With the beginning of the new Academic Year 2009/2010, IUS premises again be-came a place of various student and staff activities. As a result, the Editorial Board has been bombarded with news related to various student, staff, and administrative activities, conferences, promotions of staff, lectures and visits.

This issue gives a selection of such events and activities. Furthermore, the present issue will attempt to provide readers, es-pecially students, with various interviews and guidelines. Due to skills and enthusi-asm of the Editorial Board, IUS Newsletter has been improving in terms of content, coverage of news and design. The Edito-rial Board looks forward for continuous im-provement and welcomes any comment, suggestion or advice. Therefore, please do not hesitate to express your views at news-letter@ius.edu.ba.

EDITOR’S MESSAGE

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ali Günes

INTERVIEW:Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ali Günes

IUS-the biggest foundation University in Bosnia-Herzegovina

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ali Günes

For the past two years Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ali Gunes has been a member of the IUS Family. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Gunes graduated from the Department of English Language and Literature at Hacettepe University in Ankara. He received his MA from English Literature at the Dundee University and PhD from Modern English Literature at the John Moores University. He is currently acting dean of FASS (Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences)

Can you tell the readers what makes FASS unique?

FASS is a young faculty, yet it is very dynamic not only with its academic struc-ture but also with its academic and administrative personnel, students, facilities, and innovative vision when compared with the other similar faculties. Yet in my view, there are several distinctive features of FASS. First, the language of in-struction is English, which makes FASS unique among similar faculties, enabling its students to find jobs easily across the world and to use the language for other purposes since in today’s globalized world English is the language of commu-nication. Secondly, an interdisciplinary study and approaches form the basis of education and diversity, which avail our students of the opportunity to acquire knowledge in various subjects and areas and then fit them to the demand of the global world. Therefore, interdisciplinary approach is another major feature of FASS.

IUS as an SAT Test Centre

Strengthening Higher Education in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Ottoman Legacy and Balkan Muslim Communities Today

Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences: An academic institution of higher learning and

an enlarged caring family.

Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences: An academic institution of higher learning and

an enlarged caring family.

What is 2009 H1N1 (swine flu)?2009 H1N1 (sometimes called “swine flu”) is a new influenza virus causing illness in people. This virus is spreading from person-to-person worldwide, probably in much the same way that regular seasonal influenza viruses spread. On June 11, 2009, the World Health Organization (WHO) signaled that a pandemic of 2009 H1N1 flu was underway. Is 2009 H1N1 virus contagious?The 2009 H1N1 virus is contagious and is spreading from human to human. How does 2009 H1N1 virus spread?Spread of 2009 H1N1 virus is thought to occur in the same way that seasonal flu spreads. Flu viruses are spread mainly from person to person through coughing or sneezing by people with influenza. Sometimes people may become infected by touching something – such as a surface or object – with flu viruses on it and then touching their mouth or nose. What are the signs and symptoms of this virus in people?The symptoms of 2009 H1N1 flu virus in people include fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, head-ache, chills and fatigue. Some people may have vomiting and diarrhea. People may be infected with the flu, including 2009 H1N1 and have respiratory symptoms without a fever. Severe illnesses and deaths have occurred as a result of illness as-sociated with this virus. What can I do to protect myself from getting sick?

Take these everyday steps to protect your health:

· Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.· Wash your hands often with soap and water.· Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread this way.· Try to avoid close contact with sick people.· If you are sick with flu-like illness, stay home for at least 24 hours after your fever is gone except to get medical care or for other necessities. Keep away from others as much as possible to keep from making others sick.· Follow public health advice regarding school closures, avoiding crowds and other social distancing measures. *Source: Centre for Control and Desease Prevention www.cdc.gov

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR STUDENTS

Exhibition of “Mimar Sinan: The Architect”

A photo exhibition titled „Mimar Sinan: The Architect“ of Mustafa Aksay was jointly organized by the Turkish Advisory for the Culture and Infor-mation, Bosniak Institute – Adil Zulfikarpašić Foundation and Doku Films from Istanbul. The exhibition was open for visitors between October 20 to 30, 2009. The opening of the exhibition was held in Gazi Husrev-beys Hamam in Bosniak Institute on October 19, 2009 with the presence of the Ambassador of Republic of Turkey in Bosnia and Herzegovina, H. E. Vefahan Ocak. Miss. Ediba Rizvanbegović, Turkish language instruc-tor at IUS, was involved in the program as one of the organizers and an interpretor to the Ambassador H. E. Ocak. Apart from opening speeches,

the opening night was also enriched with traditional Bosnian and Turkish songs. After the opening ceremony the exibition of Mimar Sinan’s works continued for another ten days.

