Call for Application: Visiting Fellows for the Project “Subjectivities of Owning Land: Land Redistribution and the Nation-State in the Baltics Across the 20th Century”

The Martin Opitz Library, the University of Birmingham, and the Herder Institute for Historical Research on East Central Europe are pleased to announce a second call for applications for up to two visiting fellowships to collaborate on the research project Subjectivities of Owning Land (SOL): Land Redistribution and the Nation-State in the Baltics Across the 20th Century. The research stay, scheduled for the spring and autumn 2026, will last up to four weeks and take place at one of the partner institutions.

About the project

Subjectivities of Owning Land is a collaborative research initiative involving the Martin-Opitz-Library, the University of Birmingham, and the Herder Institute. It examines how successive land redistribution projects have shaped the history of the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) throughout the 20th century and have contributed to a very specific relationship between society and state. By retracing the aggregate impact of interwar land reform, Soviet collectivisation, and post-1991 privatisation on subjectivities, it bridges entrenched ruptures in the region’s history. The SOL project is headed by two Principal Investigators: Prof. Dr. Heidi Hein-Kircher from the Martin-Opitz-Library / Ruhr University Bochum and Prof. Klaus Richter from the University of Birmingham. The project team includes Dr. Paris Pin-Yu Chen and Davis Pumpurinš, M.A. as research associates.

Fellowship aims

We invite up to two scholars whose work focuses on the Baltic region, particularly on the relations between land, state, and society, to join us as visiting fellows. Our aim is to ensure that the project develops in close dialogue with academics based in the Baltic states and encompasses a multidisciplinary scope of knowledge. Therefore, we welcome applications from scholars affiliated with Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian academic institutions in diverse fields, such as anthropology, ethnology, political science, sociology, or economics, and from candidates at various academic stages, including graduate and postgraduate levels. We actively encourage applications from female scholars to uphold gender balance and foster diversity and inclusion. Visiting fellows are expected to engage deeply with the research team and contribute to the project’s outcomes. During their stay at the host institution, the scholars will present their research once and contribute an article to the special issue resulting from the fellowship. You will also get a chance to collaborate with Eastern European history specialists and participate in the host institution’s activities.

Detailed information can be forund here: