Photo: Karl-Kristjan Nigesen

Please introduce yourself.

My name is Sanja, and in my native Serbo-Croatian language it means ”dreamer“. This is my first determinant. I ”dream“ consciously about a better world and life. As an imperfect human being, sometimes I fantasize more than I do to make my dreams come true.

What kind of knowledge and experience do you bring to TalTech?

My expertise is mainly in the fields of Operations Research and Informatics, even though my formal educational background is in maritime, with emphasis on electronic navigation and port management. However, my research curiosity exceeds these fields, so I am interested in philosophy, (digital) pedagogy, human dimension of technological development, literature, etc. Language is very important for me, so I read and write for pleasure, mostly impulsively, but passionately. The culture of speaking and writing has a special place on the list of my priorities.

I have 25+ years of experience as a lecturer in different parts of the world, and I can say that teaching is the best way of learning. Good students, regardless of the place and time, are and will be keen to learn. On the other hand, lecturers influence eternity, since they never know where their influence will end.

What are your goals as a professor at TalTech?

My main goal is to motivate fellow students to explore the world, and to find out some useful and inspirational things about it, regardless of the topic I teach. In Serbo-Croatian and German languages, for instance, there are nice words for education ”образовање (obrazovanje)“ and ”Ausbildung“, respectively. Besides attaining knowledge, these words refer to encouraging students to develop dignity and personality, which are dominantly based on continuous learning and reflecting. So, education is not only one-direction, specific knowledge transmission, but enabling students’ transformation and personal growth. My main task as a professor is to enhance these processes, by boosting students’ research curiosity, self-awareness, and dignity.

One surprise that you have had within your time at TalTech?

I was pleasantly surprised by the Seaplane Harbor Museum in Tallinn. It is very elegant and due to my opinion, comparable with the larger maritime museums like those in Barcelona, or in Stockholm. Unfortunately, museums of this kind in small medieval towns like Kotor and Perast, in my home country Montenegro, are very modest, but still worth visiting, if a life path brings you there. In the Seaplane Harbor, the Lembit submarine was very interesting to me. I slipped through it like a curious child and enjoyed it very much!