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Photo of Skenderbeg's monument in Tirana
www.albanian.com |
Albania -- which means "Land
of the Eagle" in Albanian -- is a country
steeped in history. Present-day Albania traces
its roots back to ancient Illyria, as well as
to the Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman Empires. At
the intersection of various cultural, religious
and historical forces, Albania combines the traditional
with the modern in its architecture, art, literature,
politics and culture.
The natural environment of Albania reflects its
location on the Adriatic Sea: the climate is largely
dry and warm from April through October and winters
are generally (though not always!) mild and rainy.
Miles and miles of beaches and small villages
lie on the western coast of the country, while
mountains and pastoral valleys form the inland
landscape. Due to the long history of human habitation
in the area, remains from the Illyrians, Romans,
Ottomans and others dot villages and cities alike.
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A mosque in Berat
http://albaniagoto.
virtualave.net
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In 1990 Albania ended 44 years of xenophobic communist
rule and established a multiparty democracy. The
transition has been challenging as the once isolated
country has had to build democratic, economic and
social institutions from the ground up. The country
has endured a national pyramid scheme failure and
the tensions from the conflicts in neighboring Kosovo/Kosova
and, more recently, Macedonia.
However, since 1999, Albania has made significant
progress in modernizing its economy, privatizing
business, fighting crime, and reforming the judiciary
and tax systems. In 2001, after the outbreak of
an ethnic Albanian separatist movement in neighboring
Macedonia, the Albanian government was able to publicly
voice its support for greater rights for Macedonia's
Albanian minority while condemning the rebels' violence
and welcoming international intervention in the
region. Development is slow, but progress is being
made.
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Roman bridge in northern Albania
www.geocities.com/albaland |
Fulbright grantees have been a part
of the rebuilding of Albania since 1992. Grantees
have taught in the higher education institutions
of Tirana, but a few have taught in Shkodra and
Vlora as well. Many of the grantees have been
in fields that were neglected during the communist
period, such as journalism, economics, law and
American studies and are in the throes of reform
today.
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The Beach of Durrės
www.albanian.com
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The challenges facing higher education in Albania
since the end of the communist era have been significant.
Throughout the 1990s and up to today, the academic
community in Albania has faced poor salaries and
difficult working conditions. In addition, reform
in the higher education sector has been relatively
slow. Nonetheless, U.S. Fulbrighters have made significant
contributions to their fields and to university
education in the country overall through the courses
that they teach, their mentoring relationships with
students, their participation in curriculum development,
by giving public lectures and many other activities.
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A street in Shkodra
www.albanian.com
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The Fulbright Program in Albania is looking to
attract scholars and professionals who want to
immerse themselves in a new culture, work with
students and faculty on issues in their specialty
but also on larger issues of higher education
reform and who relish challenge.
This Web page is designed to help Americans learn
more about the country and what it has to offer
you as a Fulbright participant. All of the sections
contain direct links to additional information.
You will find general information about many aspects
of Albanian life and culture, as well as specialized
materials on politics, economics, the media and
law.
The education section provides an overview of
the educational system in Albania and direct links
to potential host institutions for U.S. scholars.
CIES encourages interested applicants to make
use of the following links to complement their
research into potential opportunities available
in Albania. Please also feel free to use the contact
information at the bottom of this page to get
in touch with CIES
program personnel.
Russian and East European Network Information
Center, University of Texas
http://reenic.utexas.edu/countries/albania.html
Human Rights Watch, Albania
http://www.hrw.org/wr2k1/europe/albania.html
School of Slavonic and East European Studies,
London
http://www.ssees.ac.uk/albania.htm
U.S. Dept. of State Country Page for Albania
http://www.state.gov/p/eur/ci/al/
A brief history of Albania and Albanians
http://pbosnia.kentlaw.edu/resources/history/albania/albhist.htm
Balkan history by a professor at MSU
http://www.lib.msu.edu/sowards/balkan/
http://www.albanian.com/information/history/index.html
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Politics, Law
and Society
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Central and East European Law Initiative - CEELI
- is a public service project of the American
Bar Association, this site is designed to advance
the rule of law in the world by supporting the
legal reform process underway in Central and Eastern
Europe, the Baltics, and the NIS. CEELI Programs
gives an overview of activities in the region
and the Sites of Interest gives regional and country
information and sites on commercial, criminal
and environmental law.
http://www.abanet.org/ceeli/home.html
Albanian Department of Information
http://www.keshilliministrave.al/?gj=gj2 \
Central and East European Law Initiative http://www.abanet.org/rol/europe_and_eurasia/albania.html
Open Society Foundation for Albania
http://www.soros.al/en/index.htm
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Albania
http://www.mfa.gov.al/english/
National Democratic Institute, Albania Program
http://www.ndi.org/worldwide/cee/albania/albania.asp
UNDP links for Albania
http://www.undp.org.al/
Regional Tour of Albania
http://www.albania.8m.com/home.html
The Beach of Durrës
http://www.albanian.com/main/countries/albania/durres/index.html
Albanian Daily News
http://www.albaniannews.com/
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty - daily news
reports in English
http://www.rferl.org
Southeast European Times
http://www.setimes.com/
Tirana Times
http://www.tiranatimes.com/
Transitions Online
http://www.tol.cz/look/TOLnew/home.tpl?IdLanguage=1&IdPublication
=4&NrIssue=6
Albanian American Trade & Development Association
http://www.albaniabiz.org/
Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Tirana
http://www.cci.gov.al/anglisht/main.html
A story about the collapse of national pyramid
schemes and civil unrest in 1997
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/europe/jan-june97/albania_3-10.html
"The Rise and Fall of Albania's Pyramid
Schemes" by Christopher Jarvis
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2000/03/jarvis.htm
World Bank
http://www.worldbank.org/html/prddr/trans/so97/albania2.htm
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Culture, Literature
& Language
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Albanian Culture and Language
http://www.albanian.com/information/culture/index.html
Albanian language
http://www.albanian.com/information/culture/language/index
Photos of Albania by Jim Rees
http://jim.rees.org/trips/Albania/albania.html
Islam in Albania
http://www.geocities.com/albislam/mainenglish.html
Orthodox Christianity
http://www.orthodoxalbania.org/
Albania - US State Dept., Religious Freedom Report
http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2007/90160.htm
Polytechnic University of Tirana
http://www.upt.al/
University of New York-Tirana
http://unyt.edu.al/
Albanian Ministry of Tourism
http://www.albaniantourism.com/display/first_page?l=1
Albania in Your Pocket Guidebook
http://www.inyourpocket.com/country/albania.html
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Info For Fulbright Grantees
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http://www.acponline.org/journals/annals/15nov96/fulbrigh.htm
(An article on academic medicine in Albania by
William G.M. Hardison, MD; Annals of Internal
Medicine. 15 November 1996 "I've Been Where
It's Gone, So I Know . . . An American Fulbright
Lecturer in Albania, 1994-1995")
Embassy of Albania
http://www.embassyofalbania.org/
U.S. Embassy, Tirana
http://tirana.usembassy.gov
Tirana International School
http://www.qsi.org/ALB_HOME
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