Rasa Kamarauskaitė Awarded 2026-2027 Emerging Scholars Grant

May 4, 2026

The Association for the Advancement of Baltic Studies is pleased to announce that Rasa Kamarauskaitė has been awarded the 2026-2027 Research Grant for Emerging Scholars.

The research grants of up to $6,000 support early-career scholars in any field of 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 2026 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 2026-2027 recipients here.

A smiling woman with brown hair

 

Rasa Kamarauskaitė is a visiting research fellow at the Amsterdam School for Regional, Transnational and European Studies (ARTES) at the University of Amsterdam. She completed her PhD in the Sociology of Sexuality-Eastern Europe at SSEES, UCL, in 2025. Kamarauskaitė’s research explores everyday queer experiences in Lithuania, with a particular focus on (in)visibility. She is one of the co-convenors of the BASEES Study Group on the Baltic States. 

Project Overview

The Emerging Scholars Grant will fund an archival research stay in Vilnius to strengthen a monograph based on Kamarauskaitė’s PhD thesis. During the archival stay, Kamarauskaitė will analyze Lithuanian press coverage of LGBTQ+ issues from 1990 to 2025 to explore how media representations have contributed to the politicization of LGBTQ+ topics in Lithuania. The findings will support a book chapter and contribute to the first monograph on LGBTQ+ experiences in Lithuania.