Studies of Cultures

Full-time studies

• PhD studies consist of a course component and a thesis component. Many of the courses are based on individual work and demand close co-operation with the supervisor.
• Some subject courses and all general courses will have contact meetings. Not all the general courses will be offered in English every year.
• PhD students must participate in the PhD seminars throughout their studies.
• The official full-time study period of PhD studies is four years.

Core course components

The core components of the programme are the interdisciplinary research seminars during which each PhD student will have to present a paper at least twice during their studies. Feedback will be provided by both the lecturers and the fellow students. To develop the methodological basis, there is a course on Current Methods in Humanities. PhD students will be able to hone their academic writing and public speaking skills. The cooperation with one's supervisor is of utmost importance when planning the individual and core courses.

Study programme 2025/26

Daniele Monticelli is the Professor of Italian Studies and Semiotics and Chair of the Doctoral Studies Council of Humanities at Tallinn University. He has studied and researched in Italy, Germany, Estonia, the US and teaches subjects in contemporary Italian history, society and politics, philosophy of language, comparative literature and research seminars. 

His research is characterized by a wide and interdisciplinary range of interests which include the relations between translation and ideology particularly under totalitarian rule and censorship, semiotic theory and poststructuralism, the literary construction of affects, passions and cognition, contemporary critical theory with particular focus on the political thought of Agamben, Badiou and Rancière. He has authored literary and essayistic translations from Estonian into Italian and actively contributes to the cultural and political debate in the Estonian media and society.

Listen to his One Minute Lecture Is Love an Endangered Emotion?

Tõnu Viik is a Professor of Philosophy at Tallinn University, Estonia. He is interested in phenomenology and philosophy of culture. His research is concentrated on phenomenological accounts of meaning-making in everyday life, or cultural phenomenology.  He is especially interested in misleading or deceptive cases of meaning-making such as ideological delusions or self-deception.

More about his research here.

Listen to his paper "Collective Emotions and Populist Politics" (International conference “Angry Times. Populism and Democracy Discontent”, 04 March 2020)

Marek Tamm is the Professor of Cultural History and senior research fellow at the School of Humanities in Tallinn University. He is also Head of Tallinn University Centre of Excellence in Intercultural Studies and of Estonian Graduate School of Culture Studies and Arts.  Graduated in history and semiotics at the University of Tartu (1998), he earned his master degree in medieval studies from the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris (1999) and his doctorate degree in medieval history from Tallinn University (2009). Author of five books, of some seventy scholarly articles published in Estonian, English and French, and editor of dozen collections of articles.

Main research interests: cultural history of medieval Europe, Estonian historical culture, theory and history of historiography, and cultural memory studies.

Anna Verschik is the Professor of General Linguistics at Tallinn University. Her scholarly interests inculude topics like Estonian-Russian language contacts, multilingualism on the internet, sociolinguistics in the Baltic countries, contacts of Yiddish in the Baltic area and sociolinguistic situation of post-Soviet countries in a comparative perspective. She teaches subjects related to her research field.

Main research interests: contact linguistics and multilingualism.

• Tallinn University is a vibrant study and research centre situated in the capital of Estonia. It is almost in the city centre and easily accessible by public transport. The Tallinn Port, Bus Terminal and Airport are within easy reach. 
• The School of Humanities is the biggest unit in Tallinn concentrating on teaching and research of Humanities. We are running a number of curricula at BA, MA and PhD level.
• Our school is interdisciplinary and international, innovative and teamwork-orientated. We welcome both foreign staff and students. We have students from the United States, Nigeria, Ghana, Germany, Spain, Costa Rica, Finland, Latvia, Ukraine, Russia, China, Turkey and many other countries.
• Due to our Erasmus contacts, our students have excellent opportunities to spend a part of their studies abroad. We also welcome a growing number of incoming Erasmus students every year.
• All our curricula promote the individual development of every learner, close contacts between students and teaching staff are vitally important.
• Students can use the services of the libraries of the university and the National Library of Estonia which is located in Tallinn. These institutions offer a wide range of electronic data bases to their users.
• The Archive of renown semiotician, Juri Lotman is housed at Tallinn University.
• The PhD studies are supported by the activities of the Graduate School of Culture Studies and Arts.

