info@ahea.net
American Hungarian Educators Association - Amerikai Magyar Tanáregyesület
The development of science has not made mankind happier. Science and technology become dangerous whenever overspecialized and isolated... In the spirit of the old ‘Arany János Körök’ a general interest in the sciences should be created; thus we can reduce our isolation, and also perhaps the threat of an isolated technology. -- Eugene P. Wigner, Nobel Laureate at the 1976 AHEA Conference
The American Hungarian Educators Association (AHEA) is a scholarly and professional organization devoted to the teaching and dissemination of Hungarian culture. The Association provides opportunities for those interested in Hungarian studies and Hungarian heritage to further these interests by:
- actively supporting ethnic and multicultural programs to broaden awareness, within the United States, of Hungarian contributions to civilization;
- deepening the appreciation for Hungarian culture among Americans of Hungarian origin
- encouraging the maintenance of the Hungarian language and Hungarian studies in English
- As a heritage organization the AHEA is vitally interested in the preservation of historical documents and artifacts as close as possible to their place of creation.
The AHEA is open to cooperation with all groups interested in supporting Hungarian culture and Hungarian studies within the United States and Canada, as well as Central European countries with large indigenous Hungarian minorities.
Governance
1974 Articles of Incorporation
Maryland and New Jersey Certificates
2021 Amendments to the Articles of Incorporation
2021 Approved By-Laws
Standing Rules
Officers 2023 - 2025:
President: Helga Lénárt-Cheng, St. Mary's College of California, Moraga, California.
Vice-President: Zsuzsanna Varga, University of Glasgow, Scotland.
Secretary: Nóra Deák, Secretariat of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest
Treasurer: Kálmán Magyar, American Hungarian Folklore Centrum, New Jersey.
Immediate Past President: Klára Papp, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio.
Members-at-Large
Sarah Lucas, Texas A&M University Kingsville.
Éva Petrás, Committee of National Remembrance (NEB) Budapest
Mari Réthelyi, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA.
Membership Development Chair
Andrew Behrendt, Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T) Rolla, MO
Ex Officio: Nominating Committee Chair, Judith Kesserű Némethy, New York University.
Ex Officio: Editor-in-Chief, Hungarian Cultural Studies, e-Journal of the AHEA, Paul Olchváry, Publisher, New Europe Books.
Ex Officio: AHEA Webmaster, Katalin Vörös, University of California, Berkeley.
Board of Directors of the Association is made up of the Officers, the Members-at-Large, the Membership Development Chair and the three appointed Ex Officio members.
Board of Directors Meeting Minutes
Membership Development Committee:
Chair: Andrew Behrendt, Missouri S&T
Advisor: Katalin Kádár Lynn, Helena History Press, Reno, Nevada
Members: Nóra Deák, Secretariat of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest
Teodora Dömötör, Karoli Gaspar University, Budapest
Andrew Lee, Northern VA Community College
Zsuzsanna Varga, University of Glasgow, Scotland
Elizabeth Vos, Magyar Marketing, Evansville, Indiana
Standing Program Committee:
Program Committee Guidelines
Cultural Studies: Mártha Pereszlényi-Pintér, John Carroll University, Cleveland, Ohio.
Mari Réthelyi, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Education: Krisztina Fehér, Cleveland State University and University of Debrecen.
Andrea Parapatics, University of Pannonia, Veszprém.
History/Political Science: Péter Kristián Zachar, National University of Public Service, Budapest.
James P. Niessen, Rutgers University. New Jersey.
Language/Literature: Ákos Farkas, ELTE, Budapest, Hungary.
Zsuzsanna Varga, University of Glasgow, Scotland.
Music/Folklore: Sarah Lucas, Texas A&M University, Kingsville, Texas.
Judith Olson, American Hungarian Folklore Centrum, New Jersey.
Science/Economics: Andrew Lee, Northern Virginia Community College, Alexandria, Virginia.
Katalin Vörös, University of California, Berkeley.
