Draft:Jovana Mihajlović Trbovc

Doc. Dr. Jovana Mihajlović Trbovc (born 30.08.1982. in Belgrade) is a Research Fellow at the Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (ZRC SAZU), Institute of Culture and Memory Studies in Ljubljana. Jovana Mihajlović Trbovc, a feminist, gender equality expert, peace activist, and media contributor is engaged with several renowned universities and research institutes worldwide.

Life

Jovana Mihajlović Trbovc was born in Belgrade to Svetlana Porović Mihajlović (writer) and Dr Dragan Mihajlović (Associate professor at the Institute of geodesy and geoinformatics). Before moving to Slovenia to be married to Damjan Trbovc Mihajlović (actor) in 2007, Jovana Mihajlović was already established as a prominent activist and intellectual, working with organisations like the European Youth Parliament, Association for Creative Communication and Debate, Women Autonomous Center and Belgrade Open School, with which she still has ongoing ties. She is mother to Zoja Trbovc Mihajlović.

Education

During her studies at the Faculty for Political Sciences at the University of Belgrade, where she graduated in 2006 from the Department for International Relations with a thesis topic “Bosnian National Identity”, she also graduated from Belgrade Open School advanced undergraduate program “EU and the Balkans”. Her academic achievements were during the same time acknowledged with Second Class Honors from an External Programme at the London School of Economics, University of London where she obtained her BSc in Politics and International Relations, also in 2006.

Her postgraduate studies continued at the Central European University on Nationalism Studies Program, where she graduated with distinction defending her MA thesis “Forging Identity through Negotiation: The Case of the Contemporary Bosniak Nation” under supervision of Florian Bieber. In 2014. she defended with distinction her PhD thesis “Public Narratives of the Past in the Framework of Transitional Justice Processes: The Case of Bosnia and Herzegovina” at the Interdisciplinary Doctoral Programme in Humanities and Social Science, Balkan Studies, at the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Mihajlović Trbovc is a political scientist who deals with political issues from the perspective of cultural studies. The field of her research is the politics of the past and the public remembrance of crimes during the breakup of the former Yugoslavia, and from the time of the Second World War. In particular, she focuses on the influence of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) on the countries of the former Yugoslavia, and on the reproduction of historical narratives in textbooks.

Another line of her research deals with gender equality in science, the position of female scientists from socialism to the present, and the inclusion of the gender dimension in research.

Work

Early Career: Mihajlović Trbovc began her career in 2005–2006, working as an Information Management and Research Assistant for the Canadian International Development Agency at the Canadian Embassy in Belgrade, Serbia. In this role, she contributed to the administration and coordination of development projects in sectors such as health, rule of law, and education. She also provided regular news briefings and authored a comprehensive report summarizing the outcomes of a five-year program.

In March 2007, Mihajlović Trbovc worked as a fixer, researcher, and advisor for the radio documentary “Tito’s Children,” produced by Philip Coulter for Radio One, a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Her responsibilities included providing historical context, sourcing relevant individuals for interviews, and assisting with the organization and translation of these interviews.

Journalism and Advocacy: Later in 2007, Mihajlović Trbovc became a journalist and commentator for Radio Študent in Ljubljana. At this student-oriented radio station known for its independent journalism, she authored and presented the weekly program “Sabotaža cenzure,” focusing on issues related to the Western Balkans and media independence.

Research and Coordination: From 2009 to 2013, Mihajlović Trbovc served as a Junior Research Fellow at the Peace Institute (Mirovni inštitut) in Ljubljana. This institute, known for its focus on contemporary social and political studies, provided a foundation for her subsequent research endeavors.

During 2010 and 2011, she served as the national coordinator and public advocate for the Initiative for RECOM in Slovenia. RECOM is the Regional Commission tasked with establishing the facts about all victims of war crimes and other serious human rights violations committed in the former Yugoslavia between 1991 and 2001. Her role involved coordinating national efforts and advocating for the establishment of this commission.