• Funding: Archimedes

• Completed Master’s degree or the equivalent.
• Proof of English Proficiency.

Read more here

Admission Requirements

For general requirements, please read admission to PhD Studies here.

Additional admission criteria in 2025

In 2025, there will be admitted:

• One PhD junior researcher (fully funded)
• One PhD student (non-funded)
• Further PhD junior researcher positions will be allocated by the admission board during the admission period.

During the application period (19 May - 30 June) the candidates should upload into the application database:

1) The research proposal that has been expanded and enhanced in cooperation with the prospective supervisor and signed by her/him (length approx. 5 pages / 2500 words without the list of sources), which contains at least the following components:

• The topic of the research project;
• The objectives of the research and main research question(s);
• Overview of methods to be used and/or of main terminology;
• The overview of the state of the art of the topic;
• Overview what topic related research the candidate has done prior to application;
• Overview of the contents of the intended research;
• Prognosis on the possible primary results of the research;
• Primary list of the sources and literature to be used in the research;
• The timeline-schedule of the research (incl. information on research to be conducted abroad, like Erasmus visits to other universities, visiting libraries and archives abroad etc.).

If the research contains fieldwork: the description of the scope, length, and financing (both the projected budget and sources of financing).

The project candidates must also clarify how their topic is related to the project and what activities they will carry out as part of it. For non-project related topics clarification why this research should specifically be carried out at Tallinn University School of Humanities.

2) Expanded vision of the teaching assignments to be carried out during the PhD studies (max. 2 pages). It should give information on courses or course components to be taught, the role of the PhD candidate, and should be accepted by the prospective supervisor. (During the four years of PhD studies the students are expected to assist at least in three courses or seminars and to teach or co-teach at least one course / seminar).

3) CV (including a list of candidate’s publications and full information on IT skills)

4) A proof of English proficiency

Admission exam

The admission exam is an interview that is conducted based on the research proposal and other documents submitted by the candidate. The candidates for junior researcher position are expected to have a very clear idea about the arrangement and length of their PhD studies. The interview take place in July and candidates will be contacted to arrange the exact time.

The assessment criteria

The following aspects will be assessed:

• The academic competences of the candidate (incl. suitability of prior education, other knowledge and qualifications supporting the research topic, suitability of language skills for the intended research) [max. 35 points]
• Research project / proposal (incl. topicality and interdisciplinarity, the contents of the research, intended methods, suitability for the profile of the School of Humanities or connection with the project) [max. 35 points]
• Teaching competences (incl. the candidate’s suitability to teaching at the School of Humanities) [max. 20 points]
• General motivation to study at PhD level (and to contribute towards a project) [max. 10 points]

The subtotal maximum points a candidate can obtain is 100.

The examination board will assess each candidate individually based on the criteria. Each board member will assess the candidates based on the submitted materials. The board members will discuss the candidates and decide if they should / should not be invited for an interview. During the interview all board members may ask questions. Afterwards there is a discussion among the board members and a shortlist of candidates to be offered a PhD position is created based on the mutual agreement of the board members.

See also the detailed guidelines on application procedure at Tallinn University site.

Landscape vocabulary and landscape identity

The Ph.D. student is expected to conduct research on a topic related to Professor Hannes Palang’s research project (Landscape Identity and Its Expression in Language), specifically focusing on landscape-related vocabulary in Estonian, its changes, meanings of concepts, the use/occurrence of these concepts on maps, the application of this vocabulary in translation into other languages, teaching, etc. Previous research experience on a similar topic is an advantage. The candidate must have an excellent command of Estonian and be capable of publishing in English. The accepted PhD candidate will be enrolled in the Ph.D. programme in Linguistics or Studies of Cultures.

