The International Summer School ‘Rethinking the Culture of Tolerance’ is a joint program between the University of Milan-Bicocca, the University of East Sarajevo, and the University of Sarajevo.

The question of tolerance is one of the most challenging in the contemporary world. As the modern discourse of tolerance historically appears together with those of pluralism, liberty and autonomy, the pluralistic society at the global level, and particularly in Europe, needs more than ever a serious rethinking of the concept itself, together with the contextualization of the forms and practices of toleration as a response to the new models of intolerance and discrimination.

A critical discourse on tolerance and toleration seems to have a particular weight in the context of post-war, but also post-socialist and post-Yugoslav societies of the ‘Western Balkans’. Many important steps towards the rebuilding of trust and inte-gration of these societies have been already made, but there is still much work to be done. At the same time, the question is constantly re-proposed in the context of the European integration and enlargement process, where the new national, supranational and transnational political, juridical, cultural, economic and social patterns and democratic practices are still to be built, as a great challenge for the citizens of the European space. In that sense the Summer School aims not only to create the condition for a ‘transfer of knowledge’, but also to exchange experiences among lecturers and students from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Italy and other countries, local and regional universities.

General Agenda of the Summer School
The lectures and seminars of the second edition will focus on the process of trans-nationalisation of democracy, relating to new forms of social and political threats and discrimination towards different minority groups. At the same time we intend to explore good practices based on recognition of their specific needs and rights, and on the politics of redistribution related to the political, economic, social and cultural resources, with a particular attention to the European societies, where the concept of tolerance remains fundamental. The European Union integration and enlargement process offers an excellent framework for problematizing and re-searching political and cultural, ethnic and national, religious and confessional, gender and sexual orientation minorities.

These and related topics will be under scrutiny during the intensive one-week training, which is an excellent forum for unpacking the multifarious and heuristic potential of the concept and the practice of tolerance. Classes combine long presen-tations and lectures followed by questions and answers, with participatory and dia-logical teaching methods. The active role of the students is one of the main targets of this proposal, and the final discussion and the papers required for the evaluation are part of that aim.

The main framework of the lectures and seminars includes following themes:
- Introduction to the concept of tolerance from an interdisciplinary perspective.
- Minorities in democracy: legal status, cultural identity and political participation.
- Ethnic, religious, economic and gender discrimination and the question of
minorities.
- Yugoslav wars 1991-1999: ethnonational and religious ‘minorities’ re-definition through violence and territorial partition.
- From toleration to respect of the ‘other’: rebuilding the fundamental human and civic rights through the post-conflict reconstruction of trust.
- The concept of tolerance and ‘minority question’: anti-Semitism, anti-Gypsyism, and Islamophobia in contemporary European societies.
- Migrants in urban context: the case study of the city of Milan.
- European Union politics and policies for minorities’ inclusion and participation.
- Integration through education in view of new models of citizenship: a ‘cosmopolitan’ view.
- Toleration and toler-action beyond the traditional concept of tolerance: a critical approach.

Organisation and requirements
The School addresses European and international MA and PhD students, post-docs and researchers. In particular the Summer School is open for students attending MA and PhD courses at the University of East Sarajevo, the University of Sarajevo and the University of Milan-Bicocca. The deadline for application is 31 may 2015, and the final selection of candidates will be published in June 2015.

Period: 14-20 September 2015

Place: University of Milan-Bicocca

Number of Participants: 35 (15 from Bosnia and Herzegovina and other ‘Western Bal-kans’ countries, 10 from Italy, 10 European and International students)

Fee: The access to the second edition of the Summer School will be free of any fee for the students from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Kosovo and Albania. All other students will pay a tuition fee of 200,00 Euro.

Travel and accommodation: Attendants will cover their travel and accommodation expenses by themselves. The University of Milan-Bicocca will predispose the ac-commodation at the Student House of the campus. The attendants may apply for the room using the following link:
http://summerschoolexpo2015.com/docs/Housing_Request_MAIB.pdf

Language: The language of the Summer School is English. No certificate is required for the application.

Lectures: Attendants will participate in 26 hours of lectures and 12 hours of semi-nars and panel discussions.

Evaluation: Students will give a presentation on a selected argument at the end of the Summer School and write a paper (with the advice of the supervisors) to be de-livered by 15 November 2015. The Summer School scientific committee must ap-prove the topics and the supervisors will evaluate the papers.

A certificate of attendance and 3 ECTS will be provided to all participants who will complete the requirements of the Summer School.

Other: The University of Milan-Bicocca will offer a visit to the Expo 2015 to all the attendants.

How to apply
All students should apply online using the following link:
http://www.unimib.it/go/8299485673211408117/Home/English/Bicocca-for-EXPO/Summer-SchoolsEXPO-2015/Application-form-Summer-school-EXPO-2015

Please be sure to indicate the right code of the Summer School: SE015-014.

In addition, we kindly ask all candidates to send a short essay (300 words) on why they want to attend the school, to the following e-mail address:
summerschool.tolerance@gmail.com

The deadline for application is 31 May 2015. The scientific committee will publish the list of the selected attendants on 15 June 2015.

The Scientific Committee members and lecturers
University of Milan-Bicocca: Marina Calloni, Ilenya Camozzi, Elena Dell’Agnese,
Roberta Marzorati, Vincenzo Matera, Roberto Moscati, Fabio Quassoli, Tatjana Sekulić.
University of East Sarajevo: Dejan Bokonjić, Darko Đogo, Mišo Kulić, Goran
Marković, Zlatiborka Popov-Momčinović.
University of Sarajevo: Dino Abazović, Mirjana Mavrak, Jasna Bakšić-Muftić, Asim Mujkić, Ugo Vlaisavljević.
Other Academic institutions: Gorazd Andrejč (Woolf Institute, Cambridge),
Antonella Besussi (University of Milan), Enzo Colombo (University of Milan), Anna Elisabetta Galeotti (University of Eastern Piedmont), Milena Karapetrović (University of Banja Luka), Adrian Kearns (University of Glasgow), Giovanni
Picker (European University Viadrina), Paolo Segatti (University of Milan), Lino Veljak (University of Zagreb), Dragica Vujadinović (University of Belgrade), Pavel Zgaga (University of Ljubljana).

Summer School directors:
Dr. Tatjana Sekulić, University of Milan-Bicocca
Prof. Dr. Dejan Bokonjić, University of East Sarajevo
Prof. Dr. Ugo Vlaisavljević, University of Sarajevo
Website: kultor.org
Contact: summerschool.tolerance@gmail.com

The Summer School is organized in collaboration with the Research Centers Etnicos,
Diaforà and Pragsia, Department of Sociology and Social Research, University of Milan-Bicocca.