Please note that applications for the Liberty Seminars 2010 are closed.

Thanks to each and every of you who applied!

Congratulations to those who got accepted! See you at Lake Bohinj in September.

VIDEO of the 2008 Liberty Camp is available here.

PODCASTS of the 2008 Liberty Camp are available here.

PHOTOS can be found at this link.



PARTICIPANTS from 23 COUNTRIES

FACULTY and STAFF

AGENDA:
- 2009 Liberty Camp
- 2009 Freedom and Transition
- 2008 Liberty Camp

SYLLABUS:
- 2009 Liberty Camp
- 2009 Freedom and Transition
- 2008 Liberty Camp

BROCHURE:
- 2009
- 2008

SUPPORTERS (in alphabetical order):
Atlas Economic Research Foundation, Ayn Rand Institute (ARI), Center for Post-Communist Economies (CRCE), Cato Institute, Foundation for Economic Education (FEE), Heritage Foundation, Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), International Policy Network (IPN), Katalaksija, Language of Liberty Institute (LLI), Pejovic Family, and The Fund for American Studies (TFAS).

...what to expect from the Liberty Seminars?
...when to expect a decision about my application?
...how and by when should I pay for my participation fee?
...who else is going to attend the seminar from my country?

For this type of questions please feel free to email Program Manager Ben Stafford at bstafford@fee.org.


...how to obtain a visa for Slovenia?
...what is the best and cheapest way to travel to Lake Bohinj?
...what opportunities exist to find a donor to cover my seminar costs?
...what was it like attending the Liberty Seminars?

For this type of questions please feel free to email Liberty Seminars' Ambassadors:
- Andrej Stanimirovic (Serbia), andrej_stanimirovic@yahoo.com
- Andjelija Babic (Montenegro), andjelija.babic@udg.cg.yu
- Nadiia Stechyshyna (Ukraine), n.stechyshyna@gmail.com
- Veronika Korčekova (Slovakia), veronika.korcekova@gmail.com
- Jan Geder (Slovenia), jan.geder@gmail.com
- Aurelia Slanina (Moldova), s.aurelia@yahoo.com
- Kresimir Cvitanovic (Croatia), kresimir.cvitanovic@gmail.com
- Zoltan Kesz (Hungary), kesz.zoltan@gmail.com
- Andreea Moraru (Romania), moraru_andreea@hotmail.com
- Adriana Stefanova (Bulgaria), any_st@yahoo.com
- Tom Dyble (USA), tomdyble@comcast.net

Ben Stafford is joining our team as a program manager of the Liberty Seminars 2010. Stafford is an alumnus of the Liberty Seminars, attending the first Liberty Camp in 2008. To be able to join our staff, Stafford is taking a break from his position of the director of programs at the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE), a free market educational institute in the United States. Welcome, Ben!

"The Liberty Seminars communicate to students that capitalism is not an alternative mechanism for the allocation of resources, but a way of life within which individuals voluntarily interact in the pursuit of their own private ends and in doing so create an order.

Moreover, these seminars are one of a few places where students from East Europe and the Balkans learn that the term social justice, a favorite of collectivists and socialists, is merely the facade of words hiding the redistribution of wealth organized and directed by people who do not own the money that is being distributed. As such, the seminars are an effective way of transmitting president Reagan’s message that if we do not fight socialism now, when? If not us, who?"

The Liberty Seminars were a great opportunity in so many ways - from enjoying the wonderful scenery of the Slovenian Alps to challenging ourselves with new ideas which expanded our horizons and will help us to grow as people as well. Not only were we able to learn about liberty by listening to some very distinguished lecturers, we were also sharing our own experiences with others, who come from different cultural and personal backgrounds, which offered us a unique way to look at the world.

Jure Baloh, Slovenia, participant of the 2009 Freedom and Transition Seminar

Participants, staff, and speakers of both Liberty Seminars take an afternoon off for canoeing on breathtaking Lake Bohinj.

Lake Bohinj (Slovene: Bohinjsko jezero) is the largest permanent lake in Slovenia. This glacial lake is located in the heart of the Triglav National Park, surrounded by mountain peaks of Julian Alps rising from 1,600 to 2,000 meters. The largest of the streams that flow into the lake, the Savica River, is fed from Črno jezero (Black Lake), the largest lake in the Triglav Lakes Valley.

