Page 19 - TLU magazine - The Way to The Top
P. 19
societies and contact and idea networks that had significant relevance at the time. It is often said that the intellectual world of the interwar period had a strong political focus. The societ- ies spoke up on topics related to worldviews and visibly affected the authorities and public opinion. At the same time, there is little clarity on how the dynamics between authority and spirit actually functioned, what the transmis- sion pathways and impact mechanisms were
– this is one of the domains where TU contrib- utes original research results.
In relation to this research interest, the project not only analyses academic history writing, the- oretical texts and essayistics, but also involves many other genres where significant topics are more widely spread, such as public speeches, journalistic articles, literature, memoirs, even meeting minutes and songs.
Estonia also needs emphasising
When hearing about European intellectual history, its almost always British, German and French intellectual history, with a dash of Italy
or Spain. Eastern Europe is either completely out of the picture on left somewhere on the edge. One of the aims of the workgroup that needs mentioning is to highlight the Eastern European, incl. Estonian and Russian, unique cultural repository that could potentially change the ways of thinking, place it in the same international context and follow the movement and changing of ideas.
In addition to academic publications and conferences, the current research results have also been discussed with a wider audience, for example, on popular science TV show “Uud- ishimu tippkeskus”, science show “Labor” and at the Academic Agriculture Association. The research group has also developed electronic study materials for secondary schools.
ERC project “Between the Times: Embattled Temporalities and Political Imagination in Interwar Europe” began on 1 June 2018 and lasts until 31 May 2023. Funded by the European Research Council starting grant (Horizon 2020 framework programme). Performers: TU political philosophy professor Liisi
Keedus, Dr Tommaso Giordani, Dr Henry Mead, Dr Piret Peiker, Johannes Bent (MA), Ksenia Shmydkaya (MA).
Research fellow Piret Peiker
WHAT DIDTHEY EAT
INESTONIAINTHE OLDDAYS?
Archaeological and historical data indicates the import of food, especially seafood, to the eastern shores of the Baltic sea from the Middle Ages. However, we still lack specific knowledge on the extent of food import in the past and how important it was compared to local resources.
Research track associate professor of TU Ar- chaeological Research Collection Lembi Lõugas is studying with colleagues from both Tallinn University and the University of Tartu how eat- ing habits have changed over approximately 700
years. The researchers try to recreate the natural and social environment in which people lived back then. No one has tackled a similar topic in such depth before.
TALLINN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE / NO. 14 / SPRING 2020
19

