The Land Where the East Begins

October 26, 2009 dr. Božidar Jezernik at Cleveland State University: Photo by Barbara Martinčič Zibelnik

The lecture of the Slovenian academic, ethnologist and cultural anthropologist, former dean and full professor of the Faculty of Arts at the University of Ljubljana and former chairperson of the Ethnology Department, dr. Božidar Jezernik was held in the Main Classroom of the Cleveland State University. The auditorium was nearly full for the professor’s lecture about his historical views on the elusive name and description of the region called Balkan. He described the cultural and political surroundings of the name and showed the connotations that came together with the denotative meaning of the word, which changed greatly throughout history. Of course the denotative meaning varied hand in hand with the positive or negative attitude of the historians, politicians and others towards the Balkans. The lecture was superbly supported by the depicting postcards from the professor’s own collection, through which the audience could better comprehend the complexity of this topic.

A great deal of discussion followed during the question and answer session. Among the satisfied guests there were the General Consul of Republic Slovenia Jure Žmauc, the dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences at CSU prof. dr. Gregory Sadlek, distinguished American Slovenian and receiver of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, dr. August Pust, Chairperson at Bowling Green State University, prof. dr. Timothy Pogacar and many other professors, students and members of the Cleveland Slovenian community.

prof. dr. Timothy Pogacar, dr. August Pust, Dean prof. dr. Gregory Sadlek, prof. dr. Božidar Jezernik, Consul General RS Jure Žmauc, Luka Zibelnik: Photo by Barbara Martinčič Zibelnik

I would like to thank Cleveland State University, especially the College of Liberal Arts and Social Science's Dean's office and the office of the Department of Modern Languages, who made this visit and lecture possible. However the greatest acknowledgement goes to the prof. dr. Jezernik, for the generous visit and support of the Lecturate of the Slovenian language at CSU and LCC, the Center for Slovenian Studies and the Slovenian Museum and Archives. We look forward to the cooperation with him and the department of Ethnology in the near future.

Lep pozdrav,
Luka Zibelnik
Lecturer in Slovenian language
University of Ljubljana
Cleveland State University
Lakeland Community College
l.zibelnik@csuohio.edu