Graphic Design SupervisorZinka Bejtic

Graphic DesignRumeysa Temiz

Desktop Publishing Abdulhamid Bolat

Advisory Editorial Board

Prof. Dr. B.Gültekin Çetiner

Prof. Dr. Mehmet Can

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ali Gunes

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Cevat Sarioglu

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Muhamed Hadziabdic

Mr. Idris Esen

Editor Ms. Aida Sunje

Associate Editor Mr. Ahmed Kulanic

CoordinatorDr. Muhidin Mulalic

Redactor Dr. Mustafa Bal

INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SARAJEVOParomlinska 66, 71000 Sarajevo,Tel : +387 33 720 600 Fax: +387 33 720 625 newsletter@ius.edu.ba www.ius.edu.ba

8th Edition - October 2009

Representatives of IUS – Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ali Güneş, Dr. Kutluk Özgüven and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Muhamed Hadžiabdić - participated in the workshop on “Strengthening the Higher Education in Bosnia and Herzegovina” that was held on October 17 and 18, 2009 in Zenica.

The workshop was a part of the same-titled joint project of the European Com-mission and the Council of Europe, with an aim to assists Bosnia and Herze-govina with the implementation of Bologna compatible reforms in higher edu-cation. Beside the IUS representatives, the workshop was also attended by the representatives from other universities in Bosnia-Herzegovina. According to the Council of Europe website “The project will assist the Agency for the Development of Higher Education and Quality Assurance (HEA) and BiH uni-versities in conducting the first external evaluation of BiH universities, in line with BiH and European Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance and roadmap for their implementation. This component will involve a number of in-ternational experts from the European Network for Quality Assurance (ENQA) to assist the HEA with drafting the corresponding procedures and criteria and to prepare and carry out the actual external evaluation.

The second component of the project will assist with the implementation of the ‘Framework for Higher Education Qualifications in BiH’. This component will be implemented in close cooperation with BiH universities and the Rectors Conference and could develop a constructive and mid-term approach towards integrating the new Bologna degrees and the existing BiH parameters for edu-cation, employment and social security.” Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ali Güneş, one of the participants, was of the view that “the workshop was very useful for the participants in several ways. Firstly, since the Bologna Framework has be-come universal, the conference helped us understand the system so that the revision of curriculums could be done accordingly. Secondly, the workshop has indicated that IUS is not far away from fulfilling the criterion set by the Bologna Framework. In this respect, IUS should take up the leading role in Bosnia and Herzegovina in particular and the region in general in developing University’s structure according to the Bologna.”

On October 28, 2009 IUS hosted Economy Work Group at which the experts of economy from all over Bosnia and Herzegovina attended this meeting and discussed various educational issues related with the joint project.

Strengthening Higher Educationin Bosnia and Herzegovina

IUS has recently been confirmed as a new SAT [Scholastic Aptitude Test] Test Center by the Educational Testing Service (ETS). From now on, students who wish to take the SAT exams will be able to opt for IUS as a test center during their online regis-tration, and attend the exam at IUS facili-ties. Assist. Prof. Dr. Mustafa Bal, from the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, has been appointed as the Supervisor of the IUS SAT Test Centre. IUS SAT Test Center has been given the right to accommodate 100 test-takers in one session, thereby making IUS an important SAT test center in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Previously, most of students from Sarajevo had to travel to Mostar to take the exam due to scarcity of available seats in Sarajevo. By becoming a large SAT Test Center in Sarajevo IUS has also resolved this problem.

To mark the beginning of the new Academic Year 2009/2010 and in order to provide necessary guidelines and directions for the new students, IUS organized an Orientation Day on October 5, 2009.

IUS as an SAT Test Centre

Those, who were interested in Bosnian heritage, had an opportunity to extend their knowledge with the public lecture ‘What Makes Bosnian Heritage Unique’ on October 27, 2009 delivered by Mrs. Amra Hadžimuhamedović, a Commis-sioner to Protect National Monuments of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The education-al and professional background of Mrs. Hadžimuhamedović was introduced by the moderator of the program, Dr. Murat Gul. Then, Mrs. Hadžimuhamedović began her lecture by relating her own biography and architectural projects carried on in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Her lecture and colorful dem-onstrations canvassed various aspects of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s rich and vibrant heritage expressed also from architectural, cultural, religious, social, political and even humanitarian perspectives. She articu-lated uniqueness of Bosnia-Herzegovinian heritage and its unity in diversity, which is an ideal aimed at by the world community.

