Dr. Nerija Putinaitė
Senior researcher
Research areas
Comparative politics and political sociology
Additional info
nerija.putinaite@tspmi.vu.lt
Associate professor at the Vilnius University Institute of Political Sciences, Doctor of Humanities. Graduated from Vilnius University, studied at the Eichstätte University in Germany. Has been working at VU IIRPS since 2013.
Researched and internship at Phillips University in Marburg, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt University in Greifswald, the University of Tübingen in Germany and at Poitiers University in France.
Worked at the Institute of Culture, Philosophy and Art, lectured at Vilnius Pedagogical University.
2004-2008 worked as a Study and Science Advisor to the President of the Republic of Lithuania in the Culture, Science and Education Group. 2008-2012 worked as Vice-Minister of Education and Science at the Ministry of Education and Science.
Research projects and grants
- “Politics of Death in Soviet Lithuania: Meaning, Rituals, Symbols, Emotions”, grant, Research council of Lithuania, 2020-2023.
- “Christians in Lithuania Before and After the Revival”, participant, Research council of Lithuania, 2013-2015.
- “Priorities of the Lithuanian Government: Implementation Process and Results”, participant, Research council of Lithuania, 2014-2015.
- “Lithuanian Europe: Three Identities”, grant, Research council of Lithuania, 2014.
- “Democracy, Culture, and Catholicism”, participant, Loyola University, Chicago, US, 2009-2012.
- Allgemeine Kants Bibliographie, participant, “Kant-Gesellschaft”, University of Mainz, Germany, 2005-2007.
- “Strukturbildende Ideenstroeme im Ostseeraum”, participant, Nord- und osteuropaeische Forum für Philosophie, University of Greifswald, Germany, 2000-2003.
Membership of working groups, councils, etc. within Vilnius University and IIRPS VU
Courses taught
Issues of Lithuanian and European Identity
History of Soviet Identity Concepts
Analysis of Education and Science Policies
Topical Issues in Post-politics
Research interests
Identity studies (Soviet, national, European)
Questions of Lithuanian Soviet national identity
Atheisation Politics
Accommodation and Resistance
Sovietization Policies and Society
Publications
Putinaitė, Nerija. Mirties politika sovietinėje Lietuvoje: Prasmės, ritualai, simboliai, jausmai (The Politics of Death in Soviet Lithuania: Meanings, Rituals, Symbols, Emotions). Vilnius: Naujasis Židinys-Aidai, 2025.
“Suffering, Death, and Homeland in the Memoirs of Lithuanian Deportees“, in: The Legacies of Soviet Repression and Displacement. The Multiple and Mobile Lives of Memories, edited by Samira Saramo, Ulla Savolainen, Routledge: London, 2023, p. 135-151, DOI: 10.4324/9781003305569-11
“Being Soviet and Lithuanian: Song Festivals as Emotional Events to Induce a Hybrid Identity”, in: Journal of Baltic Studies, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1080/01629778.2022.2047082
“Political Religion and Pragmatics in Soviet Atheisation Practice: The Case of Post-Stalinist Soviet Lithuania”, in: Politics, Religion & Ideology, 2021, vol. 22(1), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/21567689.2021.1877672
“Atheist Autobiography: Politics, the Literary Canon, and Restructured Experience“, in: The Literary Field under Communist Rule, edited by Aušra Jurgutienė, Dalia Satkauskytė, Boston: Academic Studies Press, 2019. p. 59-79. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781618119780
“Christianity and Politics in Post-Soviet Lithuania: Between Totalitarian Experience and Democracy”, in: Democracy, Culture, Catholicism: Voices from Four Continents, ed. Michael J. Schunk, John Crowley-Buck, Fordham University Press: New York, 2016, 56-70.
