In my four years at UCLA, Dr. Krekic was my favorite professor. Not only did I take the Balkan history series with him, but I sought out the opportunity to take History 99 and later 199 with him in a seminar setting. He allowed me the academic freedom to explore the arts and history. He encouraged me to write about how the Yugoslavian folk dances I had learned in the dance department related the history of the people. Twenty years later, I called him about a high school student from Yugoslavia. When I introduced myself over the phone, he responded with a sincere smile in his voice, "You're the girl who taught me to dance!" I was floored that he remembered me after all those intervening years and students. If you want a professor who will allow you to grow as an academic researcher and thinker, then you need to take a class with Dr. Barisa Krekic. I am so grateful I did! He is wonderful, witty, humorous and infuses his lectures with his own stories which make the people and places come alive!