Ermira Babamusta, a doctoral candidate in political science with an emphasis in international relations and foreign policy, will present, “Gender and Development in the Balkans: Perspectives from Albania” that will draw on lessons from Kosovo and Albania.

The lecture, part of the 30th Anniversary Celebration of Women’s Studies at WVU, will take place on Thursday, Sept. 30, in the Blackwater Room at the Mountainlair from 4-5:30 p.m.

Babamusta is originally from Albania and left the country in 1998.

She is currently working on a book entitled, “Kosovo, The Balkan Dilemma: Multilateral Diplomacy in Nation-Making.”

The book seeks to grasp the challenges that the international community faces today in confronting the statehood issue of Kosovo where multilateral diplomatic mechanisms will be assumed to be the critical measure in the strategies used for negotiation.

In it she will analyze the consultative status of the United Nations and the European Union and elaborate on the mechanisms of cooperation between the international players. She will examine multilateral diplomacy and explore the factors influencing the development and drawbacks of the multilateral diplomacy process.

A part of the proceeds from the book are dedicated to building a house for an Albanian-Kosovan family whose house was burned during the Kosovo-Serbia war and to the Institute of Albanology in Prishtina, Kosovo.

In addition to her work as a student, Babamusta serves as a liaison to raise funds to save four Albanian elementary schools on the island of Crete in Greece. The project provides financial and class material support to preserve the indigenous culture and provide educational opportunities for the Albanian minority in Greece.

Following graduation, she hopes to work for the United Nations in New York or the State Department in Washington, D.C. in the field of foreign relations.

-WVU-

jh 9/28/10

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