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From Protest to Institution: The 1968 Demonstrations and the Founding of the University of Prishtina

  • Jul 1, 2026
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Abstract Book of the 11th International Conference on Modern Approaches in Humanities and Social Sciences

Year: 2026

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From Protest to Institution: The 1968 Demonstrations and the Founding of the University of Prishtina

Odesa Xhemajli

ABSTRACT:

This article analyzes the establishment of the University of Prishtina in 1970 as a function of a political, cultural and educational process reflecting the wider changes taking place in socialist Yugoslavia in the 1960s. Placing Kosovo within the broader context of global student challenges and democratization of education, the investigation examines the role that the 1968 demonstrations played in establishing a university in Albanian and in reformulating political relations within the Yugoslav federation. While the University of Prishtina is a central element of modern Kosovo, there has been limited research on the relationship between the 1968 protests and the institutionalization of higher education in Albanian. Methodologically, the study uses a historical-analytical and comparative analysis of archival material, as well as contemporary press reports, and relevant historiographical literature. It follows the emergence of higher education in Kosovo through the reliance of higher education on the University of Belgrade, leading to the establishment of an autonomous university system in Prishtina. Particular attention is given to the academic cooperation between the University of Prishtina and the University of Tirana and the way it served to reinforce the intellectual networks and national consciousness of Kosovo Albanians. The article claims that the establishment of the University of Prishtina was an educational reform, as well as a negotiated political breakthrough, within late socialist Yugoslavia. This article seeks to fill this void in understanding, interpreting the protests not as social disturbances, but as crucial political events, prompting faster negotiations over educational status, cultural pluralism, and institutional autonomy.

Keywords: Kosovo; Higher Education Reform; Institutional Autonomy; Student Movement; Socialist Yugoslavia