Academic Roles and Current Position: Since 2015, Mihajlović Trbovc has been a research fellow at the Institute of Culture and Memory Studies, part of the Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (ZRC SAZU) in Ljubljana. Prior to this, she was a postdoctoral fellow at the same institution, deepening her expertise at the intersection of culture and memory studies.

During the 2015/2016 academic year, she took on the role of a teaching assistant for the MA course on Research Methods and Techniques at the Faculty of Economics, University of Ljubljana, where she conducted classes in English.

In addition to her research and academic roles, Mihajlović Trbovc has been a member of several boards and consultative bodies:

• European Institute for Gender Equality, List of Experts (area Research and Statistics)
• Commission on Equal Opportunities in Science, a consultative body of the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport of the Republic of Slovenia (since 2018)
• Editorial Board of the online journal Cultures of Histories Forum, published by Imre Kertész Kolleg, Universität Friedrich Schiller in Jena (2017–2019)

Honours, Awards and Scholarships

• Jean Blondel PhD Prize for the best thesis in politics, European Consortium for Political Research (2015) (link)
• Best doctoral thesis in the year 2014, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana (2015)
• Klinar award for the best doctoral thesis in the field of ethnic studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana (2014)
• Most Valuable Debater, University Debating League, Belgrade (2003)
• Ernst Mach worldwide grant, Austrian Agency for International Cooperation in Education and Research (OeAD), Visiting Fellow, Centre for Southeastern European Studies, University of Graz, Austria (2015/16)
• Junior Research Fellowship (Doctoral Fellowship), Slovenian Research Agency (ARRS) (2009–- 2013)
• Partial Fellowship, Central European University (2007 – 2008)
• Scholarship Fellow of Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, Serbia (2004 – 2006)

Research projects and published papers

As an employee of the Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (ZRC SAZU):

• European Social Fund and Slovenian Ministry of Education, Science and Sport: "Strengthening Educational Staff's Social and Civic Competences", segment “Only (with) others are we” (2020)
• Horizon 2020 SwafS: “Pilot experiences for improving gender equality in research organisations’” R&I PEERS (2018–-2022)
• Horizon 2020 SwafS: “Communities of Practice for Accelerating Gender Equality and Institutional Change in Research and Innovation across Europe” ACT (2018–-2021)
• Slovenian Research Agency: Research programme: “Historical interpretations of the 20th^th century” (2017–-2022)
• Horizon 2020 (Marie Skłodowska-Curie Research and Innovation Staff Exchange): “Art / culture / economy to democratize society. Research in placemaking for alternative narratives” – TRANS-MAKING (Coordinator for ZRC SAZU, 2017–-2020)
• Slovenian Research Agency: Bilateral project with the Centre for Southeast European Studies, University of Graz: “Bordered Memories: Public Memorializations and Activism in the Context of Global Migrations” (2018–-2019)
• Slovenian Research Agency: Bilateral project with University of Köln, Institute of Musicology: “Musical Memorializations of War and Resistance in Comparative Perspective: Slovenia and Germany” (2017–-2019)
• Europe for Citizens (Strand1: European Remembrance): “Balkan Kaleidoscope” (Coordinator for ZRC SAZU, 2017–-2019)
• Slovenian Research Agency: Bilateral project with the Higher School of Economics St. Petersburg, Department of History: “Thinking Alternatives: A Historical Perspective”
• Slovenian Research Agency: Postdoctoral research project: "Dealing with the Past: Putting Slovenia in Comparative Perspective" (Coordinator, 2016–-2018)
• 7th^th Framework Programme: “Gendering the Academy and Research: Combating Career Instability and Asymmetries” GARCIA (2015–-2017)

As a free-lance researcher:

