A Different Morning at the Summer University: Lectures, Experiments, Socializing, and Smiles

This morning at the Prishtina International Summer University began with a communal breakfast in the Rectorate courtyard, organized by Vice-Rector for Internationalization and Academic Exchange, Prof. Rozafa Basha, with participation from visiting lecturers. 

Following this welcoming event, attendees embarked on tours of the University of Prishtina’s facilities, where courses are currently underway. 

Vice-Rector Rozafa Basha and Summer University official Saranda Krasniqi first visited a joint course led by Prof. Muhammet Arıcan from Turkey’s Boğaziçi University and Prof. Eda Vula from the University of Prishtina, both faculty members in education. The professors are employing the STEM framework—science, technology, engineering, and mathematics—to encourage students to think holistically about solving practical problems. 

The tour continued to a course on artificial intelligence technology for analyzing and managing big data in business, taught by Prof. Kohei Arai of Japan’s Saga University and his colleague Arbnor Pajaziti from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering. 

The third stop featured a course on narratives and memory culture, a collaboration between Prof. Maciej Białous of Poland’s University of Białystok and Prof. Gëzim Selaci from the Faculty of Philosophy, which explored the "mechanics" of nostalgia. 

In a course led by Prof. Sanja Balalić of the Netherlands’ Hanze University and Prof. Rita Selimi from the Faculty of Philosophy, focusing on social robotics and persuasive health, three students—one from Kosovo and two international participants—presented their project for an application designed to assist mothers affected by postpartum depression. 

Next, the group visited a course on the journey of artifacts from discovery sites to museums. Previously conducted at historic locations across Kosovo, this course—led by Prof. Arsim Canolli and Prof. Christophe Goddard—was held indoors for the first time. Meanwhile, students under Japanese Prof. Tosh Minohara departed for the Reporting House, a venue preserving Kosovo’s wartime media archives. 

Prof. Minohara, alongside fellow professor and academic collaborator Prof. Sabri Kiçmari, is co-teaching a course examining the evolution of Japanese foreign and security policy over the past 150 years.

Elsewhere, Profs. Tekin and Gjinovci demonstrated how technology enhances cognitive function and learning processes. 

In a joint session by Prof. Ilir Mazreku (Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics) and German Prof. Armin Bahl, theoretical discussions on animal behavior transitioned into hands-on experiments. Concurrently, Profs. Islam Foniqi and Justin Trias of the University of East Anglia, collaborating with UP’s Prof. Qëndrim Gashi, explored abstract problem-solving machines—their blackboard covered in intricate mathematical formulas. 

The afternoon at the Prishtina International Summer University will feature sports tournaments and recreational activities.