Applications are now open for Slavic Slovenia: Language, Culture & Society at a Crossroads.
This is an Early Fall Start (EFS) 2025 program based out of Kamnik, Slovenia from late August to mid-September. The program will last a minimum of 21 days and will be led by Michael Biggins, as director, and Cyrus Rodgers (PhD UW, 2024), who has a background in Slovene literature and art history, as associate director.
Watch this video for more detail on the program.
The UW Slovenia EFS program is a flexible, multi-disciplinary 5-credit course around the general concepts of "Language, Culture and Society in a Crossroads Environment" with no pre-requisites and open to any UW student.
The syllabus will consist of daily lecture and discussion modules on aspects of the region's history (e.g., from Roman to Habsburg colony; as a feeder into the Venetian Republic's and the Ottoman Empire's commercial, military and slave labor networks; as a crossroads of migraton; and as a flashpoint of the Protestant Reformation and Counterreformation) as well as contemporary society (particularly as shaped by the impacts of World Wars I and II, 20 years of Italian Fascist colonial rule, 45 years of communist rule, and 20 years of EU membership), with particular focus on some of the most intractable or "burning" questions challenging Slovene society through history to the present day.
Periodic guest presentations by faculty from the University of Ljubljana, prominent Slovene writers, artists and leaders of civil society will also be featured. The rudiments of Slovene language will be taught one hour per day. The first weekend will feature a course-related field trip to the Slovene Adriatic Littoral and Trieste, Italy (e.g., with a focus on Italo-Slovene relations). Classes will run Mondays-Fridays from 9am to 1:00pm.
Students will have two options for a course project: 1) exercising the optional "W" (writing) function of the course, or 2) devising an "exploratory project" in which they delve into an aspect of their major field or a particular interest as specifically manifested in Slovenia. In either case, the program director and co-director will advise and interact with the students on these projects on an ongoing basis.
Application deadline: February 15, 2025. Apply here.
Questions? Contact Professor Michael Biggins at mbiggins@uw.edu.