EU Centre of Excellence

Eltion Meka

Eltion Meka is an Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Relations at the University of New York Tirana. Dr. Meka is designated as the academic coordinator of this Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence project. In the past two years, Eltion has been the recipient of two Jean Monnet grants: A Jean Monnet Module in 2016 and a Jean Monnet Network in 2017. During this period he has organized a number of major activities in the area of EU Studies such as an international conference titled “Democratization and Ethnic Reconciliation: Theoretical challenges and the role of European integration” and a Winter School titled “Creating Territorial Cooperation: The Impact of the Intercultural Dialogue and Migration Flows in South-East Europe”.

Eltion’s research interests focus on democracy promotion and the role of the EU in Eastern Europe. His academic work has been published in reputable international journals (such as the Journal of European Integration and Europe-Asia Studies), while a number of his ongoing working papers have been included in this project proposal as research activities.

Ariana Cela

Ariana Çela has an Ed.D in Management and Tourism from University of Northern Iowa, USA, an MSc in Leisure and Environments from the University of Wageningen, The Netherlands, and a B.A. in Finance and Accounting from the University of Tirana, Albania. Her areas of interest in research include public policy, public finance, performance-based budgeting, international management, regional development, entrepreneurship and SMEs, tourism management, cultural heritage management, and project financing. She is an assistant professor at the University of New York Tirana since 2009 and was previously a lecturer at the University of Northern Iowa in the USA from 2004-2006. She worked in the Ministry of Economy as a specialist in the Competition Department (2001-2004) and was a Budget Director in the Ministry of Finance between 2006-2009. Later, she worked as the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisor from 2009-2013.

Fatos Tarifa

With a PhD in Political Sociology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a doctoral degree in Political Science from the University of Tirana. Prof. Fatos Tarifa is a renowned social scientist and a prolific author. He teaches political sociology, international relations, and geopolitics. His books include (in English): Europe Adrift on the Wine Dark Sea (2007), The Balkans: A Mission neither Accomplished nor Impossible (2002), The Quest for Legitimacy and the Withering Away of Utopia (2001), The Breakdown of State Socialism and the Emerging Post-Socialist Order (2001), The First Decade and After: Albania’s Democratic Transition and Consolidation in the Context of Southeast Europe (2000), Open-Ended History: Dangers and Dilemmas of Transition (1998. His numerous articles have been published in journals with impact factor, such as Social Forces (Oxford University Press), Policy Review (Stanford University/Hoover Institution), Mediterranean Quarterly (Duke University Press), Studies in Comparative International Development (Springer), East European Politics and Societies (Sage), Development and Change (Wiley-Blackwell), Communist and Post-Communist Studies (Elsevier), etc. Professor Tarifa is currently President of the Albanian Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Ilir Kalemaj

Associate Professor Ilir Kalemaj, holds a PhD from Central European University, Budapest, Hungary. He has published a myriad of scholarly papers in international and national peer-reviewed journals and has participated in more than 30 national and international conferences. Moreover, he has recently published books Contested Borders: Territorialization of National Identity and Shifts of “Imagined Geographies” in Albania, by Peter Lang Ltd. Oxford 2014; ”Kosovo and Albania: Quo Vadis?, by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung; My kind of NATO: Perceptions from Albania, by the Centre for European and Security Affairs/ Institute for Democracy and Mediation with support of the NATO Public Diplomacy Division, etc. Kalemaj is dealing now with issues about democratic transition & democratic consolidation, political culture, and the question of nationalism, as well as EU Integration processes in Albania and Western Balkans.

Juna Miluka

Juna Miluka holds a PhD in economics from American University, Washington, DC. She is an associate professor of Economics and Dean of the Faculty of Economics at the University of New York, Tirana.  She has extensive experience working as a consultant with many international organizations conducting research on issues such as migration, labor market, poverty, education, vulnerability, agriculture, etc.  Dr. Miluka is an expert in economic research, development, as well as gender issues.  Working as an international consultant for the World Bank and IOM has given her considerable experience in migration studies and poverty assessment.  Two of her studies on the impact of international migration in Albanian family farming and education have been published in a prestigious academic journal.   Her work with the Millennium Challenge Corporation in Washington, DC, has given her experience in rural development.  As a consultant for the Millennium Challenge Corporation, she has conducted a gender assessment for Moldovan farmers using farm survey data.  Among other organizations, she has also worked as a national consultant for UNWOMEN on issues of women’s economic empowerment, including issues of employment, poverty, entrepreneurship, and health, and conducted vulnerability studies for UNDP.

Bekim Nuhija

In June 2013, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nuhija was awarded his Ph.D. in Law at the University of Maastricht (the Netherlands). Since that moment, he has been conducting research on the protection of the rights of vulnerable groups through a comparative approach. In addition, from 2011-2018, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nuhija was a lecturer at Southeast European University, where he taught different courses such as Public International Law, European Union Law, Comparative Law, and Human Rights Law. At UNYT, he teaches courses such as Domestic and Int’l Human Rights Law; Public International Law; and Law, Politics, and Religion.

Can Bekaroğlu

In December 2015 Dr.  Bekaroğlu was awarded his Ph.D. title in Economics with a dissertation title “Multi-Stage Analysis of Healthcare Efficiency in OECD and the Impact of Technology on Healthcare”. Since October 2010, Dr.  Bekaroğlu has been conducting research on different topics regarding the economy and finance. In addition to that, from since the fall of 2018, Dr.  Bekaroğlu has been a Lecturer at UNYT, where he teaches several courses on economics.