This was the second public lecture organ-vized by Dr. Murat Gül, Coordinator of Ar-chitecture Program, mostly designed, due to their subject specialization, to architec-ture professors and students.

What Makes Bosnian Heritage Unique

Orientation Day for New Students

The Orientation Day started at 10 o’clock with speeches on various issues by the Rector, Prof. Dr. B. Gültekin Çetiner, Vice-Rector Assoc. Prof. Dr. Muhamed Hadžiabdić, Dr. Steven Spielman, and Prof. Dr. Harry Miller. The Rector was the first to address the students, introducing them University’s vision and mission. Considering rapid growth of student population at the University (which has already surpassed 1000) the Rector convincingly asserted “we are a dynamic, fast growing University aiming to become the leading international educational institution in the Balkans.” He also commented that “IUS aims to de-velop students that will represent and reflect vision and missions of the University” - students that are lifelong learners, inter-culturally competent and well-developed leaders in their respective societies.

Then, Dr. Hadžiabdić delivered a “welcome speech”, congratulating students for their enrolment at IUS and for making IUS their best choice. He also assured students that their choice will pay back in their future careers because IUS graduates are distinctive with their skills and knowledge. Then, elective and compulsory university courses, course registration procedure, civic engagement projects, and several other issues about being a student at IUS were defined and described to these Fresh-man students. Dr. Hadžiabdić also introduced freshman student advisers – Mr. Ahmed Kulanić, FASS Academic Advisor, Mrs. Hafsa Orhan, FEBA Academic Advisor and Mr. Mehmet Akif Yaman, FENS Academic Advisor.

The Orientation Day was enriched with very inspirative speeches by Dr. Steven Spielman and Prof. Dr. Harry Miller, a Foreign Memeber of ANUBiH, who were providing students with some hints of how to adapt to the new environment and how to make successful transition from high school to the University. At the end of the program, students were instructed to proceed with their first-time course registration.

Dr. Mustafa Bal, who has been working for IUS since the begin-ning of education in the institution, has been appointed as the new program coordinator of English Language and Literature Program. Dr. Bal received his BA and MA degrees in English Language and Literature from Hacettepe University. His MA thesis was an exten-sive and a very rare study on English Romantic poet Samuel Tay-lor Coleridge’s major poetic ideals he conceptualizes in his highly philosophical book Biographia Literaria and their reflections on his poetry. He, then, received his PhD degree from Middle East Techni-cal University. His PhD thesis titled “The End: The Apocalyptic in In-Yer-Face Drama” uniquely ties the western apocalyptic discourse with the 1990s British drama, focusing on the philosophical, violent, and traumatic convergences of the ideas of the End with the plays of the decade. Since then, Dr. Bal has published articles in international refereed journals as well as in other academic and non-academic publications. Dr. Bal also holds an international TEFL degree in Eng-lish language teaching.

In terms of teaching, he has taught in three universities of diverse educational systems. Courses among his teaching interests are Twentieth Century English Drama, Contemporary English Drama, Shakespeare, Short Story, Classical Mythology, Classical Literature, Academic Paper Writing, Freshman English, Survey of English Lit-erature, and Literature on Film. Dr. Bal is also the Managing Editor of the Journal of Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, epiphany (http://www.ius.edu.ba/epiphany), which is a refereed indexed journal with an editorial board, and receives articles from six continents. Addi-tionally, Dr. Bal is also the supervisor of the IUS SAT Test Center. We wish him success in his new position as the Program Coordinator of English Language and Literature Program.

On October 8, 2009, a seminar titled ‘Recent Trends in Architecture + Urban Planning from Down Under’ was organized under the auspices of Architecture Program. Architecture Program hosted two distin-guished guests, Mr. Trevor Howells and Dr. John Dee, from the Faculty of Architecture, Design and Planning at the University of Sydney, Australia. Mr. Trevor How-ells gave his lecture on the topic of “New Directions in Australian Architecture”. Mr. Howells’ talk canvassed a wide range of architectural practices performed by various Australian architects in different Australian cit-ies. Then, Dr. John Dee delivered a lecture on “Plan-ning and Environment in Sydney.” Dr. Dee began his lecture by identifying overall urban planning problems and challenges that Australian cities face today. His talk continued with various examples of statutory planning controls performed by Australian authorities. Asked to comment on the event, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mu-rat Gül, the Coordinator of Architecture Program, said “once more, IUS proved its’ trend to bring internation-ally recognized and well-known experts from various fields of science and to give to its’ students opportu-nity to stay in touch with “last words” in every segment of science.”

