The fifth day – also the last – of the Summer School of Tolerance, which began on Monday, September 15, and which is hosted by the University of East Sarajevo, closed today with a lecture by Professor Roberto Moscati of the Bicocca University in Milan on the topic of “Tolerance in Education and Education on the Culture of Tolerance.”

Students also had the opportunity to hear the lectures given by Dr. Asim Mujkić, professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences at the University of Sarajevo, and Docent Dr. Zlatiborka Popov Momčilović, professor at the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of East Sarajevo.

In her lecture, Professor Popov Momčilović focused on two aspects: one concerning the position of women, and the other concerning the LGBT population.

“If we follow history, not just the European, the relationships towards women and towards homosexuality in the past differ greatly from the way they are today. I tried to illustrate how in time, following a period in which some liberal ideas were frozen in Europe, homophobia gradually decreased, and then to determine where we currently stand in that European context of things,” Professor Popov Momčilović explained.

Praising the cooperation between the University of Sarajevo and the University of East Sarajevo, which have organized this Summer School with support from the Bicocca University in Milan, Professor Popov Momčilović particularly pointed out the fact that the school deals with some important issues that are not present in our system of formal education.

She said that tolerance should become a way of life and living, and not just an important word.

“I am afraid that for 20 years we have been talking about tolerance and cohabitation only as a declaration. I believe that this School not just promotes tolerance as putting up with another human being. The problem with tolerance is that I as a person often put up with another human being only to an extent I want to. I have a limited perception of the other. I think that the important thing about this school is that it strives to point out how there are some superficial common sense ways of looking at tolerance as merely putting up with someone else as much as one feels like doing. However, the moment you meet an actual other is the moment when you can change your actual opinion,” she concluded.

Professor Dr. Asim Mujkić spoke to students about the relationship between tolerance and direct democracy.

The day ended with a panel discussion titled “Towards Critical Theory of Democracy,” which resulted in numerous constructive suggestions given by the students of the School.

The participants of the School, Master’s and PhD students from the United Kingdom, Ukraine, Syria, Italy, Germany and the countries of the former Yugoslavia, are unanimous in saying that the school was well-organized and that in addition to new knowledge, they will also bring home some beautiful memories from the Republic of Srpska and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The School will conclude with the awarding of certificates to lecturers and students.

The official benefactor of the First Summer School of Tolerance is the Embassy of Italy to Bosnia and Herzegovina.