Professor Maciej Bialous of the Faculty of Sociology at the University of Bialystok in Poland, who is participating for the second time in the Prishtina International Summer University, says he loves how people in Kosovo’s capital meet and speak wholeheartedly. With his colleague from the University of Prishtina (UP), Prof. Gëzim Selaci, they share not only a joint course but also a friendship. Book Exchange: The Friendship of Two Summer University Professors Extends Beyond Their Shared Course 

The two professors exchange thoughts on their overlapping interests as well.

“We agreed with Professor Bialous to exchange literature. This time, he brought me a volume of short stories by Polish authors translated into English. I gave him something from Kosovar literature, Albanian literature. Then, we comment on the works we’ve gifted each other,” shares Professor Selaci. 

He states that getting to know the Polish professor was very beneficial. “I’ve been fortunate to collaborate with the same professor twice within three years. Knowing him has been an intellectual and cultural enrichment for me. It’s a kind of broadening of wider culture, too. It’s mutual cultural understanding,” explains the UP professor. 

Professor Bialous, back after a three-year absence, also feels at home in Prishtina, the Summer University, and among UP’s professors.

“I am for the second time in Kosovo. Prishtina is a vibrant city, full of people meeting and talking. This is great! Your university is larger than mine and the most important in the Albanian language. All the professors and employees that I have met are open and friendly. I am very grateful for your hospitality,” says Professor Bialous. 

Bialous and Selaci, both sociologists co-directing the course on narratives and memory culture, fully agree that the future of universities lies in joint lectures and shared academic programs.

“I think academics in many parts of the world are talking about interdisciplinary approaches,

which are very important. I’m very happy that the students in this course are from different faculties, studying sociology, psychology, political science, literature, etc. We can have really interesting discussions about some issues from different perspectives. I would love to have more such experiences,” says the Polish professor. 

“This is the future. The university is a universe of scientific disciplines; science is global. It’s a human consciousness that transcends all cultural and national boundaries of any kind. The university must inevitably be international; otherwise, it risks becoming a provincial school,” says Professor Selaci.

But can their course help revisit the past, overcome trauma, and reconcile hostile communities?

“Sometimes, individual traumas are so big that nothing could be done about it. But we are focusing on collective memory and stories that could be helpful not only to remember but also to forget. The right to forget and the processes of collective forgetting are very important for moving forward after conflicts where neighbors killed one another,” says Professor Bialous. 

Professor Selaci highlights two steps necessary to move forward after periods of war, suffering, and crimes.

“Confronting the past and uncovering the truth are two tests that must be passed to break the cycle of recurring evil. Without these two processes, it will be difficult to learn from the past or escape the cycle of repetition,” explains Professor Selaci. 

Both close friends cite Jews as a people nationally oriented toward documenting violent histories.

 “In Jewish culture, they have the word Zakhor that represents the obligation to remember. This is at the very core to their culture, an ancient term dating back to when Jews were dispersed everywhere. So this is the case, but some cultures are not so much oriented on the past,” says Professor Bialous. 

“Jews exemplify how a people’s painful history is documented. For centuries, they lived as diaspora groups worldwide, and to preserve their identity and national cohesion, they prioritized documentation and writing,” says Professor Selaci. 

The Polish colleague acknowledges Germany’s efforts to confront its Nazi history but emphasizes that they also needed time to re-examine history and acknowledge the truth.

“Academic studies on memory emerged in Germany in the 1980s (Historikerstreit), when historians debated how to tell the story of World War II. They asked the generation of their parents, ‘What did you do exactly during the war?’ To achieve moral reconciliation with the past, we must examine not only the faults of others but also our own,” says Professor Maciej Bialous. 

Professor Selaci attributes historical evils to uncontrolled power concentrated in specific groups.

“The problem lies in uncontrolled force. In the modern state, where great power is centralized, uncontrolled force will be abused by someone, because we cannot rely on human purity or goodwill,” says Professor Selaci. 

Professor Bialous believes narratives and memories alone cannot change the world.

“As academics, what can we do? We could share our knowledge, try some sort of a call to action through NGOs But, we do not have the power to change the world through storytelling or commemorating. If we had such power, the world would be a more beautiful place to live than it is,” says Bialous. 

Despite differences, both professors find historical common ground between Kosovo and Poland.

“You are a more open people than we Poles, but we also share similarities. Both our nations experienced socialist regimes in the 20th century, which makes us alike,” says the Polish professor. 

“Polish culture is very rich. There are similarities between Poles and Albanians. Poles were long disunited, living in different states, and their political aspirations for a nation-state mirror Albanians’ desire to be one,” says Professor Selaci.