Architecture Seminar

of English Language and Literature ProgramDr. Mustafa Bal as the New Program Coordinator

As reported in the previous newsletters, IUS staff has been active in re-search, publication and conference paper presentations at both local and international levels. On October 16 to 18, 2009 Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ali Güneş and Mrs. Dževada Šuško participated in an International Conference titled „Ottoman Legacy and Balkan Muslim Communities Today,“ which was held in Hotel Hollywood, Sarajevo. The Conference was organized by Centre for Advanced Studies, Balkanlar Medeniyet Merkezi and Turkish Interna-tional Cooperation and Development Agency.

The opening speech at the conference was delivered by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Republic of Turkey, Dr. Ahmet Davutoğlu. Apart from gathering around 30 respectable researchers and intellectuals from the countries of the region, the conference aimed at developing a framework of bridging countries under Ottoman sphere of cul-tural and economic influence. Dr. Davutoğlu, who skillfully encompassed geographical, geo-political, geo-cultural and historical dimensions of Ottoman sphere of influence on the Balkan states, gave an informative opening speech. He articulated such relationships and emphasized Balkans’ diverse unity by stating that “Sarajevo is a miracle, like the miniature of this heritage. If you understand Sarajevo, you can understand all the Ottoman history. Because it is, according to the saying, if you understand a person you can understand that century. Like Hegel, if you understand Hegel you can understand the German mentality of the 19th century. It is the prototype of all that mentality. Similarly, Sarajevo is the prototype of the Ottoman civilization. Sarajevo has been the prototype of the rise of Balkans.”

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ali Gunes for the sake of IUS Nesletter and for our readers commented on the conference by asserting that “there is a growing interest among young intelectuals in keeping the Ottoman legacy in the Balkan lands and that Islam still continues to construct and define the identities of the citizens of those countries, even of the secular ones.

On October 16, 2009, Prof. Dr. Hilmi Ünlü from the Istanbul Technical University de-livered a public lecture on “Nanoscience and Nanotechnology: Progress, Challenges and Opportunities.” This public lecture was attended by many FENS professors and students. Professor Ünlü graduated from the Istanbul University, earned his MA and PhD degrees from the University of Minnesota at Twin Cities Minneapolis. He is the Chairman of Physics Engineering Department of the Istanbul Technical University. Prof. Dr. Ünlü started his presentation with the reflection on technological revolutions and their impact on the society, and con-tinued to show history of the nanoscience and nanotechnology. The presentation also encompassed scientific and technologi-cal activities of the last decade that have shown an explosion in the “nano” area with the immense increase in the number of publications and the number of related journals, commensurate with this increasing number of publications. The lecture was followed by the question and answer session.

Nanoscience and Nanotechnloogy: Progress, Challenges and Opportunities

Ottoman Legacy and Balkan Muslim Communities Today

The International University of Sarajevo has been working closely with the number of embassies on various cultural and edu-cational projects. Besides, the University has aimed at enriching the teaching staff with experienced diplomats. Therefore, last semester Pakistani Ambassador Jau-

har Saleem voluntarily offered undergraduate course to Social and Political Science and International Relations students. Upon the completion of the semester students were delighted with the course and hands on experience gained from His Excellency.

This semester another distinguished diplomat, Dr. Bisera Turković, as part-time instructor, is offering undergraduate and graduate courses. Dr. Turković is well experienced Bosnian politician and diplomat who served as the Permanent Representative of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the United Nations Office in Vienna, Austria (UNOV). She also served as Ambassador of Bosnia and Herze-govina to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), the Unit-ed Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in Vienna. Dr. Turković is also former B&H Ambassador to the United States of America.

This semester Dr. Turković offers undergraduate course Diplomacy and Statecraft and graduate course Foreign Policy in Theory and Practice: USA Foreign Policy Toward Bosnia as a Case Study. A courses registered by 17 graduate students. Regarding her gradu-ate course, Prof. Dr. Mehmet Can, Coordinator of Strategic Analy-sis and Risk Assessment (SARA) commented “Having in mind Dr. Turković’s experience, I proposed her to teach this course in order to shed some light into unanswered questions regarding the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina and as well as to show future of B&H and USA relations.”

