Welcome to today's Deep Dive. I'm just so glad
you're joining us today. You know, usually when
you picture a university, you see this highly
self -contained bubble. Right, like the classic
ivory tower. Exactly. You envision the ivy -covered
brick walls, manicured lawns, and just this quiet
atmosphere that intentionally hides away from
all the noise of the real world outside its gates.
Yeah, completely separate ecosystem. But today
we are pulling from a fascinating Wikipedia article
in the University of Montenegro to show you an
institution that completely bursts that traditional
bubble. It really does. Our mission today is
to explore how this single school acts as a real
-time mirror for an entire nation's geography,
its complex history, and its ongoing modern evolution.
It serves as just a brilliant case study because
when an educational institution is that deeply
interwoven into the actual fabric of the country
itself, Well, understanding the university gives
you a direct lens into the shifting priorities
of the people who actually live there. Absolutely.
So to ground us, before we look at the historical
shifts and the really unique geographic spread
of this campus, let's just lay out the basic
statistics. Yeah. Give us the lay of the land.
Right. We are looking at a national public university.
It is the premier educational institution in
Montenegro, currently helmed by Rector Professor
Vladimir Buzovitch, PhD. And it's quite visually
distinct, too. Oh, definitely. If you ever visit,
you will instantly recognize their signature
blue and white colors everywhere. And it is a
massive bustling operation. They're currently
supporting an enrollment of over 21 ,500 students.
Which is huge. I mean, considering the total
population of Montenegro is just over 600 ,000
people, 21 ,500 students represents a massive
cross -section of the country's youth. Yeah,
that's a huge chunk of their future workforce.
Exactly. And they are guided by an academic staff
of 850 regular faculty members. So okay, let's
unpack this because to truly understand what
those 21 ,500 students are experiencing today,
we can't just look at a modern syllabus. No,
you really can't. We have to rewind and look
at the political and cultural soil this university
originally grew from. We need to go all the way
back to April 29, 1974. Right. That marks the
official birth of the institution, which makes
it exactly 51 years old. Happy late birthday
to them. Yeah, exactly. But, you know, the university
didn't just magically materialize out of thin
air. The state utilized a highly efficient strategy.
What did they do? Well, they took the existing
intellectual infrastructure of the region and
basically fused it together. They formally merged
three established faculties. OK, which ones?
Economics, engineering, and law. And they combined
those along with two colleges and three independent
scientific institutes. Building on existing foundations
rather than starting from scratch makes a lot
of sense, right? Especially when you consider
the specific disciplines they chose to anchor
the new school. Economics, engineering, and law.
Right. Those are the exact tools you need to
build and manage a functioning society. And this
really pragmatic approach, it was happening during
a very distinct era in the region, wasn't it?
Oh, absolutely. The 1970s marked a period of
explosive growth for higher education across
Yugoslavia. We are talking about a systemic educational
boom. Why then, specifically? Well, rapid industrialization
was taking hold. The state required a modern,
highly educated, and self -sufficient workforce.
They were actively shifting away from a heavily
agrarian economy toward industrial and technological
development. Ah, so they needed engineers and
lawyers and economists. Precisely. Consequently,
university doors were opening up not just in
Montenegro, but in cities all across the Yugoslav
region. Like where? Places like Split, Banja
Luka, Maribor. Osijek and Rijeka. So the state
was essentially mass producing the intellectual
capital required to run a modernizing country.
That's a great way to put it, yeah. And the way
this university evolved through that era, it
brings me to an analogy I've kind of been thinking
about. To me, a university's name is usually
fairly static, right? It's named after a wealthy
founder or the town it sits in. And that is just
the end of the story. Like Harvard or Oxford.
