Dr. Rita Csapo-Sweet, associate professor of media studies at University of Missouri-St. Louis, is looking for a few students interested in studying film and other subjects for study abroad, at a lower rate than a semester here.
Csapo-Sweet has been working on a student exchange program between UM-St. Louis and two universities in Bosnia, the University of Sarajevo and University of Tuzla. Since St. Louis is home to a large Bosnian community, it is though this student exchange would be particularly fruitful.
Bosnia has a vibrant film-making industry and Csapo-Sweet, who teaches film at the university, knows their films well. The student exchange program started out with film studies and other arts areas in the College of Fine Art and Communication but the exchange program is open to students of any major.
"If our students want to study film, they have to go to Bosnia to study at the Academy of Film and Performing Arts at the U of Sarajevo." Csapo-Sweet said. "What makes this interesting is that a huge percentage of the films from Bosnia end up getting major prizes at the most important international festival: Berlin, Cannes, Toronto, and of course - the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film - Danis Tanovic's 'No Man's Land.' Students can't get this kind of an experience at Webster or any other local university. Over time, this will be like sending our students directly to LA or New York to study and apprentice with America's best directors."
The exchange program is also looking for Bosnian students at UM-St. Louis whose families might be willing to host exchange students.
"I'm trying to reach students on campus from Bosnian backgrounds who don't know about the program yet," Csapo-Sweet said.
"In order for Bosnian students to come to UMSL they will need host families from the Bosnian community here in St. Louis to provide housing and some meals. UMSL is currently looking for host families for this program," she said. "Generally, foreign students live on the UMSL campus in the University Meadows. However, the price of living on campus is prohibitive for students coming from Bosnia where the university is almost free and most students live with their families or in affordable dormitories on campus."
"It is somewhat easier for students from St. Louis to study in Bosnia since the cost of living is so much less there than it is here. Through the exchange program UMSL students who study in Bosnia will have all their costs covered except the round-trip airfare. Students can live with family, rent an apartment, or live in the university dormitories. The Center for International Studies at UMSL will work with students to make all the arrangements."
"For students from St. Louis who plan to study in Bosnia, UMSL is prepared to be flexible regarding course-work. At least in the initial stages, students can (with the agreement of their UMSL advisor) develop an independent program of study. That could be a film/video, music, or art project, or an extended paper for humanities students," Csapo-Sweet said.
Knowledge of the language would be helpful but is not essential to participate.
"Most undergraduate courses in Bosnian universities are still conducted in Bosnian or Serbo-Croatian, so knowledge of the language would be an asset. However, students with limited language skills should still contact UMSL if they are interested in applying for the program," she said.
But the deadline for the exchange program is near, the end of September. For more information contact Csapo-Sweet at csapo@umsl.edu. Information about the exchange program is also availableee by calling (314) 516-6497 or going online to www.cfis-umsl.com and searching for Bosnia.
"I already have two of my film students going (not Bosnians) because they can work in 16mm film there and we can't give them that experience here at UMSL," Csapo-Sweet said.
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