Vytautas Magnus University continues to implement the Vytautas Kavolis Interdisciplinary Professorship Program, which is dedicated to hosting visits by invited Lithuanian diaspora scholars. The aim of the program is to strengthen an interdisciplinary approach within study programs and to foster ties with the Lithuanian diaspora academic community.

A new phase of the program is marked by an expanded circle of supporters: continued support is provided by the Dana Gedvilienė Fund (Dana Gedvila Fund), administered by the Lithuanian Foundation, with additional contributions from Choreomundus—the Erasmus Mundus joint master’s program Dance and Movement as Knowledge, Practice and Heritage—and the Marius Jakulis Jason Foundation.

“Interdisciplinarity is at the core of this joint master’s program, and lectures by visiting professors are one of the means of its implementation. Therefore, joining forces with the Vytautas Kavolis Professorship Program seems like a natural synergy,” says the Choreomundus program coordinator, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities at VMU, Prof. Gediminas Karoblis.

“Our foundation’s goals fully align with those of the Vytautas Kavolis Professorship—to strengthen Lithuania’s academic and intellectual space with the knowledge, experience, and skills of Lithuanian diaspora scholars. We are therefore delighted to contribute to the continuation of the Vytautas Kavolis Professorship, as only by joining forces can we achieve a new level of quality,” adds Kotryna Stankutė-Jaščemskienė, head of the Marius Jakulis Jason Foundation.

During the 2022–2025 period, thanks to the support of the Dana Gedvilienė Fund, the following scholars taught at Vytautas Magnus University: Prof. Saulius Geniušas, Professor of Philosophy at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (China); Dr. Violetta Parutis of the University of Essex (United Kingdom); Associate Professor Eunice Blavascunas of Whitman College (USA); political scientist Dr. Darius Udrys (USA); philosopher of technology Dr. Martín Parselis from the Argentine Catholic University; literary scholar Dr. Evelina Gužauskytė from Wellesley College (USA); and Dr. Gabriel M. Paletz from the Prague Film School (Czech Republic).

The Dana Gedvilienė Fund also supports students conducting research at the University of Chicago on the history and culture of Lithuania, the Baltic states, and/or Eastern Europe, and is one of the founders of the Valdas Adamkus Award.