Projects

Finding Morta: In Search of the Lost Baltic Queen

2022–2023

An investigation of legends and folklore about the Latgalian origin of Morta Mindaugienė (c. 1210–1263), the first and only Queen of Lithuania. The project involves the production of a manuscript entitled Finding Morta: In Search of the Lost Baltic Queen (working title), a creative work with an academic core that focuses upon the life, identity, and fate of Morta. Adopting a multidisciplinary approach, the project draws from fields including History, Archaeology, Folkloristics, and Literature. The manuscript is composed of three distinct sections: 1) a historiographical study; 2) a travelogue of expeditions to Latgale; and, 3) a piece of creative non-fiction. Incorporating three popular literary genres – History, Travel Writing, and fiction – Finding Morta transitions from an academic study into a creative work. The focus on both a historical personality and distinctive region will provide a unique introduction to the story of Morta and the history of Latgale, while locating them within larger and more familiar narratives of Baltic history.

 

Aistijan Eclipse

2023

Herder Institute in Marburg, Germany. Details coming soon.

 

Special Issue Acta Historica TallinnensiaRecognition: de facto & de jure”

2021–2022

A special issue of Tallinn University’s peer-reviewed history journal Acta Historica Tallinnensia, entitled Recognition: de facto & de jure. Guest co-edited with Kevin Rändi (Tallinn University), the special issue gathers together scholars from the republics of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Article contributors include Heidi Rifk (Tallinn University); Eero Medijainen (University of Tartu); Ēriks Jēkabsons (University of Latvia); and, Sandra Grigaravičiūtė (Genocide and Resistance Research Centre of Lithuania). Eva Piirimäe (University of Tartu) provides an afterword that draws together the themes of the special issue.

 

Footnotes to the Past: Forgotten Episodes of Latvian-Lithuanian Federation & Confederation, 1884–1984

2019–2023

Doctoral dissertation. Details coming soon.