Erduan Kllobucishta

It was my honor to be a guest at an event organized by WorldChicago to mark its 70th anniversary since its foundation. I had an opportunity to meet with representatives of other organizations and partners who work closely with WorldChicago.

 So what have I learned?

Firstly, it is an honor on its own to be an alumnus and a partner organization of the World Chicago. The event was an opportunity to learn from people who are visionaries. In business, it is always smart to learn from leaders with a vision, who know how to foster the right culture. And WorldChicago leaders are indeed inspiring.

Secondly, regardless of where you come from, events like this one will give you an opportunity to do something good for your community. I come from a small country like North Macedonia, but the event provided me with ample opportunities to help my community back home.

Thirdly, it is smart to create a positive environment that fosters cooperation with others. By doing so, you get to complement each other in a way that makes everyone reach their goals faster and more effectively.

In short, what I have gained as an experience is to be always open to learn new things from those who have already succeeded, be open to opportunities, and create a positive environment.

Lokman Musliu
From November 14th to 18th, 2022, the Alumni Thematic International Exchange Seminar on Youth and Opportunity: Defending Democracy and Advancing Human Rights took place in Philadelphia. The seminar was organized by the Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and WorldLearning, and it brought together 59 young leaders who had participated in U.S. government-sponsored exchange programs from the United States and worldwide. The participants met with government officials, educators, NGOs, and other Philadelphia leaders to discuss the youth's role in democracy and human rights.

The Alumni Thematic International Exchange Seminar on Youth and Opportunity: Defending Democracy and Advancing Human Rights has helped me grow professionally by providing me with the opportunity to meet with other young leaders from around the world. I have been able to learn about different ways in which the youth can play a role in democracy and human rights, and I have also had the chance to meet with government officials, educators, and NGOs to discuss these issues. This seminar has been a great networking opportunity and learning experience. It provided all the participants with better knowledge on how to be effective leaders in the fight for democracy and human rights.

Jasmina Popovska

Recently,  the Macedonian translation of the book “Ancient Philosophy: Short Introduction” (Oxford University Press) written by Julia Annas, Regents Professor of Philosophy, Emerita at the University of Arizona, was published. The translation from English was made by me, Jasmina Popovska (an Associate Professor at Faculty of Philosophy – Skopje) and published by Az-buki, a publishing house that issues philosophy titles. 

I met prof. Annas during my JFDP fellowship in 2012, while attending the 17th Arizona Colloquium in Ancient Philosophy (Plato's Euthyphro, Apology and Crito) in Tuscon, Arizona. Since then, my theoretical endeavors have constantly brought me back to Annas’ works, especially to those dedicated to Aristotelian inspirational virtue ethics. I chose to translate “Ancient Philosophy: Short Introduction”, so that the wider readership would be introduced to ancient philosophy through Annas’ vivid interpretation.

This book represents a rereading of ancient philosophy in contemporary context and with its liveliness, clearness and relevancy, as well as its terminological and conceptual accessibility, not only does it introduce the uninitiated reader to ancient philosophy, but it also opens up new sources of intellectual enjoyment for the experts. Now it is accessible to Macedonian readers. 

Katerina Veljanovska Blazeska

The international project "U.S. Withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Refugee Crisis – a regional perspective", funded by the University of Montana, Maureen and Mike Mansfield Center, in the framework of the SUSI Scholars - Grant Competition, officially ended. It is a project that was implemented in parallel in five countries, North Macedonia, Greece, Romania, Turkey and Bosnia and Herzegovina, within the time frame from November 2021 to July 2022.

As an alumna of the Study of the U.S. Institute on U.S. Foreign Policy, as well as part of the alumni program, I and other team members applied to the grant program for an international project focused on promoting dialogue around issues related to the effective implementation of migration policy, particularly in the wake of the U.S. withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan and its effect on the region.

In addition to the field activities that took place in each country participating in the project, in May 2022, the team members had a coordination meeting in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, with the aim of presenting the overall benefit of the project to the academic public and media public, as well as sharing of the main conclusions of the project activities. 

The project has been recently finalized and a policy report, in which the conclusions of the conducted empirical research are sublimated, has been published. Additionally, some main recommendations are given regarding future perspectives and challenges, as well as further promotion of the project topic.