Deep dive into secessionist bids and crises at UniTartu Summer School

Hi everyone, I am Anna Lena, a master's student in Political Science at the University of Bonn in Germany. After completing an internship abroad in Brussels, I was very eager to continue my studies abroad again. I found the summer course in Secessionist and Statehood Bids in Times of Crises at the University of Tartu in Estonia (see more about the course here). UniTartu Summer School was a perfect way to make the most of the semester break by joining an exciting course that is not offered in such a specific format at my home university. It also gave me the chance to travel to a new country at the same time.

I was very keen to travel to the Baltic states, as it is a particularly interesting region at the moment in view of the security situation in Europe. This was my first trip to Estonia because of the summer school. I was very excited, especially knowing that I would return to the Baltic region, to Riga, just two months later for a voluntary position related to German-Baltic relations.

So far in my studies, I have focused on international relations, particularly security and defence policy. I chose this course because it perfectly complemented my studies by providing a deeper analysis of the diverse backgrounds and root causes of conflicts, which strengthened my understanding of (military) conflicts. I gained valuable insights into key concepts, such as sovereignty, self-determination, and the dynamics of “frozen conflicts.” In addition, at the end of the course, we were able to apply insights from negotiation theory in a simulation exercise on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It was particularly enriching to see how all the participants slipped into their roles with so much motivation and contributed their experiences to lively negotiations.

Throughout the course, we greatly benefited from the lecturers, whose evident passion for the subject inspired exciting discussions among the participants.

Another highlight in the course was our weekend field trip to Narva. It is Estonia’s - and also Europe’s - easternmost point, bordering Russia. There, the Ivangorod fortress on the Russian side and Hermann castle on the Estonian side face each other, and we visited the latter. Our visit to Narva College was particularly exciting: we learned about the self-conception of the inhabitants, most of whom are Russian-speaking. Even though there are increasing numbers of articles questioning whether Narva is the new Crimea, we learned that there is no significant and widespread support for secession from Estonia and that there are many opportunities to strengthen Narva's self-image within Estonia.

Of course, there was always time for the social programme after the course! The UniTartu Summer School offered a wide range of activities, such as visits to various museums or a beautiful evening boat trip on the Emajõgi river. We self-organised a swimming trip in the river on a beautiful summer day with people from different courses, and a visit to the film festival in the Town Hall Square. Even though we were a small course this year, I can assure you that it was a lot of fun. You don't have to worry about being alone, you’ll get to meet lots of nice and interesting people from different countries, and maybe even make friends that will last beyond the course!

So always stay open to take on new experiences, meet new people, and explore the academic world of other countries. I recommend joining UniTartu Summer School!

Other articles about the UniTartu Summer School 2025:

• Two-week experience of synthetic biology in Tartu (read here)