• University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Warsaw (in cooperation with Institute of Social Sciences, Belgrade, and Stellenbosch University, South Africa): “Tribunal Impact: International Criminal Tribunals as Actors of Domestic Change” (2014–-2016)
• University of Oxford, Nuffield College: “Political Remittances: Understanding the Political Impact of Migrants” (2014)
• Programme Geschichtswerkstatt Europa (EVZ Stiftung): “Bosnian Memory Paths” (2010–-2011)

As an employee of the Peace Institute:

• The European Union Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance, Civil Society Facility: “South East European Media Observatory: Building Capacities and Coalitions for Monitoring Media Integrity and Advancing Media Reforms” (2013–-2014)
• Slovenian Research Agency: “Violent Intersections: Dynamics of Societal and Political Elements Collective Violence and Mass Crimes and Their Consequences – Yugoslav and Rwandan Case” (2009–-2011)

List of publications

• “International Criminal Tribunals as Triggers of Institutional Change? Evidence from Ad Hoc Tribunals and the ICC’s Referral and Propriu Motu Cases” (co-authored with Klaus Bachmann et. al.). Journal of International Criminal Justice (2020).
• “Agency, Biography and Temporality: (Un)making Women’s Biographies in the Wake of Loss of the Socialist Project in Yugoslavia” (co-authored with Tanja Petrović). Wagadu: Journal of Transnational Women’s & Gender Studies, special issue “Gender Relations and Women’s Struggles in Socialist Southeastern Europe,” eds. Nikolay Karkov & Zhivka Valiavicharska (2020).
• “History Textbooks in War-Time: The Use of Second World War Narrative in 1990s War Propaganda in the Former Yugoslavia” (co-authored with Tamara Trošt). War & Society (2020).
• “‘The Loudest Were Silent’: Music and the Memorialization of the Slovene Antifascist Resistance in Austrian Carinthia.” To be submitted to Central European History.
• “Remembrance and Denial of the Erasure in Slovenian Media,” in The Media of Memory, eds.
• Maruša Pušnik & Oto Luthar, 87–111. Leiden: Brill, 2020.
• “Identity Politics in History Textbooks in the Region of the Former Yugoslavia” (co-authored with Tamara Trošt), in The Visegrad Four and the Western Balkans: Framing Regional Identities, eds. Christina Giessler & Hana Semanich, 195–227. Baden-Baden: Nomos Verlag, 2020.
• “Misusing History: Lessons Learned from Studying History Textbooks” (co-authored with Tamara Pavasović Trošt), TheDisorderOfThings.com, 20 July 2020.
• “The (Lack of) Impact of the on the Public Memory of the 1992–1995 War in Bosnia and Herzegovina,” in Legacies of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia: A Multidisciplinary Account edited by Carsten Stahn, Carmel Agius, Serge Brammertz, John Hocking & Colleen Rohan, 559–570. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020.
• “Like Dust before the Wind, or, the Winds of Change? The Influence of International Criminal Tribunals on Narratives and Media Frames” (co-authored with Klaus Bachmann et.
• al.). International Journal of Transitional Justice 13(2) (2019), 368–386.
• “The indirect impact of the ICTY on the media in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” in International Criminal Tribunals as Actors of Domestic Change: The Impact on Media Coverage Vol. 1, eds. Klaus Bachmann, Irena Ristić & Gerhard Kemp, 27–75. Berlin: Peter Lang, 2019.
• “The Invisible Hand of the ICTY: Narratives on Dubrovnik in Montenegro,” in International Criminal Tribunals as Actors of Domestic Change: The Impact on Media Coverage Vol. 1, eds. Klaus Bachmann, Irena Ristić & Gerhard Kemp, 76–111. Berlin: Peter Lang, 2019.
• “Homecomings from ‘The Hague’: Media Coverage of ICTY Defendants after Trial and Punishment.” International Criminal Justice Review, 28(4) (2018), 406–422. Part of special issue “ICTY Celebrities: War Criminals Coming Home,” eds. Barbora Hola & Olivera Simic.
• “Collateral Impact: The ICTY influence on Institutional Reform in Serbia,” in International Criminal Tribunals as Actors of Domestic Change: The Impact on Institutional Reform Vol. 1, eds.
• Klaus Bachmann, Gerhard Kemp & Irena Ristić, 47–78. Berlin: Peter Lang, 2018. “Impact of the ICTY on Democratization in the Yugoslav Successor States” (co-authored with
• Vladimir Petrović), in Building Democracy in the Yugoslav Successor States: Accomplishments, Setbacks, Challenges since 1990, eds. Sabrina P. Ramet, Christine M. Hassenstab & Ola Listhaug, 135–162. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017.
• “Razsežnosti (ne)mobilnosti v kontekstu slovenskega akademskega okolja: kritični pogled na "samoumevno" in s spolom zaznamovano,” in Znanost (brez) mladih: Zgodnje stopnje znanstvene kariere v Sloveniji skozi perspektivo spola, ed. Ana Hofman, 159–180. Ljubljana: Zaloba ZRC, 2017.
• “Priročnik za uvajanje spolno občutljivega pristopa v raziskovanje in poučevanje” (co-authored with Ana Hofman), Ljubljana: Založba ZRC, 2016.
• “Toolkit for Integrating Gender-Sensitive Approach into Research and Teaching” (co-authored with Ana Hofman), GARCIA project working papers n. 6 (2015), University of Trento.
• “Gender Dimension in Research and Curriculum: 12 SSH and STEM test institutions” (co-edited with Ana Hofman), GARCIA project working papers n. 7 (2015), University of Trento.
• Media Integrity Matters: Reclaiming Public Service Values in Media and Journalism (assistant editor; chief editor Brankica Petković). Ljubljana: Peace Institute, 2014.
• “Memory after Ethnic Cleansing: Victims’ and Perpetrators’ Narratives in Prijedor.” Treatises and Documents, Journal of Ethnic Studies, 72 (2014), 25–41.
• “Who Were the Antifascists? Divergent Interpretations of WWII in Contemporary Post-Yugoslav History Textbooks” (co-authored with Tamara Pavasović Trošt), in The Use and Abuse of Memory: Interpreting World War II in Contemporary European Politics, eds. Christian Karner & Bram Mertens, 173–191. Piscataway: Transaction Publishers, 2013. Reprint by Abingdon: Routledge, 2017.