Exactly. But here, the university's name is almost
like a historical passport. Every time this institution
crossed into a new cultural or political era,
it essentially received a new stamp. Oh, I see
what you mean. Yeah, it's branding completely
changed based on the territory it was traveling
through. What's fascinating here is how clearly
those three distinct stamps or, you know, name
changes reflect the sociopolitical priorities
of their respective decades. Let's look at the
first one. Let's do it. When founded in 1974,
it was named the University of Tito Grad. Right,
because the capital city of Montenegro wasn't
actually called Podgorica at that time. It was
named Titograd after the Yugoslav leader, Josip
Braz Tito. Exactly. So that name anchored the
university geographically to the capital, but
specifically as it was known under that particular
political regime. But that didn't last long,
did it? No, not at all. That first stamp only
lasted a single year. By 1975, the institution
was renamed to Velchkov -Lahovitch University.
Okay, so that is stamp number two. And for context,
Velchkov -Lahovitch was a prominent communist
activist and a World War II participant from
Montenegro who passed away in 1975, which is
just a year after the university opened. And
naming the primary center of learning after him
was a very deliberate choice by the state to
cement a specific historical narrative. It's
a statement. It really is. It was a way for the
state to honor a figure who represented the ideological
foundation of the government at that exact moment.
So it wasn't just a geographical marker anymore?
No, the institution was no longer just a place
in a city. It was meant to be this. living monument
to the ideological struggles and victories of
the mid -20th century. Which is a really profound
way to tell the incoming students, hey, this
is the legacy you are inheriting. This is the
ideological framework of your education. Yes,
it's a very specific tone. But, you know, a passport
inevitably gets another stamp when the borders
of the world shift. And they certainly did shift.
Right. The Berlin Wall falls. The geopolitical
landscape of Europe transforms. Yugoslavia begins
to fragment. And in 1992, the institution receives
the name it holds today. The University of Montenegro.
Exactly. And that 1992 renaming is arguably the
most significant of them all. It really demonstrates
the crystallizing of a distinct Montenegrin national
identity. Because they dropped the specific political
figure. Exactly. By removing the name of a single
political figure and adopting the name of the
nation itself, the university completely shifts
its mandate. It broadens it. It officially becomes
the intellectual anchor for the entire country,
transcending all those past ideologies to represent
the enduring identity of the Montenegrin people.
And that shift in 1992, it wasn't just like a
new label slapped on a building. No, definitely
not. When you declare yourself the university
for an entire nation, you can't just hide in
the capital city. You have to physically reach
out into the rest of the country. Which perfectly
explains their highly unusual campus layout.
Right. We are moving from the university's journey
through time directly into its journey across
physical space. Yeah, this geographic layout
is a stark departure from the traditional mega
campus model you see in the US or the UK. OK,
so the central administration does sit in the
capital city of Podgorica, which is the largest
city with a population of around 290 ,000. Right,
that's home base. And a cluster of the heavy
-hitting faculties are located there. The hard
sciences, medicine, law, economics. Which makes
sense. Keeping the law students near the seat
of government and the economics students near
the financial center is just a logical, logistical
choice. But the university doesn't trap everyone
in the capital. It oversees 19 distinct faculties.
and they are completely decentralized across
four very different cities. It is a highly intentional
distribution It's really designed to prevent
the brain drain that often occurs when a single
massive capital city just absorbs all the intellectual
talent from the surrounding regions. I have to
push back on the traditional idea of a massive
walled -off central campus anyway, because honestly,
the more I look at this decentralized model,
the more brilliant it seems. How so? Well, think
about it. If you build one giant campus, you
force artists, marine biologists, and philosophers
to sit in the exact same environment. is an ideal
for everyone. Right. But the University of Montenegro
takes a different approach. They insist that
the physical environment should actually match
the academic discipline. If we connect this to
the bigger picture, they perfectly tailor the
location to the subject matter. For instance,
the faculties of philosophy, philology, and sports
are all situated in the city of Ningachich. And
Nechiche has its own distinct cultural and industrial
vibrate. It gives students studying the humanities
a completely different backdrop than the bureaucratic
capital. Exactly. And what about the artists?
Yeah, if your focus is drama, fine arts, or the
music academy, you don't go to the capital. You
are placed in Satinje. Because Satinje is the
historic, old, royal capital of Montenegro. Oh,
wow. Yeah, it's a city steeped in centuries of
art, traditional architecture, and just... deep
national heritage. It serves as this organic
incubator for creative minds. That's incredible.