Contact: Hannes Palang and Mari Uusküla

Estonian Literature and Society

The Ph.D. student is expected to conduct research in the field of Estonian Culture and/or Literature, focusing on the contacts of culture and society, with an emphasis on the Soviet period, the transitional era, or contemporary Estonian literature. A comparative and cross-cultural approach is also welcome. The work may analyze, for example, the representation of socially significant themes in Estonian fiction and culture, the role of power relations characteristic of the era, including (de)coloniality and/or (post)modernity in cultural texts, models and methods of authors' self-creation, the political contexts of literary affects, and the connections between characters' emotional and ideological self-expression and broader social processes, etc. Previous research experience in the field of Estonian literature and culture is an advantage. The suitable candidate should have prior education in literary studies, cultural theory, contemporary culture, Estonian literature or culture, comparative literature, or a similar field. The candidate must possess a very good command of Estonian and a good command of English. The accepted doctoral candidate will be enrolled in PhD programme the Studies of Culture.

Contact: Epp Annus and Piret Viires

Bordering and Border Studies

Ph.D. position in the interdisciplinary field of border studies. The student is expected to engage in research on a topic related to territorial, institutional, social, cultural or virtual (digital) bordering, borders or borderscapes in the wider sense. Empirical research focus on bordering in Estonian, European, Eurasian or mainland Asian contexts is preferred, comparative trans-regional perspectives are welcome. Previous research experience in themes related to bordering or political geography is preferential. Suitable candidates will have a background in social sciences. Candidates are required to have an excellent command of English, knowledge of a local language is needed for ethnographic studies. The admitted candidate will be enrolled in the Ph.D. programme Studies of Cultures.

Contact: Karin Dean

Living in and with Nature: Human-Environment Relationships in Contemporary Estonia

Full-time PhD position in the field of Environmental Humanities will focus on human–nature relationships in contemporary Estonia. The doctoral project will explore how "nature" functions as a place or space where various boundaries — such as rural-urban, natural-constructed, water-land, and local-global — are increasingly fluid and contested. We are especially interested in research that investigates how individuals and local communities experience, perform, construct, and narrate nature (or socio-nature) in their everyday lives. The project may explore the environmental significance of nature in relation to mobilities, placemaking and place management, local or environmental governance, cultural heritage, tourism and leisure, and wellbeing. We encourage proposals that conceptualise "nature" or "the environment" as both transformative and transforming — a site where leisure, work, and everyday life intersect.
Potential areas of interest include, but are not limited to:
Inland water bodies (e.g. lakes, rivers, reservoirs, canals)
Forests and wooded areas
Bogs and peatlands
Coasts and shorelines
The project should contributes to the growing body of work in environmental humanities and environmental anthropology at the university by offering ethnographically rich, critically engaged, and theoretically informed insight into how people live with and through nature.

Contact: Maarja Kaaristo

About the Project

Running from 2025 to 2029, SustainERA will combine high-level research with the development of innovative solutions to promote a sustainable mindset and practices. By integrating expertise from multiple disciplines and fostering international collaboration, the project also aims to enhance Tallinn University’s research excellence and capacity. Four PhD students and four postdoctoral research fellows will be recruited through an international competition to complement the existing research team.
 
Four PhD Positions
Successful candidates will be hired as Junior Research Fellows for a four-year study period, commencing 1st September 2025. In addition to their PhD research, they will be expected to contribute to various teaching, administrative, and capacity-building activities within the SustainERA project, accounting for 20% of their workload. Candidates will be expected to reside and work in Tallinn. 
The PhD positions are specifically allocated to four of the University’s schools.