Papers presented at conferences

• Annual conference of the Historical Dialogues, Justice and Memory Network, Columbia University, New York, Dec. 2017, Dec. 2019, Dec. 2020.
• Workshop “Transnational processes of memory, migration, and identity in Europe and beyond”, University of Graz, Jan. 2019.
• European Seminar in Ethnomusicology “Experience and expectation”, Riga, Sept. 2018.
• Seminar of the Fringe Politics in Southeast Europe Research Network “Who is an activist? Biographical and transformative effects of protest”, Faculty of Political Science, University of Zagreb, June 2018.
• Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory, University of Belgrade workshop “Active citizenship and democracy in the Western Balkans”, Belgrade, May 2018.
• Annual conference of the Memory Studies Association, University of Copenhagen, Dec. 2017.
• Workshop “Memory Laws: Legal Regulation of Historical Interpretations, Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Ljubljana, Oct. 2017.
• FESTA-GARCIA joint final conference, Bruxelles, Nov. 2016.
• Seminar “Gedächtnis im Wandel – Transformationen der europäischen Erinnerungskultur seit 1989”, GrazMuseum, Nov. 2016.
• Conference “Bleiburg & Beyond: Transnational Approaches Towards Memory Politics and Commemorative Practices”, Zentrum für Südosteuropastudien, Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz, May 2016.
• Conference “Past, Present, Future: Victory or Defeat: Societies between Warfare and Post-war Turmoil”, Juraj Dobrila University, Pula, May 2017.
• Princeton conjunction 2017: annual interdisciplinary conference “War Frenzy: Exploring the violence of Propaganda”, Princeton University, May 2017.
• Institute for War, Holocaust, and Genocide Studies (NIOD) conference “Confronting Violent Pasts and Historical (In)Justice”, Amsterdam, Dec. 2016.
• Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory, University of Belgrade conference “Politics of Enmity: Can Nation Ever be Emancipatory”, Belgrade, Sept. 2016.
• Central and East European International Studies Association (CEEISA), University of Ljubljana, June 2016.
• Interdisciplinary workshop “Erinnerungssubkulturen”, Alpen-Adria-Universität, Klagenfurt, Mar. 2015.
• Georg Eckert Institute and University of Tirana conference “Myths in south-eastern European textbooks”, Tirana, Oct. 2014.
• Central European University and ASN conference “Nationalist Responses to Economic and Political Crises”, Budapest, June 2014.
• University of Nottingham, conference “National States between memories of World War Two and contemporary European politics”, June 2012.
• Regional Research Promotion Programme in the Western Balkans annual conference, Sarajevo, May 2012.
• European Consortium for Political Research Joint Session of Workshops, University of Antwerp, Apr. 2012.
• The ASN Conference “Twenty Years Later: Reshaping Space and Identity”, Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Sept. 2011.
• Media and Memoria in South-Eastern Europe Network’s workshop “Distinction and Unification: Regional and Supraregional Memories”, Novi Sad, May 2011.
• Annual World Convention of the Association for the Study of Nationalities (ASN), Columbia University, New York, Apr. 2011, and Apr. 2015.