 Experienced Diplomats Teaching at IUS

On October 29, 2009 Dom Oružanih snaga BiH was a place for celebration of the Turkish Republic Day. Participants at this event included His Excellency Vefahan Ocak, Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey, His Excellency Dr. Haris Silajdžić, member of the Presi-dency of Bosnia-Herzegovina, and other top Bosnian dignitaries as well as leaders of foreign diplomatic missions, community leaders, academia and repre-sentatives of international organizations.

As Turkey has been taking part in a multitude of in-ternational projects for the development of Bosnia-Herzegovina, the reception was again truly one of the major events in the capital’s agenda. During the reception, Ambassador Ocak also discussed with the IUS Rector, Prof. Dr. B. Gültekin Çetiner, and the IUS deans. His Excellency expressed his deep conviction of Turkey’s diplomatic, educational and commercial presence in Bosnia, regardless of differ-ences of opinion and towards the development and consolidation of the existing historic ties between the two countries in every field. He, then, announced his long-held willingness to give a lecture and to meet students and staff, and to personally contribute to the efforts of the 5-year old institution of higher learning - a proposal the IUS Rector enthusiastically accepted.

Turkish Republic Day

A Visit by NTV Hayat

With an aim to feature the international character of IUS, the crew of NTV Hayat visited IUS on October 27, 2009. For this purpose, the TV channel in-terviewed Dr. Muhamed Hadžiabdić, IUS Vice Rector, and Prof Dr. Harry Miller as well as several students – Miss. Nada El-nur from Sudan and Mr. Oğuzhan Gedik from Turkey.

The interviews were about the advantages of studying at the International Uni-veristy of Sarajevo and living in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Mr. Gedik, a senior International Relations student commented that “IUS gave me better opportu-nities than any other universities to develop myself wholistically. Here, I have also gained friends from different countries and for my future profession this is of great value.”The features about IUS in terms of short interviews and colorful pictures were aired on NTV Hayat’s News at 7 pm, Central Informative Broad-cast.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Muhamed Hadžiabdić, Vice Rector of IUS, participated at the 6th International Symposium on Turbulence, Heat and Mass Transfer (THMT) held at La Sapienza University of Rome, Italy from 14-18 September, 2009. The Interna-tional Centre for Heat and Mass Transfer (ICHMT) is an international, professional, non-governmental, non-profit organiza-tion. The general objective of the Centre is to promote and to foster international cooperation in the science of heat and mass transfer and its applications.

Dr. Hadžiabdić’s paper was accepted and chosen for oral presentation. THMT conference attracts leading experts from the area of heat and mass transfer associated with turbulence and takes place every three years.

THMT Conference

For the past two years Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ali Gunes has been a member of the IUS Family. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Gunes graduated from the Department of English Language and Literature at Hacettepe University in Ankara. He re-ceived his MA from English Literature at the Dundee University and PhD from Modern English Literature at the John Moores University.

Can you tell the readers what makes FASS (Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences) unique?

FASS is a young faculty, yet it is very dynamic not only with its academic structure but also with its academic and adminis-trative personnel, students, facilities, and innovative vision when compared with the other similar faculties. Yet in my view, there are several distinctive features of FASS. First, the language of instruction is English, which makes FASS unique among similar faculties, enabling its students to find jobs easily across the world and to use the language for other purposes since in today’s globalized world English is the language of communication.

Secondly, an interdisciplinary study and approaches form the basis of education and diversity, which avail our students of the opportunity to acquire knowledge in various subjects and areas and then fit them to the demand of the global world. Therefore, interdisciplinary approach is another major feature of FASS. In addition, the joint-study opportunities such as “Minor” and “Double Major” are exceptional in their application also as being in agreement with the Bologna Framework,

so that our students are able to obtain two degrees. Such op-portunities of diverse specialization is not given priority in many other faculties. Then, FASS academic staff comes form different and diverse background, providing our students with indispensi-ble different experience, views and ideas. Finally, FASS delivers courses based on recent textbooks from leading publishers that harness our students with the latest information and critical views in the world.

Why should students choose FASS?

In addition to these aspects mentioned above, I can also add intercultural environment, which enables the students in FASS to share information, experience and ideas with the students from different countries and thus gain an international perspectives and understanding of life and the world. After graduation, they will be able to cope with international and multicultural milieu and people. Besides, FASS offers four marketable programs namely Visual Arts and Communication Design, Social and Political Sci-ence, English Language and Literature and Psychology. All of

programs due to their modern curriculum enable students to seek attractive jobs upon their graduation at local and interna-tional level.