Past Presidents:
1974-1975 Interim president Enikő M. Basa
1975-1978 Enikő M. Basa, two terms
1978-1982 Barbara Lotze, two terms
1982-1984 János Horváth
1984-1988 Martha Pereszlényi-Pinter, two terms
1988-1992 Enikő M. Basa, two terms
1992-1996 Katherine Gatto, two terms
1996-2000 Péter Pastor, two terms
2000-2004 Martha Pereszlényi-Pinter, two terms
2004-2008 Susan Glanz, two terms
2008-2012 Judith Kesserű Némethy, two terms
2012-2014 Julia Bock
2014-2018 James P. Niessen, two terms
2018-2023 Klára Papp, two terms +1 year (COVID)
2023- Helga Lénárt-Cheng
Programs
Annual Conferences at North American universities (every five years in Hungary) provide a scholarly forum and opportunity for workshops and discussion groups devoted to topics of special interest
List of All AHEA Conferences
The AHEA was organized in 1974 at the Magyar Találkozó in Cleveland, Ohio. The following year we held our meeting again in Cleveland, as a one-day event. 1976 saw the start of independent conferences of two days (Friday and Saturday), expanded in 1983 to include a program on Thursday evening and occasionally a study tour or cultural program on Sunday. Many of the conferences were co-sponsored by departments or programs from the host university as well as various local or national organizations.
1st 1976 Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ
2nd 1977 Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
3rd 1978 Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ
4th 1979 Silver Spring, MD
1979 Special Symposium on Transylvania, Kent State University, Ohio
5th 1980 St. Michael’s College, U. of Toronto, Toronto, Ont. Canada
Beginning with the 1981 Conference there has been a unifying theme given to each:
6th 1981 Kent State University, Kent, OH
Symposium on the Hungarian Revolution of 1956
7th 1982 Montclair State College, Upper Montclair, NJ
Culture of Hungarians in the USA
8th 1983 St. Michael’s College, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ont. Canada
9th 1984 Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
Hungary and Hungarians – Accomplishments and Prospects
10th 1985 Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
A Ten-Year Retrospective
11th 1986 St. Michael’s College, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ont. Canada
12th 1987 Montclair State College, Upper Montclair, NJ
Hungary and Its Neighbors – Hungary and the West
13th 1988 University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
Contributions of Hungarians and those of Hung. Descent to World Civilization
14th 1989 St. Michael’s College, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ont. Canada
With the Hungarian Studies Association of Canada
15th 1990 Montclair State College, Upper Montclair, NJ
Hungary in an Age of Crisis
16th 1991 Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
The Life and Times of Ernő Dohnányi
17th 1992 University of Toledo, Toledo, OH
A Commemorative Conf. on the Centennial of the Birmingham Neighborhood
18th 1993 University of Maryland, College Park, MD
Hungary in the 1990's: New Possibilities in a New Context
19th 1994 Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ
Fifteen Million Hungarians in Transition Today
20th 1995 U. du Québec, Montréal, Montreal, Que. Canada
At the Learned Societies of Canada Conference
21st 1996 Montclair State University, Upper Montclair, NJ
Hungarian Anniversaries: 896 and 1956
1996 Library of Congress: Commemorating 1100 years of Hungarian Statehood
Hungary on the Threshold of the 21st Century
22nd 1997 U. of Maryland, College Park, MD
A Thousand Years of Hungarian Education: Toward the Second Millennium
23rd 1998 Columbia University, New York, NY
Reform, Revolution, Integration: Hungary Past and Present
24th 1999 John Carroll University, Cleveland, OH
Memory, Culture and Identity: The Hungarian Global Village at the End of the Millennium
25th 2000 Magyar Kultúra Alapítvány/Hungarian Culture Foundation, Budapest, Hungary
Hungarians in North America – Magyarok Észak Amerikában
26th 2001 Georgetown University, Washington, DC
Hungarian Culture – Central European Culture
27th 2002 University of Toronto, Toronto, Ont, Canada
At the Congress of Social Sciences and Humanities in Canada
28th 2003 Columbia University, New York, NY
Hungarian Culture, Global Culture
29th 2004 Montclair State University, Upper Montclair, NJ
Hungarians at a Turning Point
30th 2005 Central European University, Budapest, Hungary
Looking Forward – Looking Back: The AHEA at Thirty
31st 2006 Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution
Cold War Hungary, the Revolution of 1956, and its Aftermath
32nd 2007 St. John’s University College of Professional Studies, New York, NY
Hungarians in a Larger World
33rd 2008 Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA
Hungarian Identity in an Intercultural World
34th 2009 University of California, Berkeley, CA
Hungarians in the New World
35th 2010 University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary
Bridges Between Hungarians – Magyar-Magyar Kapcsolatok
36 th 2011 John Carroll University, Cleveland, OH
Whither Europe? Whither Hungary? The Challenges of Pluralism in the Twenty-first Century
37th 2012 Long Island University, Brooklyn Campus, New York
Hungarian Borders, [Im]migrations, Diasporas
38th 2013 Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ
Preserving the Past, Finding the Future – Őrizzük a múltat, keressük a jövőt.
