Dr. Dalia MArcinkeviciene
Vilnius Univ., Gender Studies Centre
Universiteto 3, 39 a, 2734 Vilnius
ph/fax +370 5 2687163, lsc@cr.vu.lt
www.moterys.lt

The Gender Studies Centre (GSC) at Vilnius University- the first of its kind in the Baltics - was established in 1992. The Gender Studies program at Vilnius University is designed to integrate gender studies into the common curriculum of Vilnius University. Every semester students have the possibility to choose 4-5 different undergraduate electives in women's and gender studies (2 credits). On average, 300 - 350 Vilnius University students take the electives at GSC annually. In the fall semester of 2002, the Gender Study Centre, together with the Department of Social Work at Vilnius University, launched a new joint M.A. program in Social Work with a concentration in Gender Studies (M.A. degree in Social Work).
The Gender Studies Centre functions as a base for interdisciplinary research on women and gender. One of the essential commitments of the GSC is to research, reinforcing the vital relationship between academy and the larger Lithuanian society. The research topics of GSC during 2001 - 2005 are the following:

• Women's History in Lithuania
• Women and Science in Lithuania
• Trafficking in Women
• Sexual minorities in Lithuanian Society
• Women's Right

The Gender Studies Centre is also involved in development of gender policy in Lithuania. GSC maintains close relationships with Lithuanian non-governmental organizations, which work in the areas of prevention of trafficking in women; violence against women and children; sexual minorities. In 2002, GSC implemented an international project "The School and Prevention of Sexual Abuse: An International Summer Course for High School Teachers (Lithuania, Russia, Belarus)", 1 - 6 July 2002, Vilnius. The goals of the project were to develop a practice of prevention of any forms of abuse which would then be taught in high schools and to draft, in cooperation with high school teachers, a proposal for the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Lithuania, Ministry of Education of Russia, Ministry of Education of Belarus regarding the implementation of programs in high schools that deal with the topic of sexual abuse.