The Belgrade-Konstnaz Summer School on “Democratization in Post-conflict Societies” is organized for 24 student participants at the graduate level, including 12 from the University of Konstanz, Department of Politics and Public Administration, Germany and 12 from the University of Belgrade – Faculty of Political Sciences, Serbia. The summer school is primarily intended for students of social sciences, particularly political science, at an advanced academic level. After completing this class, students will have a broader understanding of democratization, European integration, and national politics in the Western Balkans. Students will discuss key issues of democratizing post-conflict societies with a special focus on Western Balkans’ stabilization and democratization, including its approximation process to the European Union. Thereby, students will develop analytical skills to understand and reflect complex transition challenges and dilemmas. Furthermore, they will practice social science methods of data collection and analysis.p The summer school seeks to deepen intercultural relationship among the participants coming from an established EU member country and an EU candidate country. The summer school will enrich the participants intellectually and help prepare them for internationally oriented careers in government, inter-governmental and non-governmental organizations, business, and academia, with a particular focus on foreign relations and EU politics.p pWe see the summer school as a unique learning opportunity for young potentials from Germany and Serbia that allows establishing and deepening contacts among future leaders of both countries. Besides this, we intend to strengthen the academic cooperation between the two participating faculties what will support the integration of Belgrade staff in international political science academia.
