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BPP 2015: PICTURES, TESTIMONIALS, AND FEATURE ACTIVITIES
 

17 November 2015
Some Feature Activities - Guest Speakers:
  • Rector of the University of Gjilan "Kadri Zeka" gives keynote address at BPP 2015 closing ceremony at the university in Gjilan (20 May 2015). Media coverage:
  • Mr. Burim Korqa, founder and development manager at the Kosovo Center for Business Support gives a talk on the importance of interethnic relations for developemnt in Kosovo (14 May 2015).
  • Mr. Jeffrey Jamison, Public Affairs Officer with the United States Embassy in Kosovo talks to BPP 2015 students about the importance of the US role in helping Kosovo move forward (13 May 2015).
  • Mr. Thomas Gnocchi, Deputy EU Special Representative to Kosovo addresses the BPP 2015 class on the role of the EU in the state-building and democratization process of Kosovo (12 May 2015).
  • Ambassador Jan Braathu of Norway to Kosovo addresses the BPP 2015 class on the importance of diplomacy of small states vis-a-vis conflicts and development in post-conflict socities (11 May 2015).
  • BPP 2015 students are received by the Association of Former KLA Soldiers and Veterans in Gjilan to discuss the rehabilitation of former KLA members into the post-conflict Kosovo society (8 May 2015).
  • Dr. Gianfranco Brusaporci, an Italian professor of political science from Sofia, Bulgaria, co-teaches the BPP 2015 class with Mr. Tony Bislimi from the University of Alberta.

What Has Been Said...

"For our university and for our city, the Balkans Peace Program is the best way to show our friendship and hospitality to the world. The university is very proud to have partnered with TBG Foundation in delivering this program. We are very proud to have hosted you. Thank you for making our university and our city a summer program destination."
Prof. Dr. Naim Syla

Rector, University of Gjilan "Kadri Zeka"
 
"I believe that student exchanges and summer study programs are a very powerful way in which we can shape global understanding and cooperation. What Tony and his Foundation have done is really great. The hospitality of the people of Gjilan is amazing. Kosovo is a very rich place to learn and to study and even just to visit. For me, being a co-instructor of this course has been a very enriching experience. Our students - both foreign and domestic - have also been super good!"
Dr. Gianfranco Brusaporci

BPP 2015 Co-Instructor
Assistant Professor at the University of National and World Economy in Sofia, Bulgaria

"Participating in the Balkan Peace Program is one of the best decisions a student can make. Individuals are thrown into a beautifully unique world, abundant in culture and history. Within a short three weeks, an individual will be exposed to a plethora of themes and realities, not only specific to Kosovo or Albanians, but to the international community as well. As a student you will be awarded with an on the ground understanding and perspective of how international programs and diplomacy are executed. My personal experience, as an Albanian-American, was somewhat of an emotional roller coaster. The program encouraged and facilitated personal growth and development. I left Kosovo with a new awareness, not only in international relations and diplomacy, but with Albanian culture. I would highly recommend this program to all students, not just those pursuing studies within these fields. It was truly a rich and rewarding experience. It was the first time I had visited Kosovo, but I can assure you it will not be the last."
Nikolin Turtulli
Michigan State University, USA, BPP 2015 Participant

"Through the Balkan Peace Program I got the highly valuable possibility to experience a post-conflict society. Now that I am writing my Bachelor thesis I have faces and personal histories to the conflict parties. This gives me a deeper and more practical understanding of my topic. Besides, I made some great new friends and got the chance to travel through a beautiful region."
Mascha Schadlich

University of Bremen, Germany, BPP 2015 Participant

"The Balkans Peace program was, in short, an enriching experience. The things you can learn through intimate, firsthand contact, host-families, and friends, is very different than what you'd get in an conventional classroom. You learn all about the intricacies and nuances of a culture that is neither totally strange nor totally familiar, but loaded with a sense of tradition and memorial that is still (for me) very hard to grasp. It was an incredibly experience to listen, to wonder, and to absorb the lives and voices of my Kosovar friends. I come out of it with a deep sense of what it means to exist through conflict, live through nation-building, and struggle with identities. On top of this, the sense of hospitality and friendship among Kosovars in impeccable, and for this I hope to visit again someday."
Kevin Holowack

University of Alberta, Canada, BPP 2015 Participant

"The Balkans Peace Program provided myself, along with many other international students, the unique chance to acquire insight into a predominantly overlooked area of the planet. Returning home, I encountered the same volume of queries into just from where exactly it was I had returned. However, instead of grudgingly racing through my usual geographical descriptions, I found myself ranting on about not only where Kosovo was, but how, why, what, and who it was. This marked change was only a shallow indicator of my growth... Living and breathing the Kosovo lifestyle served to open my ignorant first world eyes to an entirely separate state of human affairs. I am better for it, and truly consider the Balkans Peace Program one of the greatest journeys of my young life."
Kane Mullen
University of Alberta, Canada, BPP 2015 Participant


Some Pictures:
Mind you that between the program staff and participating students, thousands of pictures have been taken. In what follows, we will only be able to present of few of these pics...


A moment from daily lectures with co-instructor, Dr. Brusaporci


Cheers to another successful and fun day... right by the campfire.


A visit at the Adem Jashari Memorial Complex


Dinner time, during one of the out-of-town tours...


At the Newborn Monument in Prishtina


At the Drini River spring during the Tour of Kosovo


Student pose in front of the Skenderbeu Monument


Ambassador Jan Braathu of Norway addresses the BPP 2015 class


With Mr. Jamison (third from right, front row) of the US Embassy after his address to the BPP 2015 class


With Mr. Gnocchi, Deputy EU Special Rep to Kosovo, during his address to the BPP 2015 class


With Mr. Korqa (fourth from left, front row) after his address to the BPP 2015 class


Visit at the Kosovo Ethnographic Museum


At a meeting with the Association of the War Veterans of KLA in Gjilan


Inside the Gadime Cave


Beach time in Albania


Castle of Shkoder, Albania


Castle of Kruja, at the National Museum of Skenderbeg, Albania


At the Mother Teresa Cathedral in Prishtina


Time for a picnic in the beautiful nature of Kosovo


From left to right: Tony Bislimi, Rector Syla, Vice Rector Tosumi, and Halit Bislimi, Executive Director of TBG Foundation hand out
certificates of completion to  the graduates of BPP 2015 during the closing ceremony


Closing Ceremony Picture after certificates are handed out


Kosovo media cover the activities of BPP 2015 - ZERI Daily Newspaper article is shown in this pic.

 


 

 

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