• Cultural studies: particularly cultural participation and accessibility, cultural consumption and audiences, cultural identity and subcultures, digital transformation in culture, cultural policy planning and evaluation, management of cultural processes and projects, intercultural communication. 
• Cultural heritage studies: especially research on heritage communities, intangible cultural heritage, heritage rights, memory institutions (museums), and the transmission of traditions. 
• Creative and cultural industries: entrepreneurship in the cultural and arts sector, commercialization and commodification practices, including employment and status of creative professionals. 
• Research in theatre, dance, and film arts: history, regional studies, and contemporary expressions. 
• Studies of cultural and artistic ecosystems: including economic and social impacts, especially on health and well-being, expressions of social art, and links between cultural processes and other economic sectors and overall societal development. 
• Cultural and intellectual history studies. 
• Interdisciplinary research designs and methodology: particularly artistic research, as well as evaluation and participation designs, digital ethnography, and citizen science approaches. 
• In development: technologies, digital transformation, and artificial intelligence in research, culture, and the arts. 

• Support for researchers: provide academic and administrative support for IACS researchers, their mobility, qualification development; carry out fundamental and applied research, as well as commissioned studies of cultural and artistic phenomena nationally and internationally. 
• Development of research approaches and designs: develop innovative theoretical and methodological approaches and research designs in LAC priority research areas and the development of interdisciplinary research projects; support citizen science initiatives. 
• Creation of new scientific knowledge: publish research results, prioritize publication of IACS staff in peer-reviewed journals indexed in Web of Science, SCOPUS, ERIH+, and other international databases. 
• Knowledge transfer: ensure knowledge transfer and science communication: organize and participate in local and international conferences, seminars, discussions, public lectures, symposia, and other scientific activities. 
• Research idea generation: prepare project applications for national and international research funding competitions. 
• Development of research teams: foster a balanced development of all priority thematic research directions of LAC; support the formation of thematically united and interdisciplinary research groups and their integration into LAC IACS thematic groups. 
• Involvement of young and foreign researchers: ensure systematic renewal of researchers at LAC by involving master’s and doctoral students, as well as integrating foreign researchers into research projects. 
• Local and global partnerships: identify research partners nationally and internationally, form local and international interdisciplinary teams in collaboration with educational, scientific, commercial, cultural, and arts sector partners. 
• Social and economic impact: strengthen links between research and the cultural/creative sector, ensure knowledge transfer, enhance the implementation of solutions in practice and decision-making, and foster their social and economic impact. 
• Support academic staff research: encourage the integration of academic and research careers, as well as the development of bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral theses in LAC’s priority topics. 
• Peer-reviewed scientific publications: ensure the regular publication of at least two LAC scientific journals with high scientific quality and international competitiveness. 
• Open science and research ethics: provide infrastructure for open data policy and maintain high ethical standards in research (LAC Zenodo profile). 

The researchers of the IACS – leading researchers, researchers, and research assistants – represent all generations, creating a fertile environment for inclusive and inspiring exchange of values. Researchers with different educational and academic backgrounds, methodological approaches, and qualifications (from bachelor’s to doctoral level) collaborate: LAC and other university lecturers and students, film and theatre directors, artists, heritage practitioners, art critics, curators, producers, creative entrepreneurs, and other cultural and creative sector professionals. 

Several scholars with doctoral degrees and international research experience at prestigious European and US universities have chosen the IACS as a platform for their career development, returning to enrich Latvia’s humanities and social sciences ecosystem with their international expertise, networks, and collaborations with foreign colleagues. 

Since the introduction of the new doctoral model in Latvia in 2024 and the establishment of the LAC Doctoral School, all doctoral students admitted to LAC’s academic and professional doctoral programs on state-funded places have joined the IACS staff as research assistants. 

Together, we set ambitious goals, seek contact points between tradition and transformation, creativity and commerce in culture and the arts; we value heritage while being critical and open to innovation. Research into socially relevant and sensitive cultural and artistic processes, along with active science communication, drives us to be bold and socially responsible, ready to proactively influence and address complex challenges. We embrace inclusivity and diversity, advocate for intellectual and creative freedom, remain accessible, foster collaboration and synergy, and demonstrate leadership in education, research, and artistic creation. (Anda Laķe)

In this video series we invite you to meet the lead researchers, researchers and research assistants of the Institute of Arts and Cultural Studies (IACS) of the Latvian Academy of Culture (LAC)! 

In short videos researchers of the IACS answer five different questions related to their research activities, professional journeys, interests, and sources of inspiration. 

Through these videos, you will learn more about: 

• the main areas of activities and research topics at IACS; 
• the personalities shaping the academic environment of the LAC; 
• the professional work of  IACS researchers; 
• new scientific insights 
• and other research-related processes! 

The video series can be watched on the LAC YouTube channel: GET TO KNOW IACS RESEARCHERS

LAC RESEARCH ETHICS COMMITTEE
 

Members of the LAC Research Ethics Committee:

• Lead researcher, Ph.D. Andris Hiršs, andris.hirss@lka.edu.lv
• Lead researcher, Dr.hist., dr.habi. art. Juris Urtāns, juris.urtans@mantojums.lv
• Researcher, Dr.sc.soc., Iveta Ķešāne,  iveta.kesane@lka.edu.lv
• Researcher, Ph.D. Līga Vinogradova, liga.vinogradova@lka.edu.lv
• Research assistant, Mg.sc.soc. Ance Kristāla, ance.kristala@lka.edu.lv

• Head of Council, Lead researcher, Dr. hist., dr. habi. art. Juris Urtāns, juris.urtans@lka.edu.lv
• Lead researcher, Dr. sc.soc. Anda Laķe, anda.lake@lka.edu.lv 
• Lead researcher, Dr. art. Baiba Tjarve, baiba.tjarve@lka.edu.lv
• Lead researcher, Dr. art. Rūta Muktupāvela ruta.muktupavela@lka.edu.lv
• Lead researcher, Dr. art. Inga Pērkone-Redoviča, inga.perkone-redovica@lka.edu.lv
• Lead researcher, Dr. sc. soc. Ilona Kunda, ilona.kunda@gmail.com
• Lead researcher, Dr. art. Anita Vaivade, anita.vaivade@lka.edu.lv
• Lead researcher, PhD, Liene Ozoliņa, liene.ozolina@lka.edu.lv
• Lead researcher, Dr.oec. Ieva Zemīte, ieva.zemite@lka.edu.lv
• Lead researcher, Ph.D. Andris Hiršs, andris.hirss@lka.edu.lv
• Lead researcher, Dr.hist. Gustavs Strenga, gustavs.strenga@lka.edu.lv
• Lead researcher, Dr.art. Ieva Vītola, ieva.vitola@lka.edu.lv
• Lead researcher, Dr.art. Maija Spuriņa, maija.spurina@lka.edu.lv

Latvian Academy of Culture Strategy 2023-2027 (No. 4.2. The Scientific Work: Evaluating the Situation, Identifying Problems, Action and Planned results)
Statutes of the Institute of Arts and Cultural Studies of the Latvian Academy of Culture (in Latvian)
Regulations of the Research Project Competition “Development of Scientific Activity at the Latvian Academy of Culture” (in Latvian)
Regulations on the Allocation and Use of Performance-Based Funding of the Latvian Academy of Culture (in Latvian)
Research Ethics Statutes (in Latvian)
Regulations on the Planning and Recording of Workload, Determination of Remuneration, Evaluation, and Material Incentives of Elected Academic Staff at the Latvian Academy of Culture (in Latvian)
Latvian Academy of Culture Research Programme 2023–2027  (in Latvian)
Latvian Academy of Culture Research Programme 2016–2020 (in Latvian)