Invited lectures

• “Gender and Science”, at MA course International Business, Societies and Cultures, School of Economics and Business, University of Ljubljana, Nov. 2019.
• “Gender and Science”, at undergraduate course Anthropology of Gender and Sexuality, Department of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana, Apr. 2019.
• “Public memory in divided cities of Bosnia and Herzegovina”, at undergraduate course Multiethnicity of Cities in Contemporary History, Department of History, Faculty of Arts, University of Rijeka, Jan. 2018.
• “The concept of transitional justice” and “Transitional justice and reconciliation in the region of former Yugoslavia”, at MA course International Conflict Management, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana, Apr. 2016.
• "Legal trials and construction of public memory in former Yugoslavia", at history seminar, Department of Social Sciences, University of Naples Frederico II, Dec. 2015.
• “War crime trials and public memory of the war in Bosnia”, Brownbag Seminar, Centre for Southeastern European Studies, University of Graz, Nov. 2015.
• "Who cares about the facts?! The Influence of the 3 International Tribunal (ICTY) on Public Memory in Bosnia and Herzegovina", at PhD seminar, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana, Nov. 2015.
• "Transitional Justice and Culture of Memory", at MA course Culture of Memory, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Rijeka, May 2015.

Provided trainings and workshops

• “Human rights and cultural diversity”, series of 10 workshops for primary school and kindergarten teachers across Slovenia as part of the project “Strengthening Educational Staff's Social and Civic Competences”, throughout 2020.
• “How to integrate gender dimension into research content”, training for the project R&I PEERS consortium members, Athens, Apr. 2019.
• “The role of gender in research”, National Institute for Chemistry, Ljubljana, Mar. 2019.
• “Multiperspectivity and responsible storytelling” at the conference of the Federation of European Storytelling, Ljubljana, June 2018.
• Workshop for teachers on multiperspectivity in history teaching, Osijek, Nov. 2017 (link).
• “What is the role of gender in research?”, Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Ljubljana, series of workshops, March–June 2016.

Teaching and mentoring experience

• Co-mentor on PhD thesis: Svetozar Matejašev, “Education through Fun: The Case of Politikin Zabavnik (1952–1991),” Postgraduate School ZRC SAZU, ongoing.
• Supervisor to the visiting junior researchers:
  • Iva Jelušić (PhD student, Central European University), visiting at ZRC SAZU: Aug.–Dec. 2020.
  • Rodoljub Jovanović (MA student), at the Peace Institute: three-month Erasmus Placement internship in 2013.