The School of Humanities welcomes applicants to do research on the following topic: “The Role of Urban and Rural Contexts and Time Dimensions Related to Non-growth and Sustainability Transitions”

Supervisors: Dr Tarmo Pikner (main supervisor), Prof Kai Pata and Dr Terje Väljataga (second supervisors)

This PhD position focuses on spatial, cultural and time-based formations influencing attitudes and behaviours towards sustainable futures. The PhD research will examine the role of urban and rural contexts, as well as time dimensions, in relation to non-growth and sustainability transitions. The primary focus will be on studying these phenomena through various forms of care, communities and anticipated futures that reconfigure human relationships to nature and planetary changes. Understanding the relationships between historical experiences and sustainable futures is crucial for reframing human-centred agency in the Anthropocene era. The research may explore initiatives and communities related to, for example, environmental conservation, food and/or energy. Multi-sited qualitative thematic studies can be conducted in Estonia and elsewhere.
The successful candidate should hold an MA in social sciences or humanities, including (but not limited to) Human Geography, Anthropology, Cultural Studies, Environmental Studies, Environmental Humanities, or Education Sciences. The candidate must demonstrate the ability to work both independently and collaboratively. Experience with qualitative research methods and proficiency in Estonian and/or Russian are considered an advantage.

If you are interested in applying for this PhD position, please contact Dr Tarmo Pikner (tpikner@tlu.ee) for potential supervision.

Further information and pre-selection application (deadline 16 April): https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/326284

NB! The candidates who have successfully passed the pre-selection should submit their PhD application for studies at Tallinn University during the application period.

PhD candidate in literary studies who is interested in working at the intersection of ecocriticism, environmental studies and cultural memory studies

The PRG project "Memory and Environment: The Intersection of Fast and Slow Violence in Transnational European Literatures" (2025–2029, Estonian Research Council, No 2592) is seeking a PhD candidate in literary studies who is interested in working at the intersection of ecocriticism and cultural memory studies. Preference is given to candidates who will work on Estonian/or Ukrainian literatures and have proficient language skills in these languages. The projects on postcolonial literatures in English or German are also welcome.

The PRG project that will host the candidate studies how questions of cultural memory and the environment are explored in contemporary European cultures through the medium of transnational literature. In our postmigratory societies cultural memory is often divisive: people clash over their different linguistic, cultural or religious heritage. The recent pandemic, but even more the intensification of climate crisis, has raised our awareness about planetary connectedness. The project innovates methodologically in bringing together transnational memory studies, environmental humanities and ecocriticism to inquire how transnational authors explore the intersection of diverse violent postcolonial and postimperial histories and their environmental impact in different cultures in Europe. We investigate how literature experiments with genre and translingual practices to represent the non-human scale of environmental change and to imagine human subjects in a new way as enmeshed transcorporeally in their environment.

Contact: Eneken Laanes

Alina Poklad was a PhD student in Studies of Culture. She completed an MA at Tallinn Technical University in IT and business management before earning an MA at Tallinn University in Slavic Languages and Cultures. Her PhD research topic is disability studies. She focuses on the image of disabled people in Russian culture. In her work, she investigates why Russian society still perceives people with disabilities as "other" and why the representation of these people in Russian culture is still stigmatized, despite changing attitudes in other European countries. Alina Poklad uses theories and frameworks of various authors in the disability studies field to analyze these questions.

• Browse her thesis

Rita Niineste was a PhD student of philosophy at the University of Tallinn. She has BA degrees in English philology (Tartu University) and philosophy (Tallinn University), and an MA in cultural theory and philosophy (Tallinn University). Her research focuses on feminist perspectives on sexual difference, as well as the philosophy of sexuality and sexual ethics. She is interested in the phenomenological analysis of empirical data yielded by experimental psychology and in prospects for science-based approaches to sexuality within the tradition of philosophy and beyond.

