The Association for the Advancement of Baltic Studies is pleased to announce that Arvydas Grišinas has been awarded the 2025-2026 Research Grant for Emerging Scholars.
The research grants of up to $6,000 support early-career scholars in any field of the Baltic studies. Proposals are evaluated according to the scholarly potential of the applicant and the quality and scholarly importance of the proposed work, especially to the development of Baltic Studies. Funds may be used for travel, duplication, materials, equipment, or other needs as specified.
The 2025 applications were evaluated by the AABS 2025-2026 Grants and Awards Committee consisting of AABS VP for Professional Development Dr. Kaarel Piirimäe, AABS President Dr. Jörg Hackmann, and AABS Director-at-Large Dr. Dovilė Budrytė. Learn about the other 2025-2026 recipients here.
Arvydas Grišinas is Senior Researcher at the Ethnology and Anthropology Department of the Lithuanian Institute of History and Assistant Professor at Kaunas University of Technology. He has held temporary scholarly positions at Yale University, Institut für die Wissenschaften vom Menschen Vienna, Uppsala University, University of Kent and Vilnius Academy of Arts. Grišinas is the author of “Politics with a Human Face: Identity and Experience in Post-Soviet Europe” (Routledge, 2018) and “The Western Crisis of Truth in the Early 21st Century: As the Enlightenment Dims” (Routledge, 2025).
Project Overview: Fighting with Empathy
In “Fighting with Empathy: Lithuanian Volunteers Supporting Ukraine,” Arvydas Grišinas investigates the culture, practices, identities, and motivations of Lithuanian volunteers who have committed themselves to supporting Ukraine’s resistance against the Russian military invasion. The project seeks to explore how long-term exposure to war, through volunteer networks, sustained media engagement, and direct field experience, shapes perceptions of national security, solidarity, and civic duty. It also seeks to understand the complex dynamics that are at work in shaping mutual understanding, friendship, and other bonds between those who support and those who are being supported. Research methods include surveys, semi-structured interviews, fieldwork, and social media research.