Bosnian Studies: Scholars\u27 Perspectives on an Emerging Field

The quarter-century that has passed since the end of the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina has seen an outpouring of scholarly research into Bosnian history, politics, and culture. Some scholars have sought to redress genocide and human rights violations, many of which have gone unpunished by local and international courts. Others have documented the multiethnic “common life” that characterized Bosnian culture and history prior to the rise of ethno-nationalism in the 1980s. Still others have studied the implications of forced displacement for Bosnians of all ethnicities, many of whom have formed diaspora communities in Europe, Australia, and North America. As scholars have continued these conversations across national and disciplinary boundaries, they have formed a new field of academic inquiry that we call Bosnian studies. This pre-recorded panel discussion is intended for laypeople and academicians with some prior knowledge about the Bosnian war and genocide. It will consider the ways that scholars in a variety of academic disciplines have contributed to the emerging field of Bosnian studies or deployed scholarship in the pursuit of justice. Of special interest are the contributions of scholars from Bosnia-Herzegovina who now live in diaspora. Also of interest are the ways that scholarship provides an avenue for reckoning with the current vexed cultural and political situation in Bosnia-Herzegovina, where ethnic tensions persist and where past injustices continue to shape political structures and social institutions. Moderated by Ben Moore