Ecosocial Ideas: Coexistence and Change

Ecosocial Ideas: Coexistence and Change.

Interdisciplinary Summer School and Conference,

August 21–26 & 27-28, 2026

(Post)Authoritarian Landscapes Research Centre, Vilnius University

Details:

Initiated by the (Post)Authoritarian Landscapes Research Centre (PAScapes) at Vilnius University, Lithuania, this twofold event invites participants to examine the notion of the ecosocial as a landscape, milieu, and site of encounter with a potential to reconfigure coexistence and build practices of transformation. 

We invite contributions from philosophy and humanities, social and environmental sciences, memory and genocide studies, STS, ecocriticism and landscape studies, Western and Russian colonialism studies, cognitive sciences, history, archaeology, and beyond.

Keynote Speakers: 

Luba Jurgenson (Sorbonne University)

Lambros Malafouris (University of Oxford)

Svitlana Matviyenko (Simon Fraser University)

Cary Wolfe (Rice University)

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Vaiva Daraškevičiūtė (PAScapes, Vilnius University)

Marija Drėmaitė (PAScapes, Vilnius University)

Mintautas Gutauskas (PAScapes, Vilnius University)

Kristupas Sabolius (PAScapes, Vilnius University)

Call for papers:

The Summer School

Vilnius University, Faculty of Philosophy

August 21-26, 2026

The Summer School is dedicated to early-career professionals, primarily PhD students. It will feature keynote addresses, lectures by scholars from relevant fields, presentations by participating PhD students, and joint discussions. The participants are also encouraged to stay for the Conference that will immediately follow the Summer School.

Abstracts must be 300-500 words in length and feature your ongoing research in relation to the problem of the ecosocial. Your affiliation, the topic of Phd (MA, postdoc) thesis, and supervisor must be indicated. Short presentations based on the submitted abstracts will be carried out and discussed during the Summer School. Participation is free but limited to 20 participants. 

How to submit an abstract

1. Send an email to [email protected] with your abstract attached (acceptable formats: .doc, .docx, .rtf, .pdf).

2. Use the subject line: Summer School. Ecosocial Ideas 2026

The deadline for submitting an abstract: January 11, 2026. 

Notification of reviewers’ decision: February 10, 2026.

The Conference 

Vilnius University, Faculty of Philosophy

August 27-28, 2026

Appropriate topics for submission include, among others:

-       ecosocial ontologies and materialities;

-       social, technological, and environmental interactions;

-       aesthetics, art, and the ecosocial;

-       cognitive dimensions of the ecosocial;

-       the methodologies of ecosocial frameworks;

-       genocide, trauma and the ecosocial;

-       ambicolonial (Western and Russian) perspectives and the ecosocial.

Abstracts must be 500 words in length; please add your short bio and affiliation. Participation is free, but the number of presentations is limited. Talks will be 30 minutes, including Q&A.

How to submit an abstract

1. Send an email to [email protected]  with your abstract attached (acceptable formats: .doc, .docx, .rtf, .pdf).

2. Use the subject line: Conference. Ecosocial Ideas 2026

The deadline for submitting an abstract: March 11, 2026. 

Notification of reviewers’ decision: April 1, 2026.

Further information:

·      Regarding the summer school, free accommodation will be provided for international participants (those coming from outside Vilnius University). Coffee breaks and light meals will be provided.

·      Regarding the conference, the organizers do not cover travel and accommodation costs. Coffee breaks will be provided. Lunch breaks and the Conference dinners will be offered for an additional cost.

Organizers 

Ecosocial Ideas Research Group at PAScapes, Vilnius University

Kristupas Sabolius, Head of Group

Mintautas Gutauskas, Vaiva Daraškevičiūtė, Anda Pleniceanu, Dominykas Barusevičius

For further information:

[email protected]