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Aleksandra Ianchenko was a doctoral candidate in Studies of Culture. She studied Fine Arts at Irkutsk Technical University, Russia and then obtained her second MA degree in Art Management at Russian State University of Humanities in Moscow and at Humboldt University in Berlin. Her current research is embedded within the project “Public Transport as Public Space in European Cities: Narrating, Experiencing, Contesting (PUTSPACE)”. As an artist, Aleksandra uses a range of creative mediums with the aim to understand atmospheres on urban public transport and the ways in which they can be changed through performative public art practice. 

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Louise Sträuli was a PhD student in Studies of Cultures. After graduating from the Erasmus Mundus Master in ‘Global Markets, Local Creativities’, Louise joined the research Project ‘Public Transport as Public Space in European Cities: Narrating, Experiencing, Contesting’ (PUTSPACE), within which her doctoral research was embedded. Beyond the question of what distinguishes public transport as public, Louise aimed to uncover the tensions between everyday mobility experiences and planning-related mobility narratives. In particular, she examined the development of policies regarding safety and fares, the experience of ticket controls and practices of fare evasion, and the influence of digital media on the use of public transport. To this end, she combined analyses of policies and online communities with qualitative interviews and (mobile) ethnographic methods.

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Jaana Davidjants was a PhD student in the Studies of Cultures. She completed her MA in political science, at Goldsmiths, University of London. Jaana's research concerns the amateur material from crisis zones (as e.g Aleppo's siege), with her further focus being on Western media and the way the material of distant suffering was framed there. Her professional background is in visual communication. She has mainly collaborated with artist-activist collectives and smaller NGO-s working in the area of human rights.

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Timothy Anderson was a PhD student in Studies of Cultures and currently works as a Junior Lecturer of Anthropology. He holds an MA in Geography & Social Anthropology from the University of Edinburgh and an MSc in Spatial Planning jointly awarded by Radboud University Nijmegen and Blekinge Institute of Technology. Following his graduate studies, Timothy worked at Nordregio, a Nordic policy research institute based in Stockholm. Timothy's PhD research involved time spent among asylum-seekers, settled refugees, and detained migrants in Estonia. His goal was to provide an ethnographic analysis of Estonia’s asylum system by relaying and amplifying the voices of migrants within the country. His research interests include political anthropology, asylum policy, nationalism, borders, and human rights.

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Miriam Rossi was a PhD student in Studies of Cultures. She completed her MA studies in Russian and English languages and literatures at the University of Pavia (IT). Miriam Rossi's doctoral research focused on poetry translation in uncensored spaces during Late Soviet Union. The research dealt in particular with the phenomenon of the Leningrad "samizdat", a clandestine circulation of texts, where particularly during the eighties translation activities flourished and the figure of the underground poet-translator emerges as the main agent of this cultural practice. Involving translation history, poetry translation and comparative literature, Miriam Rossi's research adopted various theoretical frames, from Pierre Bourdieu to Alexei Yurchak, investigating also poet-translators' meta-texts.

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Mikhail Fiadotau earned his doctoral degree in Studies of Cultures with a focus in anthropology. He holds an MA degree in Linguistics from Minsk State Linguistics University in Belarus. His research interests include media and design anthropology, game studies, and Japanese studies. Mikhail's dissertation explores the cultural heterogeneity of videogame creation and consumption practices, with a particular focus on the independent gaming communities in the Anglophone world and Japan. Mikhail has carried out research visits at Japan Foundation's Kansai Institute in Osaka, Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto, and Leipzig University. He also teaches game design in Tallinn University School of Digital Technologies and has delivered workshops and guest lectures on the subject in Estonia and abroad.

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Ksenia Shmydkaya earned her doctoral degree in Studies of Cultures. She holds MA degree in Modern and Contemporary History from Lomonosov Moscow State University and M2 degree in History and Anthropology from Panthéon-Sorbonne University (Paris 1). Her current research focuses on the historical fiction created by women writers in the interwar Europe. Among her scholarly interests are gender history, life-writing, Eastern European feminisms, and relationship between literature and historiography.

