Arjan Shahini
Arjan Shahini
E-Mail: arjan.shahini@scm.uni-halle.de
Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Jörg Dinkelaker
Project: Transformation of Albanian higher education system under internationalisation 1946-2012
Arjan Shahini is a PhD candidate at the Graduate School “Society and Culture in Motion” and at the School of Pedagogy of the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg. He graduated from the University of Heidelberg, Germany, in 2008, with a Master’s degree in political and education sciences. After having worked for three years for the Albanian Government in the Ministry of Education and Science and various higher education institutions in Albania, he returned to academia for a Master’s degree in higher education and leadership at the University of Missouri-Columbia, USA. Under the supervision of Professor Dr. Jörg Dinkelaker his PhD research focuses on the internationalization of Albanian higher education from a historical perspective.
Abstract:
The aim of this study is to develop a common analytical framework for the study of the internationalization processes and their impact on the structures and policies of the Albanian higher education since its establishment in 1947. The goal is to explore how modernization efforts to implement Western norms and values have been constantly negotiated by the national actors in developing and implementing higher education policies. Western norms have been presented in the guise of different policy agendas in Albania (e.g. modernization through Sovietization during the totalitarian communist regime, Europeanization and EU integration after the system transformation, and the current implementation of neo-liberal policies.) The main research question focuses on how the structural changes have been influenced by modern ideologies, the transfer and adaptation of international norms and policy solutions provided by the transnational economic, political and judicial frameworks. The study analysis general structural characteristics of the system throughout the period of 1946 to 2017: the organization of higher education system, admission policies and changes in the academic and scientific management. The analysis is based on the methodological and analytical approaches applied in culture and policy transfer studies. The research will be based on primary sources which will be attained through archival research in Albania. For a more in-depth view on the issue, I have proposed a set of unstructured interviews with key experts and ex-government officials.
Published Works:
Tafaj, M., & Shahini, A. (2019). Higher Education Systems and Institutions, Albania. In Encyclopedia of International Higher Education Systems and Institutions (pp. 1-6). Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands.
Zhllima, E., Imami, D., Rama, K., Shahini, A., & Asia, C. (2018). Corruption in Education during Socialism and the Postsocialist Transition: The Case of Albania. Region: Regional Studies of Russia, Eastern Europe, 7(2), 51-70.