It's basically like building your art school
inside a living museum. It really is. But my
absolute favorite piece of this geographic puzzle,
without a doubt, if you are studying maritime
studies or tourism, you go to Kotor. Yes, right
on the coast. You are situated directly on the
spectacular Bay of Coder. You aren't learning
about marine navigation or coastal tourism from
some landlocked, windowless lecture hall. No,
you're right there in it. You are literally smelling
the salt air and watching the cruise ships and
cargo vessels come in as you walk to class. And
that reveals a really fascinating dual layer
of structural governance here. What do you mean
by dual layer? Well, at the highest level, the
administration is deeply centralized. The managing
board, the rector, and the university senate
dictate the high level strategy from Podgorica.
Okay. And the student parliament unifies the
voice of the students across all those locations.
So the macro decisions keep everyone moving in
the exact same direction. Precisely. But the
lived day -to -day academic experience is incredibly
localized. Oh, I see. The students are actively
integrating into the specific communities where
their specific skills are most relevant. The
maritime students in Kodor are interacting with
actual maritime industries daily. So the university
essentially weaves higher education into the
actual topographical and economic map of the
country. Beautifully stated, yes. And zooming
in on that coastal city of Kodor brings us to
the next vital piece of the university's mission.
Right, because Kodor isn't just a scenic backdrop
for students taking exams. Far from it. It is
the site of some incredibly vital world -class
research conducted by the university's independent
scientific institutes. Yeah, the university currently
operates four distinct research institutes to
drive advanced scholarship. What are they? There's
the Institute for History, the Center of Excellence
in Research and Innovation, the Institute for
Advanced Studies, and the Institute of Marine
Biology. Which is naturally housed down on the
coast. And here's where it gets really interesting.
Oh, I agree. In 2020, operating under the umbrella
of this Institute of Marine Biology, the university
established the Adriatic Biodiversity Conservation
Center. Though to the general public, it is known
by a much more approachable name. Aquarium Boca.
Right. And it holds the distinction of being
the very first and currently the only public
aquarium in Montenegro. Now this detail made
me stop and raise a serious question. Oh, yeah.
Yeah. I mean, I appreciate a good aquarium as
much as the next person. But why is a prestigious
academic university operating a public tourist
attraction? That's a good question. Usually serious
academic research is kept. firmly behind closed
doors. You know, you need a key card and a PhD
just to access a marine biology lab. That's the
traditional way, sure. Right. Institutions don't
typically invite tourists in like field trips
full of rowdy elementary school kids to press
their hands against the glass while scientists
are trying to conduct high level ecological research.
It is a completely fair pushback against the
traditional academic model. I mean, the old model
of science was strictly observational, right?
You record the data, you write the paper, and
you publish it in a journal that perhaps 50 other
experts will ever even read. Exactly. It stays
in the bubble. But the modern mandate of scientific
institutions, especially in the realm of environmental
science, it recognizes that conducting the research
is really only half the battle. But putting it
behind glass for the public, I mean, it implies
that... just doing the research isn't enough.
It sounds like they're recognizing that if the
local fishermen and the local politicians don't
actually understand the ecosystem, then all that
peer -reviewed research is practically useless
for actual conservation. You have hit on the
exact mechanism driving this project. You simply
cannot efficiently conserve marine wildlife if
the general public feels disconnected from it.
It's too abstract for them. Right. True conservation
requires community buy in. If the locals and
the tourists cannot literally see the rich biodiversity
living beneath the surface of the Adriatic Sea,
they are not going to advocate for policies to
protect it. It's the ultimate cure for out of
sight, out of mind. Exactly. Aquarium Boca represents
this brilliant synthesis of high -level research
and public outreach. So they're working side
by side. Right. The top -tier researchers studying
the complex ecology of the Bay work alongside
a public education platform that translates their
complex data into a tangible experience. That's
amazing. When a child or a local stakeholder
sees the actual aquatic life swimming right in
front of them, the abstract concepts of conservation
becomes a very concrete reality. It makes it
real. Yes. The university is essentially proving
that hoarding knowledge does not save ecosystems.
democratizing that knowledge does. And that marks
a really profound evolution in how a university
views its responsibility to its country. It isn't
just educating enrolled students. It is actively
educating the broader public to protect national
resources. It's a massive shift. But speaking
of those enrolled students, we do need to examine
how the university has modernized its core internal
mechanics. Right, the actual academic structure.
