Student Conference Freedom To Create 2024
Meaningful and enjoyable traditions never end. Thus, every year, one Friday in spring is always dedicated to student discoveries, innovations, scientific achievements, creative ideas, and the joy of togetherness. On 3 May, the “Freedom to Create” conference will bring together Vytautas Magnus University students and schoolchildren for the third time. This time, the event is dedicated to the anniversary of the re-establishment of Vytautas Magnus University and to the concept of artes liberales.
“This year, as the re-established VMU marks its 35th anniversary, we dedicate the conference to the artes liberales study model, which was integrated into Lithuanian higher education with the re-establishment of VMU, and we invite students to discuss how VMU’s artes liberales model, through individualised and interdisciplinary study choices, liberates students’ creativity and innovation, fosters their leadership and entrepreneurship, develops empathy, responsibility, and intercultural awareness, provides them with the competencies to think broadly, and assists in developing an idea from inception to a successful outcome,” says Assoc. Prof. Vilma Bijeikienė, Vice-Rector for Communication at VMU.
Assoc. Prof. Vilma Bijeikienė
“The artes liberales system, which provides a broad education, is becoming increasingly important – it is no coincidence that in their external evaluations of Vytautas Magnus University, international experts have repeatedly emphasised its uniqueness and the need to preserve it not only at the university but also at the national level. There will always be those within the community, especially young people, who do not fit into established programmes. Likewise, there will always be those who are searching and creating. Therefore, the learning system should be such that it does not confine the learner to a narrow programme framework, but instead allows them to shape their own tasks and learning programme,” says VMU Rector Prof. Juozas Augutis.
Prof. Juozas Augutis
Participants will have the opportunity to deliver presentations on the following topics:
- University as a Space for Creation and Art
- Possibilities and Limits of Freedom
- Creativity and Technology
- Innovative Solutions for Business and Social Challenges
- A person, Community, and Society in the Context of Changes
- Nature in the Hands of a Scientist
- Languages, Cultural Diversity, and Human Values
- Sustainable development in education
- Sports and Wellness
- Political Contexts and Media Space
Keywords of the conference: Artes Liberales, Interdisciplinarity, Creativity, Sustainable Development, Innovation, Multilingualism, Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Registration for the conference (to present research and creative projects) will open on 26 February.
As in previous years, the conference will take place at the VMU Multifunctional Centre for Research and Studies (V. Putvinskio g. 23, Kaunas).
Pending the call for papers (to be announced at the end of March), we invite you to take a look at the highlights from the 2022 and 2023 conferences.
