Deadline: September 20, 2024
Course co-directors: Marija Mandić (University of Belgrade) and Olesia Marković (KyivMohyla Academy)
Central European University’s Invisible University for Ukraine program and IFDT Belgrade is inviting interested participants to enroll in an international interdisciplinary online course on comparing European borderlands, with a special focus on the Balkans. The course is free of charge and in English language. It seeks to bring together students from Southeast Europe, Ukraine and other countries, to discuss the politics, society, history and culture of the region, develop academic and human solidarity and think about parallels and connectivity between the European borderlands. The course consists of weekly interactive seminars held in late afternoon, by prominent lecturers and specialists focused on Southeast Europe and Ukraine. Students can also participate in small-team mentoring sessions offered by doctoral and postdoctoral researchers. Participants can also contribute content to the project’s website (Balkan Talks) and the most actives students can participate in person in a Winter School in Budapest in January 2025.
Our program continues the tradition of Flying Universities, which was filling the gaps of formal education in our part of the world for decades. The wider initiative of the Invisible University, running already for two years, proved very useful for students of humanities and social sciences. Candidates are also encouraged to apply for the other IUFU courses, which are a subject of a separate call.
How to apply?
Applicants from Southeast Europe should send a CV and a short (200-300 words) motivation letter to balkancourse.ceu@gmail.com by September 20, 2024 midnight.
Admitted participants will be notified by September 25 the latest. The course starts on September 27, at 5 pm CET. The applications are in English.
The motivation letter should include:
- reason for applying and expectations from the course
- a description of the applicant’s thematic interests (e.g., research topic or thesis topic)
and a short CV with information on
- name
- e-mail address
- current location
- previous education, current university, student status and program of study
- involvement in civil activities/volunteering
- estimated level of English language competence.
Research scholarships (up to 800 Euro per semester) are available on a competitive basis for students who wish to implement a special empirical or theoretical project in addition to their course work, drawing on their academic background, previous work, current thesis project, and relevant to the current situation, and/or related to the themes of the courses. Students receiving research funding will be required to submit a paper of 10-12 double-spaced pages based on their research at the end of the semester. Those who wish to apply for a research scholarship should also include a concise project proposal (between 400 and 800 words), containing a title, describing the main lines of the envisioned research project and its desired outcome, including references to the relevant sources and secondary literature on the topic.
For a course summary, please follow this link. Detailed information about the course content, schedule and lecturers will be published soon. Meanwhile, you can get informed about the scope of IUFU activities related to Southeast Europe at the following link. For further information please contact Jana Krstić janakrstic73@gmail.com and Matija Carević matija.carevic2@gmail.com