International Summer University was held for the 25th time

This course introduced Lotman’s semiotic theory of culture, its theoretical background and context, core concepts and approaches as well as new developments and applications of his theory in current semiotics and cultural sciences. One of the participants of the course, Ting Yan from Taiwan, had an amazing experience attending this summer course thanks to the academic tradition and wonderful atmosphere of Tartu: “Graffiti, nature, metropolis, I started seeing everything in the world from a completely different perspective after intensive classes in semiotics. I also love the student life in Tartu, calm and fun vibe. In each corner, you will see an interesting cafe, each weekend you will explore unexpected events in the city”.

This course focused on the complexity of multilingualism in Estonia and the European context. In particular, it investigated how individuals use resources for their language repertoire to accommodate communication in the current context of emigration. Participant from Ukraine, Varvara, commented on the course: “Our course was perfect! Lots of new friends, experience, and ideas. I am very grateful to our lecturers who turned our course into an inspiring trip to the concepts of multilingualism, culture, and identity. Real-life examples, creativity, lots of visualisation, interaction, support, friendly atmosphere, and the varied cultural programme allowed us to get closely acquainted and learn more about life and people in Tartu and Estonia itself. It was a breath of fresh air for me”.

This course discussed a variety of topics from the ethics of dating apps and online infidelity to cybersex and future relationships with robots. Moreover, the aim of this course was to show how contemporary humanities could contribute to the development of technologies to make them more ethical.

This course introduced the technical state-of-the-art of data streaming and near real-time analytics. The participants learned which tools were the best for such tasks and how to set up a streaming platform from data to insights in near real-time. Aksel from Norway recommends this course: “I really enjoyed the Introduction to Near Real-Time Data Analytics course. It provided useful theory about big data tools and concepts for real-time data processing. And I liked that most of the course time was dedicated to letting us apply the theory by working on projects. I learned how to set up data ETL pipelines, beginning with extraction from APIs to visualization at Grafana, via a Kafka cluster and Spark Jobs, all while getting to know interesting people from around the continent in a really nice city.”

This course covered the principles of metabarcoding workflow, from laboratory analyses to bioinformatic analyses of the high-throughput sequencing data. Nathan from Belgium thinks that this summer course was a very useful introduction to the field of metabarcoding: “The course covered the complete process from sampling to data analysis, highlighting important pitfalls, best practices, and tips and tricks based on the instructors’ experiences. In general, the course offered a good balance between theoretical classes and practical lab- and computer sessions. The bioinformatic analyses were taught in PipeCraft, a widely-used program for metabarcoding analyses, which has been developed by one of the instructors. Much time was spent on hands-on sessions, learning how to use the software and experiment with different settings. The instructors of all different sessions were very helpful and approachable, took extensive time for answering all questions, and also valued our comments and suggestions. What I especially enjoyed was the diverse and international group of participants, all sharing a common interest in metabarcoding (and often fungi); which offered great discussions and sharing of ideas.”

The course focused on the main key trends in democratic development.
The participants learned the basics of digital democracy and key electronic elements and became aware of how both e-democracy and e-government can be applied in modern governance situations. Tayma from Palestine is extremely happy about the course: “This course was an eye opener because it’s my first time in Estonia, the country I’ve heard so much about! I used the smart bike system from my fully digital hotel to the classes and learned about public service from the implementer of the tiger leap himself. It was an extremely surreal experience.”

This course provided an overview of the methodological tools required to assess a diverse range of research questions related to politics and popular culture, including Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and Multi-modal Discourse Analysis (MMDA). The course also took full advantage of the interactive and immersive learning environment in Tartu. Heqi from China described his participation in the Summer School as one of the best experiences in his life: “Who knew that in just one week, you could learn so much knowledge, have so many new experiences, and form so many new friendships? The Summer University program far exceeded my expectations in every aspect. I have attended two MOOCs offered by the Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies in the past two years. This time, I finally got the opportunity to approach and experience it in person. The topic of politics in popular culture that I attended, supervised by Michael Cole, allowed me to learn and master new research methods, which provided a new avenue of research for my Ph.D. research. In addition, I was impressed by the exciting cultural programme offered by the Summer University. I wish I could experience the UT International Summer University once again.”

The course was dedicated to the integrated development of Ukrainian cities in the upcoming after-war period, and specifically, their revitalization with the active participation of citizens. The programme focused on the redesign of the existing (albeit partially disrupted) urban structures to create an eco-friendly urban environment. Vlad from Ukraine, for over two weeks after the end of the course, cannot get over the positive impressions that the Summer School at the University of Tartu gave him: “In my opinion, a demanded and important issue for every Ukrainian and not only at the moment. Special thanks to the University of Tartu for keeping up with the times, modern problems, and trends. In addition to relevance, each lecture from the course surprised me with its individuality and informational content. Thanks to the acquired knowledge, I clearly know what my native country needs for a quick recovery and rapid growth in all areas!”

This intensive course was designed to provide an opportunity for learners to examine the development of technology-enhanced teaching and learning. Furthermore, it stimulates conversations to re-imagine teaching as well as learning in times of digital transformation.