The Institute of Asian and Transcultural Studies is the largest and most diverse academic establishment in Lithuania and the other Baltic states that focuses on Asian and Middle Eastern cultures and societies. The Institute’s staff conduct research in two main fields – Cultural Studies and Anthropology, providing an understanding of transcultural phenomena from a cross-cultural perspective. Extensive studies of the histories, cultures, philosophies, religions, arts, and literatures, as well as contemporary issues in Asia are complemented by anthropological fieldwork conducted in India, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, China, Mongolia, Eastern Siberia, Jordan, Iran, Lebanon, and other sites.

The Institute of Asian and Transcultural Studies operates three study programmes: BA in Asian Studies, MA in Modern Asian Studies and PhD in Ethnology.

The Asian Studies BA programme has five learning tracks (specialisations): Chinese Studies, Indian and South Asian Studies, Japanese Studies, Korean Studies and Middle Eastern Studies. The programme is designed to integrate multidisciplinary epistemes or fields of knowledge grounded in different academic disciplines such as: language, literature, religion, art history, anthropology, history and philosophy. To a lesser extent we seek to accommodate, interdisciplinary attitudes when integrating approaches related to culture and social studies in general.

The aim of the Modern Asian Studies MA programme is to educate students in modern Asian cultures to the point that they attain high intercultural and transregional competencies. The programme offers a broad methodological background and an interdisciplinary approach (such as area, gender and postcolonial studies, visual culture and comparative literature, cultural psychology, and courses on indigenous cultures). The programme is designed to accommodate students with different disciplinary backgrounds promoting diversity in thinking and acting in multicultural contexts. Students will acquire competence in utilizing different methodologies to study region-specific and/or transregional Asian cultures.

The Institute also conducts a joint PhD program in Ethnology together with other academic institutions – the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre and the Institute of Lithuanian Literature and Folklore.

A large number of students take part in international exchange and mobility programmes while academic and teaching staff frequently participate in short teaching and research visits at partner universities of the Institute. Vilnius University is involved in a wide range of academic networks, including Erasmus+, ARQUS, ISEP, NordPlus, Nordic Institute of Asian Studies, Nordic Center in India, Baltic Alliance for Asian Studies and more.

Within the Institute, the School of Asian Languages offers beginner and advanced courses in Arabic, Persian, Hindi, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Sanskrit, Tibetan and Turkish for the general public.