How many students currently study at FASS? Can you tell us a bit more about academic staff?

There are around 200 students across four programs of FASS. Due to promotional activities there has been an increasing trend in the number of the students every year. As for staff, FASS policy is to hire the best instructors who possess interna-tional experience, knowledge and skills. Present academic staff is very experienced in their field of study with a great deal of knowledge, experience and publications. In each program there are at least 3 PhD holders, several research assistants and technicians. The average number of the student distribution for each academic staff is 7, which satisfies European standards. Besides, FASS regularly hires part-time instructors who are mostly PhD holders and experts. For instance, courses of Social and Political Science are often delivered by experienced diplomats and ambassadors.

Recently you participated in a joint project “Strengthening Higher Education in Bosnia and Herzegovina.” Can you tell us more about this project and its impact on FASS?

Although the International University of Sarajevo joined the meeting as an observer, yet the University became the centre of focus and the discussions. I found this opportunity very useful for the promotion of our university. In terms of the meeting, the meeting, as the name of the conference suggests aimed at strengthening higher education in Bosnia and Herzegovina in accord with the Bologna Process.

I was delighted to notice throughout numerous presentations that IUS is very close to the application of the Bologna Proc-ess. The meeting focused on identifying and writing learning outcomes, the benefits and potential problems of learning outcomes and linking of learning outcomes, teaching and learning activities and assessment.

Therefore, the scope of a meeting in one or the other way has been applied throughout FASS as well as IUS programs. The next meetings are planned to be held at our university, and gradually the University strongly believes to become full member of the project. Full membership will be inevitable during the accreditation process of our University that will span for the next two years.

What are the plans for FASS in the fu-ture?

There are short-term and long term goals of FASS. FASS major priority is to bring an in-ternational character with new international students. International students’ population must increase. Therefore, FASS aims pri-marily at Bosnia-Herzegovina students and students from former Yugoslavian repub-lics. Of course, our promotional activities are also aimed at Eastern European coun-tries, Middle Eastern and Asian countries. Another short-term plan is organizing of an International Conference next academic year. Then, FASS plans to continue and to enlarge the scope of the Academic Lecture

Series. One of the major long-term goals is to make Visual Arts and Communication Design program a media centre.

Finally, I would like to thank the Editorial Board of the Newsletter for giving me an opportunity to share some of my views about FASS. This is my unique opportunity too to convey sincere gratitude to students and staff for making FASS both an academic institution of higher learning and an enlarged caring family.

Beginning from the Fall semester Dr. Mirsad Serdarević has been appointed as new Psychology Pro-gram Coordinator. Before joining the International University of Sarajevo, Dr. Serdarevic, a native of Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina and also a U.S. citizen completed his formal undergraduate and gradu-ate education and training in the United States and Canada. Dr. Serdarević completed his Pre-Doctoral clinical internship at the University of Southern California Student Health Services in Los Angeles, USA. He also completed Post-Doctoral Psychology Clinical Internship at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. Dr. Serdarević obtained his M.S. and Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology at the Uni-versity of Oregon in Eugene, USA. He received his M.A. in Psychology from Columbia University in New York City, and is a graduate of the University of California, Santa Cruz. Dr. Serdarević produced publications in peer-reviewed journals in the areas of immigrant mental health and cross-cultural counseling and psychotherapy, poetry therapy and critical psychology. Currently, he enjoys teaching undergraduate courses in psychopathology, cognitive psychology and history of psychology at the IUS. Dr. Serdarević together with other psychology professors is proud to announce opening of a graduate program in Clinical Psychology and Counseling.

Considering his professional experience and benefits from practical hands on knowledge, Dr. Serdarević is of the view that psychology program should aim at the market and therefore as such it should be enriched with more marketable courses. He has also promised to provide more opportunity for psychology students to work on their internship programs in reputable NGO-s, local and international companies. Regarding his new working place he commented “Although I made challenging decision to return back and to accept teaching position at IUS, after spending only one month I have realized that I made the right decision. IUS is truly international University with diverse international and qualified staff, modern and marketable programs, and highly qualified international students. In this place I have found huge source of inspiration derived from the common staff to students and academic community.”

New Psychology Program CoordinatorMirsad Serdarevic

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ali GunesINTERVIEW: