AABS is pleased to announce that Liisi Esse has accepted the position of AABS Administrative Executive Director. She will assume office on August 1, 2019, following a 4-month transition period when she and Amanda Swain, the outgoing AABS Administrative Executive Director, jointly serve as AEDs.
Liisi Esse will serve as AABS AED while she continues her role as Associate Curator for Estonian and Baltic Studies at Stanford University Libraries where she has worked since 2013. As Curator, her main responsibility is to develop Stanford’s collection of Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, and Finnish material in all formats, including books, periodicals, manuscripts, and electronic resources. Liisi also runs various Baltic projects, including digitization projects, and organizes Baltic events and exhibits at Stanford. She assists and advises scholars and students interested in Baltic studies and collaborates with other organizations and institutions within and beyond Stanford in enhancing Baltic studies.
Liisi served as AABS’ Vice President for Conferences from 2016–2018 and organized the 2018 AABS Conference at Stanford University. She currently serves as Reviews Editor for the Journal of Baltic Studies. Liisi is a member of the ASEEES Committee on Libraries and Information Resources and the Baltic Heritage Network.
Liisi earned her Ph.D. from the University of Tartu in 2016. Her doctoral dissertation, “Eesti sõdurid Esimeses maailmasõjas: sõjakogemus ja selle sõjajärgne tähendus” (“Estonian Soldiers in the First World War: The War Experience and its Post-War Meaning”) relies on Estonian soldiers’ letters, diaries, and memoirs, as well as materials of veterans’ organizations, and analyzes various elements of the war experience of Estonian soldiers who served in the Russian Army during the First World War.
She has also written several articles on Estonian soldiers’ war experience and egodocuments.
