On October 5, 2023, at 5:30 PM, a presentation of Professor Egidijus Aleksandravičius’ book “Colors and Stripes: The Academic Lithuanian Scouting History, 1924–2024” will take place at the President Valdas Adamkus Library-Museum (S. Daukanto St. 25).
The presentation will feature: Algirdas Antanas Avižienis (Vytautas Magnus University, University of California), Daiva Kuzmickaitė (Mykolas Romeris University), Jolita Buzaitytė-Kašalynienė (Vilnius University), and the author of the book, Egidijus Aleksandravičius.
The presentation will be moderated by historian Egidijus Balandis (Vytautas Magnus University).
The questions regarding the beginnings of Lithuanian academic scouting can be approached with patience, calm tolerance, and skeptical wisdom. First and foremost, it is important to seek a compromise between the general features of the revived civil society of the February 16th Republic (as an analysis of one prominent case) and the undeniable uniqueness of Lithuanian academic scouting, which depended on the decisions and will of several free individuals. This means that it is worth trying to identify the names of those who started everything. Then, attempt to understand the circumstances that influenced them and the individual psychological factors that may have been at play. We now believe that several contemplative aspects could help clarify this: firstly, the national characteristics of Lithuanian scouting, which would allow us to understand the unique nature of academic scouting; secondly, the characteristics of the development of Lithuanian civil society; and thirdly, the formation of the academic layer and the challenges of student corporatism culture in Lithuania (since 1930, Vytautas Magnus University).