Bleona Kurteshi, M.A.

PhD Candidate in Social Anthropology (associated, Ministry of Education in Kosova)

Contact

Universität Regensburg
Graduate School for East and Southeast European Studies
Landshuter Str. 4
93047 Regensburg
Germany

+49 (0)941 / 943-5327 Bleona.Kurteshi(at)geschichte.uni-regensburg.de

Doctoral project

Memory and the Future Making in Post-War Kosova through Externally Funded Projects

Since the 1998–1999 war, (post-conflict) memory in Kosova has been shaped by local processes, international and transnational interventions. Externally funded memory projects play a significant role in framing how the past is addressed and how the future of Kosova is imagined. This PhD project asks: How do externally funded memory projects in post-war Kosova steer understandings of the past and redirect them towards visions of the future, such as European integration?

These projects operate within complex networks involving international and transnational donors, civil society organizations, cultural institutions, and policy frameworks. Each of these entities brings its own priorities and assumptions, a dynamic that gives rise to complex power relations and influences the networks among them and the redirection of memory work.

The research adopts a qualitative, comparative case study approach, focusing on three externally funded initiatives: “DwP corner” by HLCK, “Dealing with the Past and Peace-building Program” by YIHR, and “People and Memories Talk” by Integra. Combining critical discourse analysis of project materials and public communications, semi-structured interviews, and participatory observation, the research analyses how memory practices contribute to constructing narratives of the past while enabling or constraining visions of the future. This PhD project contributes to debates on memory politics, post-conflict reconstruction, and external influence in shaping local futures.

Curriculum Vitae

Bleona Kurteshi is a doctoral researcher at the University of Regensburg. She holds a BA and MA in Sociologyfrom the University of Prishtina, Kosova. In addition, she earned a postgraduate diploma in Gender Studies fromthe University of Iceland. In 2025, she was a predoctoral fellow at the SeeFField Project. She is also the recipientof a doctoral scholarship from the Ministry of Education in Kosova.