About the Zagreb School of Slavic Studies

Seminars of the Zagreb School of Slavic Studies

Zagreb School of Slavic Studies was founded on 14 January 1970, by the decree issued by the Council of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Studies. The first Seminar for Foreign Slavic Studies Students took place in Dubrovnik and Zagreb in 1972. From the outset, the Seminars of the Zagreb School of Slavic Studies were legally determined as an activity of the institution called the International Slavic Centre of FR Croatia. Today, Zagreb School of Slavic Studies (Croatian Seminar for Foreign Slavic Studies Students) is defined as a separate activity of the Department of the Croatian language and literature at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Studies in Zagreb. The School's participants are foreign Croatian and Slavic studies students, university professors who teach Croatian language and literature at foreign universities, experts in various topics who specialize in Croatian studies at different scientific institutions and translators from the Croatian language.

From 1972 till 1990 the School organized 19 Seminars in the duration of three weeks – the first two weeks were spent in Dubrovnik and the programme continued in Zagreb for another week. The practice of a two-week Seminar was introduced in 1991 when the 20th Seminar took place in Zagreb. From 1992 till 1998, from 21st to 27th Seminar, Seminars were organized in Pula. Since 1999 the town of Dubrovnik has once again been the host of the Seminar for Foreign Slavic Studies Students.

Professional Committee

Professional Committee (formerly known as the School's Council or the Governing Council) is the body in charge of organizing, monitoring and supporting the School's activities. According to the Book of Statutes in force, the Professional Committee of the Zagreb School of Slavic Studies consists of seven members: the head of the School, deputy coordinator, programme assistant, the head of the Department of Croatian Studies and three more members of the Department.

The Administration of the Zagreb School of Slavic Studies

The School's Seminars are organized by the head of the School and his associates who make the administration of the School. The first head of the School (or the director as he was called) was Franjo Grčević (1972–1981). He was succeeded by Mladen Kuzmanović who was the head of the School since 1982 till 1998 (as the assistant in 1972 and deputy director 1973-1981). Marko Samardžija, Krešimir Nemec and Ivo Pranjković were heads of the 28th Seminar (1999). Stipe Botica took over as the head of the School in 2000 and held the position until 2004. From 2005 till 2008, from 34th till 37th Seminar, the head of the Zagreb School of Slavic Studies was Krešimir Bagić. From 2009 till 2012, from 38th till 41st Seminar, the head of the Zagreb School of Slavic Studies was Krešimir Mićanović. From 2013 till 2016, from 42nd till 45th Seminar, the head of the Zagreb School of Slavic Studies was Tvrtko Vuković. From 2017 till 2021, from 46th till 49th Seminar, the head of the Zagreb School of Slavic Studies was Tatjana Pišković. Zrinka Jelaska was the head of the 50th Seminar.

Teachers and Lecturers at the School of Slavic Studies

Zagreb School of Slavic Studies is organized and ran by professors from the Department of Croatian Studies at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Studies in Zagreb. The organizers of the lecture cycles, language instructors and lecturers at the Seminars are mostly professors form the Department of Croatian Studies. Also, many respected professors from other departments of the Zagreb Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, as well as lecturers and scientists form the University of Zagreb and other Croatian (and foreign) universities and other cultural and scientific institutions participate in the activities of the Seminar, mainly as lecturers and language instructors.

Participants

Foreign Slavic studies students can participate in the School's Seminars in three ways:

Via authorized institutions in the student's country of residence by obtaining the so-called convention scholarships. The number of the scholarships is determined by international contracts and the Zagreb School of Slavic Studies has no influence on the selection of the participants;
Scholarships provided by the Zagreb School of Slavic Studies. The School's administration provides the scholarships for the most successful foreign students and faculty professors who have specialized in the Croatian language and literature as their primary field of scientific interest;
The third way of participating in the Seminar is by one's own expense.

Programme

The programme of the Zagreb School of Slavic Studies generally consists of the tuition, language exercise courses and seminars (beginners course, conversational courses in three levels, seminars in Croatian literature, history and culture). Since 2005 Seminars include a translation workshop which purpose is to promote translations of Croatian literature into foreign languages. The Seminar hosts numerous lecturers and regularly organizes two cycles of thematic lectures – the first one dedicated to the Croatian language and the second one to the Croatian literature.

Since its very beginnings, the Zagreb School of Slavic Studies has put great effort in providing a high-quality and diverse cultural programme for its participants. The fact that the Seminar has been taking place in Croatian cultural capitals, Dubrovnik, Pula and Zagreb, provided many excellent cultural opportunities. The School aimed at becoming a multimedia centre (film screenings, theatrical performances, music nights, book exhibits etc.) and many artists participated in its programme (writers, actors, painters, directors, musicians). The School hosted and presented to its participants distinguished translators and scientists. A great number of literary works, professional books in linguistics, literary theory and art have been promoted at the Seminar.

Publishing

Publishing is an important segment of the School's activity. During the 70s the School has published four proceedings which include lectures and papers delivered at the Seminars and since 2001 the proceedings have been published annually. Cymelia Croatica editon (1983–1990) includes reprints of old and rare books. Several books have been published in cooperation with other publishers. The School has published a series of programme leaflets accompanying each Seminar's programme, and, among other things, a series of catalogues accompanying the performances of artists who participated in the Seminar (Sources for the Portrait of an Artist). An ambitious project of anthologising Croatian literature has resulted in three published anthologies: Utjeha kaosa: antologija suvremenog hrvatskog pjesništva (2006, electronic edition 2008), Odbrojavanje: antologija suvremene hrvatske drame (2007), Tko govori, tko piše: antologija suvremene hrvatske proze (2008). In the period 2010–2012 three essay collections were published, each aiming at the articulation of contemporary outlooks on the three main genres in Croatian literature: Muzama iza leđa: čitanje hrvatske lirike (2010), Priučen na tumačenje: deset čitanja (2011), Vila–kiklop–kauboj: čitanja hrvatske proze (2012).

Awards

For the efforts in promoting Croatian language, literature and culture, Zagreb School of Slavic Studies has been awarded with the City of Zagreb Award (1985, 2011), the City of Dubrovnik Award (1991) as well as the Charter of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Studies in Zagreb (1991).

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