Private Higher Education Institutions

Short description

The Bratislava International School of Liberal Arts (BISLA) is an independent liberal arts college founded in 2006 on the foundations established by its predecessor, the Society for Higher Learning. BISLA’s primary focus is to use modern liberal arts as an educational method to provide the best quality education for its students. The liberal arts approach to education, with its open choice for students to shape and gradually choose a specialization, along with its insistence on mastering the intellectual skills of writing, oral presentation, and research, develops skills needed for academia and employment in the 21st century. The method of teaching in small seminars and tutorials, encouraging discussion, debate and serious study of core texts and primary sources, and mixing courses from all disciplines is the combination that provides undergraduate students the intellectual capacities needed to produce graduates who would be at the forefront of the defence of turbulent democracies within the EU and around the world. Emphasis is also placed on extracurricular activities, long-term research projects, internships, and volunteering as important for the development of life skills.

Scientific research/artistic projects

Project Philosophical Anthropology in the Context of Current Crises of Symbolic Structures is supported by the Slovak Research and Development Agency (APVV) and delves into the nature of human beings as creators and interpreters of symbolic structures. It explores how humans shape, understand, and transform symbolic forms like science, art, politics, and religion, which in turn shape their perception of reality and influence their decision-making. The research focuses on the current crises affecting these symbolic structures. Rather than viewing these crises merely as dysfunctions, the project seeks to uncover how they represent transformative processes that alter human self-conception and open up new possibilities. In this project, the Bratislava International School of Liberal Arts (BISLA) collaborates with the Philosophy Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences and Trnava University’s Philosophy Department. BISLA also publishes the journal Kritika & Kontext (www.kritika.sk) which was founded in 1996 and is part of a network of European cultural journals www.eurozine.com. BISLA also organizes the annual conference Liberal Herald, bringing together students and experts on an equal platform. 

International relations

The Bratislava International School of Liberal Arts (BISLA) stands in the forefront of establishing a European form of liberal arts education by initiating ECOLAS (www.ecolas.eu), which is a network of European liberal arts colleges and programs. BISLA was, from the beginning, supported by the Endeavor Foundation of New York, which supports liberal arts schools and projects around the world and also serves to network them and support collaborative projects among them. The current focus of such collaboration is student mental health. Since 2011, BISLA is also a member of the Global Liberal Arts Alliance (GLAA), an alliance which brought together 33 colleges across the world. The participating colleges cooperate in the programs of connected courses- inter-collegial teaching of courses on connected topics. Together, they develop programs on the scholarship of teaching and learning, student-faculty and digital research, and more. GLAA also annually facilitates the participation of students in the prestigious Athens Democracy Forum and the Alliance Leadership Academy. Currently, BISLA is taking part in the project Designing and implementing Liberal Arts Studies in Ukraine (LibArt_UA). Introduction of Liberal Arts and Science programmes into the Ukrainian higher education system drawing upon the best practices and experience of EU partners. The project will establish interdisciplinary LAS programmes in 5 Ukrainian universities, design curricula, train teachers and staff and help promote liberal arts in Ukraine. BISLA also participates in the international project AI Aware Universities (under the auspices of the American University in Bulgaria), in a consortium of six universities developing guidelines on the ethical use of AI at universities. We also participate in the project REMAP (Reading for Meaning and Purpose), a consortium of five universities working to promote the culture of reading as a mode of self-discovery and development.

Bratislava International School Of Liberal Arts

Grosslingova 53, 811 09 Bratislava, Slovak Republic

Rector

doc. Samuel Abrahám, PhD.

Rector´s office

+421 905 727 785

abraham@bisla.sk

https://www.bisla.sk

Number of students in 2024/25: 60

Number of scientific degree lecturers in 2024/25: 20

Established in 2006

Title

Title

Foreword

Foreword

About the Slovak Rectors‘ Conference

About the Slovak Rectors‘ Conference

Higher education system in the Slovak Republic

Higher education system in the Slovak Republic

Academy of Arts in Banská Bystrica

Academy of Arts in Banská Bystrica

Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava

Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava

Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava

Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava

Alexander Dubček University of Trenčín

Alexander Dubček University of Trenčín

Catholic University in Ružomberok

Catholic University in Ružomberok

Comenius University Bratislava

Comenius University Bratislava

Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra

Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra

J. Selye University

J. Selye University

Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica

Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica

Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice

Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice

Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra

Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra

Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava

Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava

Technical University in Zvolen

Technical University in Zvolen

Technical University of Košice

Technical University of Košice

Trnava University

Trnava University

Bratislava University of Economics and Business

Bratislava University of Economics and Business

University of Prešov

University of Prešov

University of Ss. Cyril and Methodius in Trnava

University of Ss. Cyril and Methodius in Trnava

University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy in Košice

University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy in Košice

University of Žilina

University of Žilina

Academy of the Police Force in Bratislava

Academy of the Police Force in Bratislava

Armed Forces Academy of General M. R. Štefánik

Armed Forces Academy of General M. R. Štefánik

Slovak Medical University in Bratislava

Slovak Medical University in Bratislava

Bratislava International School of Liberal Arts

Bratislava International School of Liberal Arts

Bratislava University of Economics and Management

Bratislava University of Economics and Management

Danubius University

Danubius University

DTI University

DTI University

Ján Albrecht Music and Art Academy Banská Štiavnica

Ján Albrecht Music and Art Academy Banská Štiavnica

Рan-European University

Рan-European University

School of Management

School of Management

University of Security Management in Košice

University of Security Management in Košice

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