Elvir Kafedzic’s journey from Bosnian War refugee to St. Louis City SC assistant coach
In 2020, Elvir Kafedzic was tasked with helping St. Louis City SC build its academy teams from the ground up. His title was sporting consultant. Kafedzic‘s responsibilities included long hours watching film and scouring every inch of St. Louis for local soccer talent night after night with City SC sporting director Lutz Pfannenstiel and other staff. “We were going to hundreds of high school games, trying to watch as […]
St. Louis Welcomed This Bosnian Muslim Woman, Now She’s Giving Back
For Nermana Huskić, the seeds of her future as a resource and service provider for homeless people were planted young. At the age of 5, Huskić witnessed terror and violent intimidation by Serbian soldiers who barged into her home looking for her father and other male figures. It was 1992 and the start of the […]
Psychology graduate Sejla Muslic aims to support mental health among Bosnian community
Sejla Muslic’s mother might be looking forward to her upcoming college graduation even more than she is. “She gets emotional when we talk about it,” Muslic said. “She is very happy, very excited.” Muslic is set to earn her bachelor’s degree in psychology and a certificate in children’s advocacy studies from the University of Missouri–St. Louis, and she’ll be fulfilling […]
At Home on the Pitch: Elvir Kafedžić has Always Found Comfort in Soccer
From War-Torn Bosnia to Berlin to St. Louis, Elvir Kafedžić has always found comfort in the game of soccer The Gateway Arch, Anheuser-Busch, mouth-watering barbecue….there are plenty of things that out-of-towners tend to associate with St. Louis, but a bustling Bosnian community isn’t always one of them. As of 2013, there were 70,000 Bosnians in […]
Selmir Pidro: Discovering His St. Louis Spirit
In the mid to late 1990s, the city of St. Louis was changing. Bosnian families fled their home country in search of peace. Among the tears shed, new roots were planted. Neighborhoods once abandoned saw new life. Restaurants and cafes began to pop up spanning South City and South County, many of which were centered […]
Perceptions of Bosnians in St. Louis
Florian Sichling, Ajlina Karamehic-Muratovic, Evangelia Vamas, Emina Muratovic Abstract Perceptions and attitudes towards immigrants shape their adaptation and acculturation experiences. For immigrant youth, these perceptions also influence their developing sense of self and how they navigate different social contexts. Considering the growing diversity of immigrants and their places of settlement in the U.S., however, the […]
St. Louis County officer honored for his work in the Bosnian community
When he was 17, Emir Hadzic moved to the United States to escape the war in his native Bosnia. “St. Louis County Police Department assigned me to Affton for a smart reason,” says Hadzic, an officer in the department. “There’s a number of police officers who speak Bosnian, Serbian, and Croatian assigned to the South […]
UMSL alumnus stands out in his St. Louis County precinct as the only Bosnian-speaking officer
These days, Adis Fajic patrols the same streets where he grew up as he works the overnight shift for the St. Louis County Police Department. The job has him making regular drives past houses he once called home in south county, and he regularly runs into familiar faces among an enclave of fellow Bosnian immigrants who settled there […]
The Influence of Personal Predispositions on BosnianRefugees’ Resettlement Process
Wai Hsien Cheah, Ajlina Karamehic-Muratovic, Hisako Matsuo, Alma Poljarevic, Abstract The goal of this study was to examine the influence of personal predispositions on refugees’ resettlement process. The relationship among the participants’ motivation to learn about the U.S. culture, ethnic proximity, self-esteem, locus of control, intercultural willingness to communicate, functional fitness, psychological health, and ethnic […]
The Influence of Environmental Factors on BosnianRefugees’ Resettlement Process
Wai Hsien Cheah, Ajlina Karamehic-Muratovic, Hisako Matsuo, and Alma Poljarevic Abstract While Cheah, Karamehic-Muratovic, Matsuo, and Poljarevic (2008) examined theorems 1 through 6 of Kim’s (2001) Integrative Theory of Communication and Cross-Cultural Adaptation, this current study tested theorems 7 through 12 using data from 67 Bosnian refugees living in St. Louis, Missouri. A convenience sample […]