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Kristiine Kikas earned her doctoral degree in Studies of Cultures. Prior to that, she held a master’s degree in Comparative Literature and Cultural Semiotics from Tallinn University. Kristiine’s research belongs to the field of affect studies and it explores the possibilities for non-representational reading of poetry. Being grounded in the philososphy of Gilles Deleuze, specifically in his theories of experiencing art and literature, the aim of the work was to map the ways in which the language of poetry affects the reader besides and simultaneously with semantic meaning. 

• Browse her thesis.

I earned my PhD degree in Cultural Studies (Anthropology) from Tallinn University in 2020. My thesis researched the mask-making traditions of the Yup’ik, the Indigenous people of southwest Alaska. During my doctoral studies, I conducted multiple archaeological and ethnographic fieldworks in Alaska that have helped reconstruct the development of Yup’ik mask-making tradition throughout its colonial
history—oppression, resilience and recovery. In my work, I also discuss how the knowledge and traditional value system attached to mask making are being revived today in the work of contemporary Alaska Native artists. Through the restoration of pre-colonial cultural practices, contemporary artists heal themselves as well as local communities from colonial trauma, strengthening their long-repressed cultural identity.
I am thankful to Tallinn University for supporting my multidisciplinary, challenging and quite non-conventional research project.

• Browse her thesis.
• "Estonian researcher helps restore the long-suppressed mask-making tradition of the Indigenous people of Alaska". Read the article

"The PhD studies at the Tallinn University are a pleasant test for oneself: the interdisciplinary and international Doctoral School broadens horizons and provides the opportunity to see ones research area from new angles and using new approaches.This has enabled me, as a lecturer, to link my speciality area (dance and ballet history) with other research areas and find new touching points between different sciences. My more experienced colleagues have supported me in my quest for new perspectives and encouraged me to take steps into directions that a narrow disciplinary approach does not support. PhD studies enhance independent thinking and self-focussing in this ever fracturing world, helps to find contacts with likeminded people and collaborators for the future, not least important: contacts for the projects that come in the years after tudies".

Heili Einasto's thesis received a third prize in the Field of Culture and Social Sciences, PhD category at the annual Estonian National Contest for University Students in 2016.

"In my experience the strength of the PhD programme of School of Humanities lies in its flexible nature – it is always possible to bring together specialists from different Universities and various fields to create academic forums, which encourage fruitful exchange of ideas. While writing my PhD thesis I benefitted from long discussions with Prof. Rein Raud and Rajyashree Pandey (Glodsmith College) who gave me valuable advice on how to approach the various issues I wanted to discuss in my work. Prof. Pandey also organised special seminars on classical Japanese literature inviting PhD students from Helsinki University to participate. The contacts I made while studying in School of Humanities have been invaluable in my later work".

Browse his thesis

Follow his minilecture Can a spider attain enlightenment?

"I received my PhD degree in Studies of Cultures in 2011 from Tallinn University. The topic of my thesis was Poetics of Irrationality in A.H. Tammsaare’s Work. PhD degree, a sign of academic competence, allows to operate more professionally and with better results in many different fields of culture. Working as the head of the Tallinn Literature Centre (which combines the A. H. Tammsaare Museum and the Eduard Vilde Musem) it has become very clear to me that the time spent on the dedicated research was certainly worthwhile. It also becomes more and more clear to me that in the field of culture, there will always be a need for intelligent and well-educated members of national culture."

Graduate career options

Internationally accredited PhD diploma opens positions that require a doctoral degree.

Further study opportunities

With a PhD obtained from Tallinn University, one can apply for PostDoc positions all over the world or continue individual academic development.

• Specific questions regarding the programme should be directed to the School of Humanities:
  Maris Peters

• For additional guidelines regarding admission procedure please contact the international admission specialist.