Home | News | 24.01.2022

On Monday, the Second Winter School of the International Centre for Macedonian Language, Literature and Culture at the University 'St. Cyril and Methodius' in Skopje (ICMLLC at UKIM) begins. Over forty foreign Macedonists and Slavists from seventeen countries will, through the School's virtual teaching, deepen their knowledge and explore new challenges for their studies of the Macedonian language, literature and culture between 24 and 29 January. Participants from university centres in Australia, Bulgaria, Great Britain, Greece, Italy, Poland, the Russian Federation, the United States of America, Slovakia, Slovenia, Serbia, Turkey, Hungary, France, Croatia, the Czech Republic and Switzerland – both prominent names in Slavic studies, university professors with many years of experience and authors of seminal research in European and world philology, and young researchers – Slavists and Macedonists, including undergraduate students – the future promoters of the Macedonian language, literature and culture worldwide. The great interest in the School is, on the one hand, a confirmation of the interest in studying Macedonistics at the world's leading university centres, with great efforts by the MSMLK at UKI&M, but on the other hand, also of the number of active dedicated scholars of Macedonistics in the international academic community.

The official opening of the School will be held on Monday on the Zoom platform, starting at 9 a.m. at which the Rector of UGM, Prof. Dr Nikola Janкулoски, will deliver a welcome address to the participants, followed by the Director of the MSMJLK at UGM, Prof. Dr Vesna Mojсова-Chepishевска. Immediately following the opening, the School will begin intensive work – each day, from Monday to Saturday, each group will have six hours of sessions. Proofreading groups have been organised for all levels – beginner, intermediate and advanced, with the advanced level having two sub-levels, one for language and one for literature.

The teaching for the groups will be conducted by lecturers who will give their utmost to impart knowledge to foreign Slavists and Macedonists – Assoc. Prof. Gordana Aleksova (for the advanced level of Macedonian language proficiency), Prof. Dr Borche Arsov and Assoc. Prof. Dr Boban Karapeyovski (intermediate level of Macedonian language proficiency) and Ms Maria Pandeva (basic level of Macedonian language proficiency), as well as Asst. Ms Ivan Antonovski (advanced level for literature).

Incidentally, the MSMJLK Winter School at UКИМ was held for the first time last year, as the first activity within the programme for marking the great jubilee, 100 years since the birth of Blaze Koneski and a significant complement to the regular activities of the MSMJLK at UКИМ, especially the Summer School, which is traditionally held in Ohrid and will this year mark a major jubilee – 55 years. Last year's edition was a great success, as evidenced by the publication 'Koneski in 11 Languages', in which, for the first time, some segments of the great man's work were published in translation into so many languages, as well as through the activities that the Macedonian language lectorates and university centres worldwide undertook to mark the centenary of Koneski's birth. Following last year's success and the great interest in the annual, second edition of the Winter School, it is already becoming a traditional part of the activities of the MSMJLK at UGM, through which contemporary teaching models and communication channels are fully utilised to promote the Macedonian language, literature and culture in the international academic community, through investing in the knowledge and studies of foreign Slavists and Macedonists. Through its format, the Winter School enables interactivity and provides content that significantly enhances the knowledge of the seminar participants, for which the lecturers who lead the courses also make a significant investment.

This year's edition of the Winter School – a course in literature (advanced level) – is also set to mark a significant jubilee for Macedonian culture, as it will be entirely dedicated to the work of the great Goran Stefanovski, on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of his birth. This is the first activity marking this great jubilee, and the MSMLK at UGJK plans further activities as part of its programme for this year.

Following the six-day teaching (30 hours for each course in total), the MSMJLK Winter School programme at UКИМ also includes a final virtual meeting for participants, as well as the completion of a book of impressions, which will provide guidance and insights for the future activities of the MSMJLK at UCM, as well as for the development of the Winter School, as well as in the implementation of its other activities and the daily commitment to the successful operation of existing lexicons and the opening of new ones for the Macedonian language at significant university centres around the world.