socio-cultural environment.

There is a new exciting option for the artistic international students at VMU – MA studies of Performance Art at the Music Academy. Entrants may choose from several specializations – piano, strings, wind and percussion instruments, singing of scenic genres, and singing of concert genres. The courses here will help students develop their competencies as musicians, as they will learn to perform complex material written for the studied instrument or vocal much more professionally, and become more independent in their artistic choices.

In a world where global economy is of an increasingly crucial importance, Faculty of Economics and Management retains its relevance by providing international students with high-quality programmes. Marketing and Sales educates Masters of Management and Business Administration who apply their systematic point of view in the permanently shifting conditions and deal with difficult contemporary marketing issues and processes in international markets.

Graduates of Marketing and International Commerce become marketing specialists who think strategically and react to changing domestic and international business environment. The programme introduces the most recent marketing theories and methods, which the students learn to analyse independently. Students who desire knowledge of global and local financial systems may choose the programme of Finance and Banking, which also teaches practical use of modern risk management instruments and methods, etc.

Applied English Linguistics at the Faculty of Humanities turns students into highly qualified experts who are able to compare and assess two languages and cultures, to independently apply their knowledge while working at international academic and cultural institutions, business companies, etc. They may also receive job offers from companies looking for employees who are able to deal with intercultural differences and provide high quality translation services.
At the Faculty of Social Sciences, three Master’s degree programmes are available for English-speaking students. Applied Sociology studies help students learn to independently tackle the particularities and problems which arise in various areas of society. Graduates should have no trouble finding work at social research centres, public opinion and market research institutions, public administration, science and education institutions, the media, etc.

Social Anthropology is for future anthropologists able to conduct ethnographic fieldwork, carry out independent scientific research and apply anthropological theories and contemporary research perspectives. This programme is also useful for its training of intercultural communication. Possible career paths include work in socio-economic development, urban and rural planning, public health, media, education, cultural heritage, environmental protection and other fields. Social Work programme educates future social workers who are competent at research of contextualised practice and integration and development of professional knowledge, skills, values, etc. Master’s degree in Social Work opens opportunities for doctoral studies of social sciences and work at institutions of social security, education, health-care, law, etc.

Last but not least, IT enthusiasts may apply for studies of Applied Informatics at the Faculty of Informatics. Completion of the programme enables graduates to learn through self-education, predict new trends in development of technologies, adequately choose and apply strategically important technologies and platforms, participate in scientific research and enter doctoral studies at local and foreign universities and scientific organizations. Some of the gained competencies include ability to create and apply new ideas in IT business and science, design IT products of commercial and public value, etc.

CONTACT INFORMATION:
Martynas Gedvila
Media Officer
Public Communications Office
Vytautas Magnus University
Phone: +370 37 327 892

All the songs of the final:

Donny Montell (Donatas Montvydas) – Love is blind
Dar – Home
Simona Milinytė – One of a kindMonika Linkytė – Happy day
Vig Roses – Come back home
Bekešo Vilkai – Letter by letter
Vytautas Matuzas – Take it Back
Alive Way – Amazed by you
Katažina – Euforija
Beissoul – Why
The Independent – Baby
Multiks – Star

During the course which will take place in Kaunas for two weeks in mid-July, the participants will discuss the political, economic, cultural and social situation of Lithuania, as well as Lithuanian identity issues. They will also travel around Kaunas, visit historical landmarks and other famous towns and cities in the country.
VMU held the first summer course from 5 to 16 July 2010. The idea to organize a summer course exclusively for persons of Lithuanian heritage living beyond the borders of Lithuania came about not long ago and was implemented in less than a year. Egidijus Aleksandravičius, director of the Lithuanian Emigration Institute and professor at VMU, was the one who proposed the idea.

At the time Prof. Aleksandravičius said that the “time was ripe” for this kind of course because “the way has been paved by many years of observation. Except for Ireland, other attempts by universities to take original courses of action were weak. VMU is the first one to create a course which meets the challenges of distant future and provides a significant common good.”

Collaborating with the Lithuanian Emigration Institute, VMU undertook the summer course with the aim of strengthening the self-awareness of Lithuanians as a Diaspora nation. This Diaspora nation is perceived as an undivided whole, as people living in Lithuania and beyond who have Lithuanian roots and share the language, culture and history with their compatriots everywhere. The academic course is heavily focused on introducing participants to the traditions, culture and history of Lithuania and exiled Lithuanians, as well as learning the Lithuanian language. The course is complemented by a cultural educational program.

Application Form for the Course

Refresh in Lithuania 2012 Program

The guest of the colloquium also discussed the criteria applied in the assessment of media transformation, recalling common complaint of CEE media scholars that the new post-Communist governments never formulated a full-fledged media policy: “In many countries, the officially avowed principle of freedom of speech and of the media has been honoured more in the breach than in the observance. Of course, general directions of systemic media policy, e.g. privatization of print media and establishment of dual broadcasting system combining public and commercial stations, has been pursued, but this hardly adds up to a full set of criteria by which to judge the progress of transformation”, the specialist noted.

Professor Peter Gross also drew attention to the fact that there are no unified standards in Western Europe for the CEE region to conform with, apart from a bit idealistic ones formulated by the Council of Europe and by the EU in general, but it would be hard to find a country whose media system is fully in line with them: “EU does make conformity with these standards a condition of admission for the CEE countries, but it is content with the pro forma transplantation of Western laws, institutions and regulations and turns a blind eye to the non-Western nature of their application and media and journalism practices that often fail to observe them. We need to answer which one of the many examples of Western European media and journalism are CEE countries to emulate and why do we assume that any of the Western types is truly adequate for a true democracy. Socially and technologically driven change in their media systems is so fast that trying to emulate them would be like trying to aim at a panoply of movable targets”, the scientist explained. He argued that there is no template to which post-Communist media systems could be compared to see how advanced in their transformation they are.

Historical Heritage of Ruin

According to Prof. Gross, CEE countries missed out on the Western European developments of the 19th century and thus are still burdened by the effects of autocratic regimes and their institutions. “To quote Robert Conquest, this “left a heritage of ruin not only in the economy, ecology, health, politics, but also, and above all, in the minds and psyches of its citizens”. With such a historical legacy, transformation cannot be over any time soon. Western transitologists simply err in their assumptions that the post-Communist process meant a quick progression to a free mass media and journalism”, professor claimed.

Quoting Karol Jakubowicz, the media researcher compared the transformations in the CEE countries with ontogenesis, i.e. the sequence of events in the development of an organism, which brings the desired results after a long period of time. “The easy answer is that the transformation has simply not lasted long enough to have produced such a stable situation. According to Harry Eckstein, a plan to democratize fully should probably cover some 25 years, more or less depending on local condition (60 years according to Ralf Dahrendorf). So there may still be both backsliding and moving forward, and the media is always the first to be effected by such change, for good or bad. To probe a little deeper, media systems in democratic CEE countries operate on at least two levels: that of democratic theory and that of not always democratic practices”, Peter Gross concluded before adding that CEE must retrace the path taken by the West and even repeat the same mistakes in order to successfully create a similar media system.

Issues Unsolved in 400 Years

At the end of his presentation, the guest concluded that we lack framework of reference and a set of criteria by which to judge whether the transformation is over, and that the democratic CEE countries’ media systems are close enough to Western European counterparts only in legal, institutional and market terms. For some, this is convincing enough that the media transformation is over.

“When one looks closer it becomes obvious that the general cultures and many of these laws and institutions are in fact empty shells, far from capable of performing their democratic leadership and supporting functions properly. Post-Communist societies now face a policy overload, in that they must simultaneously resolve four centuries worth of business their histories prevented them from dealing with at the right time, i.e. from the 17th century issues of freedom of speech to the 21st century’s issues of the information society. If that is true, then transformation has indeed a long way to go. Thus we must understand that a media system and journalism are but a way-station to a future obscured by the unknown vicissitudes that may befall them and by the insufficiently understood effects of the past that will not die for a long time, if ever. To quote William Faulkner, one of the most famous American novelists, “The past is never dead. It’s not even past”, Prof. Peter Gross said in closing.

Foreign Specialists Discussed Media Transformation Experiences

According to the colloquium’s organizer prof. Auksė Balčytienė, its speakers covered a broad spectrum of ideas related to ongoing changes and transformations as well as emerging challenges that contemporary journalism and media professionals, scholars, policy makers need to address in diverse political and cultural contexts. “In the colloquium, we sought to research the experiences of Central and Eastern European media transformations and encourage debates about the complex processes in our societies”, Prof. Auksė Balčytienė summarized the goal of the international event.
The topics discussed at the colloquium included media ownership change, changes in the business models of the media, changing journalistic professionalism requirements and continual attempts to meet media’s democratic performance requests, effects of cultural traditions, values and norms on journalism, declining trust of the audience in the media, growing use and adaptability of the Internet-inspired communicative practices in media and communications, etc.
Other speakers at the event were representatives of academic and media institutions in the USA, Poland, Romania, Belarus, Latvia, the Czech Republic and Lithuania, scholars, researchers and professionals who have gathered a wealth of experience which allows them to stand firm in the face of these transformations and look for possible solutions.
Video recordings of the colloquium’s speakers’ presentations, filmed and edited by Kristijonas Jakubsonas (k.jakubsonas@vkt.vdu.lt) are available on the website http://live.tvdu.lt.