Higher Education in Post-Conflict Environments: Case Studies of Serbia, Macedonia and Kosovo

Moderator: Renata Kralikova, PhD candidate at the Department of Public Policy, CEU

Dr Bacevic presented two models of the role of education in post-conflict societies, and discussed how they relate to the cases of six universities developed in the post-conflict societies in the Western Balkans, noting different potential outcomes of institutional design for the processes of reconciliation and reconstruction. The discussion concentrated around the features of universities in post-conflict environments, as well as the relationship between education policy and ethnic politics.

Jana Bacevic is Visiting Research Fellow at the Department of Public Policy, CEU. Her research focuses on the role of higher education in developing democracy in countries of Central and Eastern Europe. She holds a doctorate in anthropology from the University of Belgrade, and did her doctoral research as OSI/FCO Chevening scholar at the University of Oxford (2007-2008). Previously she was teaching at the Master program in Conflict Studies at Singidunum University, Belgrade. Dr Bacevic worked as a researcher and consultant for a number of international organizations, in projects related to development of higher education in post-conflict societies. Currently she is serving as higher education expert on the Government of Serbia’s working group for the development of higher education for minorities in the regions of Presevo and Bujanovac (South Serbia).