Fontbonne University has been home to the Center for Bosnian Studies since its opening in 2022. After Fontbonne announced its closing last year, the center has partnered with St. Louis University.
Adna Karamehic-Oates, director of the Center for Bosnian Studies, told St. Louis on the Air that the move makes sense for the center and its mission.
“There's a very large Bosnian student population at St. Louis University, which will be very helpful and was appealing in terms of this move,” Karamehic-Oates said. “Besides that, St. Louis University is a research institution, and the collections really are there for research. There will be a lot more access and use of the collections.”
The center’s mission goes back to 2006 when Benjamin Moore, then an English professor at Fontbonne, founded the Bosnian Memory Project. Although Moore is not Bosnian, he was inspired by the resilience of the Bosnian refugees he encountered in the 1990s and 2000s.
“Meeting people from Bosnia, people who had survived the genocidal war and being impressed — not only by what they had endured, but also how they had responded to it by finding a way of living in St. Louis without relinquishing who they were and what they had been through,” Moore said. “Over time, I had the sense that [these stories] ought to be preserved.”
The Center for Bosnian Studies will be mostly housed in Pius Library along with St. Louis University’s other collections. Jennifer Nutefall, SLU’s dean of libraries and museums, said that the significance of the collection of artifacts and oral histories fits the university’s mission.
“Social justice [and] walking with the underserved are key principles of the university,” Nutefall said. “Continuing the center’s work [and the community engagement that happens there is really foundational to who we are as an institution. I think that’s part of what makes us such a good fit.”
For more about the Center for Bosnian Studies and its move to St. Louis University, listen to St. Louis on the Air on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or click the play button below.
“St. Louis on the Air” brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is produced by Miya Norfleet, Emily Woodbury, Danny Wicentowski, Elaine Cha and Alex Heuer. Jada Jones is our production assistant. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr.