Because protecting the ocean is vital, but You
know, the institution still has to prepare its
21 ,500 students to actually compete in a rapidly
moving globalized economy. And achieving that
level of global competitiveness requires a highly
modernized academic structure, which leads us
directly to the massive systemic reforms implemented
in 2017. the 2017 reform. This was a complete
overhaul of how a student actually progresses
through their education. A total paradigm shift.
They completely abandoned their old system of
studies, which was known as the 3 plus 1 plus
1 plus 3 system, and they officially adopted
the European standard 3 plus 2 plus 3 system.
Which is so much cleaner. Oh my gosh, yes. For
anyone listening who has ever tried to transfer
credits or get a foreign degree recognized in
another country, you know it can be just a complete
bureaucratic nightmare. Absolutely. Because the
old 3 plus 1 plus 1 plus 3 system was incredibly
fragmented. How did it even work? Well, a student
would complete three years for a basic bachelor's
degree. Okay, pretty standard. Then they'd take
a highly specialized single year, followed by
another single year, to achieve a pre -master's
or magister degree. Oh, wow. Right. Before finally
embarking on a three -year doctorate. That is
just, it's so choppy. It created these irregular
graduation benchmarks that were just very difficult
for international universities or foreign employers
to properly evaluate. It sounds exhausting just
trying to explain that to a hiring manager. Seriously.
So the 2017 reform smoothed all of that out by
adopting the three plus two plus three model.
Yes. And that happened alongside the strict implementation
of the ECTS points system, which is the European
credit transfer and accumulation system. Right.
So under this new streamlined system, all standard
bachelor's programs are three years long, and
they earn the student exactly 180 ECTS points.
And following that, the master's programs are
condensed into a very clear two -year block,
earning 120 points. And finally, the doctoral
studies are a standard three years, yielding
another 180 points. Hence the clean, easy to
understand 3 plus 2 plus 3. Exactly. Though,
as with any massive institutional rule, there
are critical exceptions, mostly designed to protect
the public. Oh, right. What kind of exceptions?
Well, the exceptions apply to regulated professions,
basically ensuring the university aligns perfectly
with strict EU directives. So like doctors? Yes.
If a student is studying medicine or dentistry,
the program is a rigorous six -year track. Makes
sense. And if they're studying pharmacology or
architecture, it is a five -year track. Which
is a huge relief. I mean, you certainly want...
the surgeon operating on you or the architect
designing the bridge you drive over to have had
that extended specialized classroom time. I definitely
do. But modernizing the university wasn't just
about adopting a new bureaucratic point system.
It's about the caliber of the minds actually
operating within that system. And the university
has cultivated a really deep roster of homegrown
intellectual talent that rivals any institution
in Europe. And a prime example of that intellectual
weight is the late Maleva Filipovic. Ah, yes.
She is a fascinating figure to highlight. She
lived from 1938 to 2020 and served as a genuinely
pioneering sociologist and just a trailblazer
in gender studies at the university. Her contribution
to Montenegrin scholarship really cannot be overstated.
I mean, during a time when the academic environment
was still grappling with deeply traditional and
patriarchal frameworks, Filipovic introduced
structuralist sociology and rigorous feminist
theory into the university's actual curriculum.
So she brought in entirely new. framework. Yes,
but she didn't just import Western feminist ideas
and leave it at that. She applied them directly
to the unique post socialist reality of Montenegro.
So she made it relevant to her students' actual
lives. Exactly. She researched how traditional
Montenegrin family structures and patriarchal
norms interacted with the rapidly shifting political
landscape. Right. And by dedicating her career
to this, she provided a critical homegrown lens
through which the country could understand its
own gender dynamics during a period of massive
transition. It's vital work. It really is. Having
faculty like Filipovich demonstrates that the
University of Montenegro isn't just absorbing
knowledge from the rest of the world. They are
generating vital progressive scholarship that
actively pushes the global conversation forward.
