New Contexts in Teaching and Learning: International Perspectives, Birmingem, 2006

"New Contexts in Teaching and Learning:International Perspectives" četvrta je međunarodna godišnja konferencija koju organizuje Centar za sociologiju, antropologiju i politiku (C-SAP) u okviru Akademije za visoko obrazovanje Univerziteta u Birmingemu

Socio-kulturna antropologija u Istraživačkoj stanici Petnica

Socio-kulturna antropologija u Istraživačkoj stanici Petnica

Valentine's day as the 8th March of transitional Serbia: Analysis of a (new?) holiday

In this text, I examine the phenomenon of sudden occurrence and spreading of the symbols, products and practices related to St. Valentine's Day, in Belgrade, Serbia. Though this custom had never been a part of Serbian festivities, neither "traditional" nor modern, this year it was aggressively marketed in the capital. In order to understand this phenomenon, I look at a similar holiday from the not-sodistant socialist past: Women's Day, or March 8th. Previous researchers of this holiday have underlined its primarily demagogical or mythical function of obscuring the gender inequalities of socialist society through the celebration of, and emphasis on, the proclaimed social equality on all levels. By juxtaposing dominant characteristics of Women's Day and their corresponding ideological functions with the dominant characteristics of St. Valentine's, I point to the possible ideological functions of the latter. On the one hand, it transmits the message of love, romance and reciprocity, therefore obscuring the persistent gender inequalities; on the other, it serves a far less demagogical function of supporting both the market of partners and the market of goods. In the final conclusion, I state that the occurrence of Valentine's Day celebrations in modern-day Serbia can be primarily tied to the development of the market of goods, and the corresponding desire to achieve the European standard, at least in terms of consumerism. Whether this holiday marks a beginning of transition in the domain of personal, intimate relationships, however, remains yet to be seen

Studentske legende o polaganju ispita: kritika ili afirmacija obrazovnog sistema?

U ovom radu analiziran je korpus urbanih legendi sa američkih univerziteta koje se mogu naći na jednom broju internet sajtova (u pojedinim slučajevima dopunjen domaćim alogijama), a govore o domišljatosti na ispitima ili drugim oblicima formalne provere znanja u obrazovnim institucijama, za koju studenti (u većini slučajeva) bivaju nagrađeni. Analiza formalne strukture ovih legendi, kao i njihovih mogućih funkcija u kulturnom i istorijskom kontekstu, ukazuje na to da legende o domišljatim studentima mogu, s jedne strane, predstavljati kritiku sistema visokog obrazovanja, ali da s druge zapravo doprinose njegovoj reprodukciji i ulozi u društvenoj strukturi. Na kraju, značaj ovakve interpretacije razmotren je u kontekstu savremenih globalnih transformacija visokog školstva

Legends of Students’ "Clever Answers": Criticism or Affirmation of the Educational System?

This paper represents an analysis of a group of urban legends from US universities, gathered from a number of web sites and in certain cases compared with analogous examples from Serbia. These legends concentrate around the motif of "clever answers", in which students use witty or otherwise unconventional means to solve problems or answer questions during exams or other forms of knowledge examination, and usually end up being rewarded for their creativity. The analysis of the formal structure of these legends, as well as their possible functions, indicates that, on the one hand, legends of "clever answers" can represent a form of criticism of the higher education system, but on the other actually aid its reproduction and reinforce its role in the social order. Finally, the implications of this interpretation are investigated in the context of contemporary global transformations of higher education

Conceptualising the Romantic Relationship

This paper approaches the phenomenon of the "romantic relationship" as understood within some of the most prominent paradigms in the social sciences. These interpretative frameworks are then applied to the model of the romantic relationship acquired during my own research on the concepts of romantic relationships among young professionals in Belgrade, Serbia. I argue that none of the presented frameworks can be solely relied upon to explain the phenomenon, but that in combination they do offer very valuable insights. This represents an example of how the application of different paradigms in social sciences can help to clarify the nature of a phenomenon, rather than representing a ground for contestation

Antropološka obrazovna politika u svjetlu europske transformacije (Sažetak)

In this text I reflect on the contemporary transformation of the educational arena within the context of European integration. The emphasis is on the processes and reactions concerning the transformation of educational policies and curricula in the (widely understood) anthropological community. I summarize some of the recent trends in British and American humanities, and trace some avenues along which anthropological reflection, research and practice concerning these issues might be conducted in the future.Ovaj je članak svojevrstan pregled suvremene transformacije obrazovnog sustava u Europi u odnosu na obrazovne politike antropoloških zajednica – široko zamišljeno, ali sa naglaskom na "lokalno" – odnosno onih u ovim dijelovima svijeta, zvali ih mi Balkanom, jugoistočnom Europom, Novom Europom ili nekako drugačije. Započinjem sa samim počecima suvremenih obrazovnih transformacija te ih stavljam u kontekst neoliberalnih sustava vlada koje, čini se, trenutno dominiraju planetom. Zatim razmatram recepciju tih transformacija na lokalnom području, tj. na Balkanu. Iako su suvremene transformacije obrazovnih sustava, predvođene Bolonjskim procesom i stvaranjem Europske regije visokog obrazovanja, rezultirale važnim i ponekad i korjenitim promjenama u načinima na koji se etnologija i/ili antropologija predaju i na koji se poduzimaju istraživanja, začuđujuće malo pažnje je poklonjeno problematiziranju i razmatranju tih procesa unutar antropoloških zajednica u ovome dijelu svijeta. Tvrdim da su reakcije na te procese, u antropologiji i visokom obrazovanju općenito, često bile zamagljene političkim interesima i definirane u odnosu na orijentaciju prema Europskoj uniji (ili protiv nje). Zatim nudim komparativnu analizu načina na koji su takve i slične obrazovne transformacije bile teoretski usustavljene u antropologiji i humanističkim znanostima u Velikoj Britaniji i Sjedinjenim Američkim Državama te navodim koje su bile praktične i političke reakcije na njih. Na kraju, kratko razmatram kako možemo lekcije iz stvaranja discipline u Velikoj Britaniji i Sjedinjenim Državama iskoristiti kako bismo sastavili prijedloge za konstruktivnu problematizaciju obrazovnih transformacija u ovome dijelu svijeta. U zaključku tvrdim da etnologija i/ili antropologija mogu uvelike profitirati od suvremenih transformacija u obrazovnim sustavima, ali to zahtijeva odgovoran i refleksivan kritički odmak