Summer university program at University of Tartu: Juri Lotman and the Semiotics of Culture: Contemporary Applications, July 1-12, 2019

The aim of the course is to give an introduction to Lotman’s semiotic theory of culture, its theoretical background and context as well as new developments and applications of his theory in current semiotics and cultural sciences. More specific aim is to offer deeper understanding of cultural mechanisms and a set of tools for practical analysis of culture – cultural texts as well as cultural processes – that would afford new insights into contemporary cultural dynamics.

Participants of the course learn to:

• appreciate the historical and contemporary developments in the field of semiotics of culture in general and in the context of Lotman’s theory more specifically;
• understand key concepts and ideas in Lotman’s theory and are able to associate them with the current cultural context;
• understand culture as a semiotic system, its organisation, central features, mechanisms and processes;
• identify and critically analyse cultural, historical and artistic phenomena from the perspective of Lotman’s theories;
• apply Lotman’s theories to the analysis of diverse cultural phenomena;
• compare different sign systems and analyse the processes of translation between them.

Scholarships are available

Application deadline: May 15, 2019

More information: https://www.ut.ee/en/studies/juri-lotman-and-semiotics-culture-contemporary-applications