It is not until you reach the middle of the lake with your canoe that you know what it feels to be in heaven.

Dr. Ljubo Sirc, a native of Slovenia, honored us with a visit at both Liberty Seminars at Bohinj. It was incredible to have an opportunity to hear Dr. Sirc speak about his experiences and views on various issues. We enjoyed every minute that we got to spend with this genuine fighter for liberty.

A short bio of Dr. Ljubo Sirc:
After the establishment of the Communist regime, Dr. Sirc joined other liberals and social democrats who tried to form a legal political opposition to the Regime. In 1947, due to his political activity and friendship with Western diplomats, he was tried in the so-called "Nagode trial" and sentenced to death. His sentence was ultimately commuted to twenty years in prison, of which he served seven with two years in solitary confinement. He spent his time in assiduous reading; he became an expert in Marxist political and economic thought, while he was also able to read the most up-to-date western, especially English and American, economic literature. After release, he illegally escaped to Italy and from there to the United Kingdom, where he started an academic career. In his various teaching posts since then, including twenty years at the University of Glasgow, Dr. Sirc has been a leading expert on socialist economics and communist regimes. Dr. Sirc is one of the founders of the Centre for Research into Post-Communist Economies (CRCE) in London and as of 2006 its Founder President. He is now Founder-President of the CRCE.

Photos: (top) Dr. Ljubo Sirc and Tanja Štumberger, Liberty Seminars executive director. (bottom) Lovro Jurgec, 2009 Liberty Camp participant, Dr. Ljubo Sirc and Primož Kocuvan, Liberty Seminars staff member.

After the Liberty Camp 2008 many people expressed an interest in and hope for an advanced seminar in year 2009 that would discuss liberty-related issues on a higher level. Hence, the organizers of the Liberty Seminars in Slovenia decided to put together, additionally to Liberty Camp, exactly that kind of a seminar.

We named the advanced seminar "Freedom and Transition," since it is dedicated to the advanced study of liberty in European transition countries. Debates, discussions, lectures, and presentations take the participants beyond the basic principles of classical liberal thought, while examining the breadth and depth of two decades of economic and political developments in post-socialist Central and Eastern Europe. The seminar applies classical liberal insights into the range of transition issues including:
- economic and political institutions
- informal rules, the rule of law, and growth
- corruption and public sector transparency
- public choice theory
- markets and morality
- crony capitalism
- failed vs. successful privatization

Participants of the 2009 advanced seminar came all the way from Germany, Ukraine, Slovenia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Romania, Bulgaria, the United States, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, and Slovakia.

Distinguished speakers at the advanced seminar were: Marijana Bađun (Institute of Public Finance, Croatia), Bernard Brščič (University of Ljubljana, Slovenia), Dr. Philip Hanson (Chatham House, UK), Dr. Andrei Illarionov (Cato Institute, USA), Dr. John Moore (Grove City College, USA), Alexandar Novaković (Katalaksija, Serbia), Dr. Svetozar Pejovich (Texas A&M University, USA), Rado Pezdir (University of Primorska, Slovenia), Dr. Miroslav Prokopijević (University of Beograd, Serbia), Dr. Ljubo Sirc (Centre for Research into Post-Communist Economies, UK), and Dr. Janez Šušteršič (University of Primorska, Slovenia). We are extremely grateful that each of them accepted our invitation to be part of this project. We hope they will return next year.

During the field trip on the 22nd, the participants and faculty of the Liberty Seminars visited amazing Bled Castle.

The castle was first mentioned in 1004. The oldest part of the castle is the romanesque tower. The buildings are arranged around two courtyards, which are connected with a staircase. There is a chapel on the upper courtyard, which was built in the 16th century. The castle also has a drawbridge over a moat and the museum, which was renovated in 2008. We also visited their printing shop, cellar, herbal gallery, and souvenir shop.


The castle overlooks picturesque glacial Lake Bled. The lake surrounds Bled Island, the only natural island in Slovenia. The island has several buildings, the main one being the Pilgrimage Church of the Assumption of Mary, built in the 15th century.