And this raises an important question regarding
the ultimate goal of the 2017 reforms and the
cultivation of this high level faculty. Right.
So what does this all mean for you, the listener?
Yeah, why does it matter? Why should you care
about the specific details of ECTS points and
EU directives at a university in the Balkans?
It's a fair question. It really comes down to
understanding the mechanics of global academic
mobility. What this 2017 reform did was essentially
hand Montenegrin students an academic universal
translator. That's a great way to think about
it. Yep. Because before standardization a brilliant
student graduating in Podgorica might find that
their degree wasn't fully recognized by an employer
in Germany or say a PhD program in France. Because
of that clunky 3 plus 1 plus 1 plus 3 thing.
Exactly. The foreign institutions simply did
not know how to weigh the credits of that old
system. But by adopting the exact same credit
architecture used across the European Union,
the University of Montenegro ensured its students
speak the universal language of European academia.
It guarantees that their graduates can immediately
compete, collaborate, and thrive internationally.
Yes, instantly. They are no longer locked into
a single regional job market. Their hard work,
their research, and their degrees are instantly
validated anywhere in Europe. It's completely
seamless now. It really circles right back to
that passport analogy we discussed earlier. Their
academic passport is now officially recognized
and valid at any border they choose to cross.
It constructs a highly functional between the
intellectual capital of Montenegro and the broader
global community. And what a massive journey
this single institution has taken. I mean, when
we step back and look at the entire picture we've
explored today, it is really remarkable. It's
quite a story. We started in 1974 observing how
an educational boom in Yugoslavia prompted the
state to fuse existing faculties into a brand
new powerhouse of learning. and we tracked how
its name changed over time, serving as this barometer
for shifting ideologies and eventually the crystallization
of a sovereign national identity. We explored
its brilliant geographic decentralization, proving
that an institution can literally weave itself
into the actual physical landscape of the country,
putting the arts in the historic capital and
marine biology directly on the sea. Which is
just brilliant. Yeah. We saw it completely break
the ivory tower whole. by building Aquarium Boca
to actively translate complex science for the
public and protect the nation's marine life.
And finally, we detail how it overhauled its
entire internal academic structure to guarantee
its 21 ,500 students are fully equipped to step
onto the world stage. It truly serves as a perfect
real -time mirror of a nation's ongoing modernization.
We spend this whole time looking at how this
university shapes Montenegro internally. Right.
But taking a step back, look at the networks
it's quietly building externally. The source
material lists an incredibly vast web of international
alliances this university maintains. The scope
of their international memberships is staggering,
actually. Who are they partnered with? Well,
they are active members of the Mediterranean
Universities Union, which connects institutions
from North Africa, all the way to Western Asia
and Europe. They are deeply embedded in the Balkan
University's network, as well as the Association
of Universities of the Adriatic -Ionian area.
So we are talking about regions, the Balkans,
the Mediterranean, Western Asia that possess
deep, often complex histories of fractured borders
and really intense political division. Which
leaves us with a really profound concept that
I'd love for you, the listener, to consider long
after this deep dive ends. What's that? Well,
in the realm of higher education, representatives
from all these historically divided nations are
sitting at the exact same table. Oh, that's interesting.
Right. Could a university like this actually
serve as a vital, under -the -radar diplomatic
bridge? I mean, it makes you wonder. By sharing
classrooms, co -authoring scientific research,
and exchanging thousands of students across so
many fractured borders is the University of Montenegro
quietly doing the heavy lifting of international
diplomacy, just simply masked as higher education.
That completely changes how you view a standard
university syllabus. It really does. It suggests
a world where diplomacy isn't just forged through
formal political treaties, but through shared
marine biology data, standardized credit systems
and student exchange programs. It's an invisible
thread pulling a very complex region much closer
together. It really is. Thank you so much for
joining us on this deep dive. Keep asking questions,
keep looking past the surface of the institutions
around you, and we will catch you next time.