European Minorities
FUEN Members
Instituti i Studimeve për Çamërinë
Institute of Cham Studies
Rr. Themistokli Germenji, Pall. 1, Shk. 1,
Tirana
+355 4 2255 655
gazi@avis.al
Cham Albanians, or Chams, are a sub-group of Albanians who originally resided in the region of Epirus in northwestern Greece. There are 120,000-250,000 persons belonging to the minority.
The Institute of Cham Studies (ISÇ) is a non-profit organisation, established in May 2004 in Tirana. The primary aim of the institute is to increase the knowledge about the Chams – the history, ethnography, language, customs, region and culture, and to show the values of the Cham people that have existed and continue to exist, which are inherited to the new generations through culture and dialect that characterise the Cham people.
Activities of the institute are amongst other things the participation in different national and international conferences, organisation of national and international conferences in Albania, since 2005 organisation of a Summer School for international students for the minority rights in different locations where Chams and Albanian communities exist - in Macedonia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Italy etc. and publishing a magazine called “Thyamis” in two languages, Albanian and English.