After the tour of the castle, we took a nice stroll along the lake, while we stopped on many occations to take photos. We were all taken by the beauty of the lake, the island with a church in the middle of it, and the swans and ducks swimming in it.

At the end of our field trip to Bled, we took time to taste Blejske kremne rezine (kremšnite), the most famous local dessert.

After the field trip, the participants of the first seminar took their bags and nice memories of a liberty week, said goodbye to newly found friends, and headed in different directions. Most of them took a bus toward Ljubljana, where they explored Slovenian capital on their own for a day or two.

The participants of the second seminar on the other hand, returned to Bohinj where they started with academic program of the seminar. The afternoon sessions featured a rather interesting series of lectures and breakout panels, discussing a range of topics, including economic crisis and bail out, institutions and growth, and the impossibility of social justice, among others.

For more photos follow the link.

It was the last evening at Bohinj for the participants of our first seminar, the 2009 Liberty Camp. After six days of continuous lectures, debates, discussions, movie screenings, field trips, canoeing, presentations and evening socializing it was time for the organizers to hand out diplomas at the graduation, after which we all headed for a celebration with BBQ and a camp fire.

On the same day, the participants of the second group (2009 Freedom and Transition seminar) arrived in the afternoon. They joined the festivities that extended into early morning hours.

We are all extremely grateful to our superb chefs (Boris M., Lea, Mitja, and Boris Š.) who prepared delicious food. For more adventurous, sausages were grilled on the open fire. Slovenian wine proved its quality. Conversations and singing in multiple languages, dancing, laughing and building long-lasting friendships created extremely pleasant atmosphere of the night we will never forget.

A little bit about what happened today at the Liberty Camp.

Today’s activities at our camp shifted into a higher gear. We had an opportunity to listen to the lectures of such prominent speakers as Miroslav Prokopijević, Bernard Brščič, and Andrei Illarionov.

Interesting lectures and rich program of Camp's second day once more confirmed quality of Liberty Seminars project. Let's see what has happend today at the Liberty Camp 2009.

2009 Liberty Seminar is kicking off! Everything is great, even the weather has calm down and looks like it is going to keep the rain away from us. We've lost no participants on the way to the hostel. Further, first discussions and lectures have been a pure intelectual joy. Everybody here is eager to learn and exchange experiences.

Hostel Pod Voglom is once again proving to be an excellent choice, service is first class, staff is super nice and accommodation is comfortable. Surounding nature is stunning, while we spend time at great debates with excellent people. What else one could wish for?

I was delighted to have visited the Liberty Camp, organised by Tanja Stumberger under Cato Institute auspices, last year. It was a completely new experience for me, although it brought back memories of my career as university lecturer!

The intelligent and understanding response by the students to my talk was very encouraging. They understood the importance of remembering what happened to our countries in the recent past. Afterwards over lunch, I had the opportunity to talk to many of those attending, and it was truly invigorating.

I should like to congratulate Tanja on her initiative and hard work in initiating and running last year's Camp. We are very pleased at the CRCE be co-operating once again this year in this extremely useful event, indeed two events I believe.

My wife, Susan, who accompanied Lisl and me to Bohinj, joins with me in sending her regards. We hope it may be possible to be with you once again and wish you well with this year's organisation.

Yours sincerely,

Dr. Ljubo Sirc, United Kingdom
CBE and Founder, CRCE (Centre for Research into Post-Communist Economies)

Victor Popa from Romania, a participant of the Liberty Camp 2008, interned at the Cato Institute in Washington, DC in the spring 2009.

During his internship, Victor greatly helped with organization and promotion of the Liberty Seminars 2009 in Slovenia. Thanks to Victor, the readers of Wikipedia can now find out all about our project.

Milutin Pavićević is a great young libertarian from Montenegro. Last year, he was a participant of the Liberty Camp in Slovenia. He made significant contribution in discussions and presentations. Furthermore, on many occasions Milutin volunteered technical support to our staff.

Having being inspired by the spirit of classical liberalism present at the Liberty Camp, he decided to stay in touch and get more involved with this year's Liberty Seminars. His artistic creativity and enthusiasm give the 2009 Liberty Seminars special quality. He is our Audio-Video Manager. Thanks to him we have, among other, this fantastic website, promotion videos and redesigned logo of Verigar. Thank you, Milutin!