The International University Seminar on Balkan Studies and Specializations (IUSBS) was founded in 1990 at the Neofit Rilski South-West University in Blagoevgrad on the initiative of “Prof. Iliya Konev, Ph.D.,” who was the university’s rector at the time.
The idea arose during a roundtable discussion attended by representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Culture, the Center for Bulgarian Studies at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, and other academic institutions, all of whom unanimously supported the project.
Initially established within the Faculty of History and Philology, the seminar later operated jointly with the Faculties of Philology and History at South-West University.
The primary mission of the new institution is to strengthen cooperation among the Balkan and European peoples through an in-depth understanding of their culture, intellectual history, traditions, and linguistic diversity.
The first Governing Council was headed by Prof. Iliya Konev, Ph.D. (chair), with the participation of Assoc. Prof. Kostadin Dinchev, Ph.D. (vice-chair) and Senior Assistant Prof. Iliya Nedin (Organizational Secretary); its membership has gradually expanded to include faculty members from various humanities disciplines within the Faculties of Philology and History.
Over the years, the seminar has been led by distinguished university scholars such as Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kristina Popova and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Elena Tacheva (chair since 2018). Prof. Konev remains its Honorary Chair.
The seminar is supported by an International Coordinating Council, which includes renowned Balkan studies scholars such as Prof. Dr. Ljubinka Targovčević (Belgrade), Prof. Dr. Tanas Vrazhinovski (Skopje), Prof. Karl Kaser (Graz), and others.
MUSBIS’s most emblematic initiative is the “Winter Balkan Meetings” program, held annually in the town of Bansko.
It includes several main components:
A Bulgarian language and culture course for international students, organized into three levels (beginner, intermediate, advanced). Students from over 15 countries participate in the program.
An international roundtable dedicated to a wide range of topics, such as “Ideas of Europe in Balkan Literatures,” “The Balkans Through the Eyes of Other Cultures,” “Sacred Sites in the Balkans,” “Myths and Utopias in the Balkans,” “Knights and Peacemakers in the Balkans,” and “Conquests, Pilgrimages, and Migrations.”
A course in historical anthropology, established in 1994 with the cooperation of the University of Vienna and led by renowned Austrian scholars such as Prof. Michael Mitterauer and Prof. Karl Kaser.
A Balkan Studies Lecture Series, within which new scholarly works are presented and lectures are given by prominent researchers.
Over the years, MUSBIS has also established a seminar library, set up a “Student Scholarships” fund, and published specialized anthologies dedicated to the Bulgarian National Revival and Balkan cultural identity.
The “Balkanistic Forum” journal is the academic publication of MUSBIS and has been published since 1992.
The journal has a distinctly interdisciplinary character and focuses on cutting-edge research in the fields of history, microhistory, literature, cultural anthropology, ethnology, cultural studies, sociolinguistics, and the history and theory of art.
Throughout the journal’s long history, articles have been published in Bulgarian, English, German, French, and Russian. Today, the working languages are Bulgarian and English.
The journal is published in print and online and is available on CEEOL.
Since 2015, the journal has been indexed in Scopus, and since 2021, in Web of Science as well, with an SJR Q1 ranking in the humanities. It is distributed to university libraries in Oxford, Vienna, Rome, Belgrade, Zagreb, Tirana, and elsewhere.
The editors-in-chief over the years have been Prof. Iliya Konev, Ph.D., and Assoc. Prof. Petar Vodenicharov, Ph.D.
In its early decades, the seminar’s events were held under the auspices of UNESCO and with the support of the Ministry of Science and Education of the Republic of Bulgaria, as well as the Open Society Foundation. Subsequently, its events and activities were funded through projects.
Over the three decades of its existence, MUSBIS has established itself as a unique academic institution for dialogue and the exchange of knowledge among the Balkan peoples within a broader European context, contributing significantly to the international prestige of South-West University.
With its thirty-five-year history, the Balkan Studies Seminar contributes to the advancement of science and civil society not only in southwestern Bulgaria—as an international platform for dialogue and understanding, it forges new paths of cooperation between university and academic communities in the Balkans and across Europe, builds lasting networks for the exchange of knowledge, and expands the role of culture as a driver of progress.