39th 2014 University of Florida, Gainesville
Turning Points in Hungarian Life and History
Fordulópontok a magyar életben és történelemben
40th 2015 Kolozsvár/Cluj-Napoca
Identities Beyond Borders ― Határokon átívelő identitások
41st 2016 University of Maryland Conference Center
― Migration and Emigration ― On the 60th Anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution 1956
― Migráció és emigráció ― Az 1956-os Forradalom és Szabadságharc 60. évfodulója alkalmából
42nd 2017 Ryerson University, Toronto, ON Canada
Joint Meeting with the Hungarian Studies Association of Canada
Sovereignty, Compromise, and the Making of Modern Hungary: 1867 and Beyond
Függetlenség, Kiegyezés és a modern Magyarország kialakulása: 1867 és azután
43rd 2018 Cleveland State University
Forging the Future, Facing the Past: Hungary and its Diaspora
A jövőbe tekintve, figyelembe véve a múltat: Magyarország és a diaszpóra
44th 2019 University of Pittsburgh
Identity: Hungarian, European, Global?
Identitás: magyar, európai, globális?
45th 2020/2021 University of Pécs, postponed from 2020 to 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic
Online conference: Cultural Crossroads
46th 2022 University of Pécs, Zoom conference
Interactions between Hungarians and Hungarian Communities Abroad
47th 2023 Quinnipac University, Hamden, Connecticut
Dependencies and Alliances
Publications
American Hungarian Educator -- The newsletter of the Association, edited by Enikő M. Basa, reports on the annual conference and members` meeting and carries announcements about books, programs, scholarships and general news: Volume I (1978) - Volume XLII (2020).
Newsletter -- As of December 2020, the Membership Committee publishes a monthly Newsletter, edited by Andrew Behrendt, reporting on events, starting with the President` Corner, Member Spotlight, upcoming publications, and conference news.
Hungarian Cultural Studies - e-Journal of the American Hungarian Educators Association publishes selected papers and other articles of interest to Hungarian Studies, including selected papers from our yearly conferences. (Launch date: 2008, Louise O. Vasvári, Editor-in-Chief, 2011-2022)
Web site (https://ahea.net/): up-to-date information on conferences, including call for papers, abstracts of conference papers, and programs; awards, governance and general membership information.
E-mail list for members about timely items such as scholarships, new publications, conferences.
Activities
Hungarian Picnic, a twice yearly get-together for Hungarians and friends in the Washington, DC area
Homecoming Forum (with the Hungarian Embassy and the HungarianAmerica Foundation): a forum for exchange of ideas and the problems and questions of Hungarians studying and working in the US
Supports sessions at professional organizations on Hungarian topics
Liaison for the Smithsonian Institution 1976 Festival of American Folklife and the Hungarian participants–the only Eastern European country able to participate because local support was forthcoming
Presented Position Papers to and testified before the President’s Commission on Language and International Studies
Alliances and Partners
Hungarian Studies Association of Canada
http://hungarianstudies.org/
Hungarian Studies Association
http://hungarianstudies.info/about.html
New members
Membership is open to all interested persons who wish to engage in Hungarian studies or to support them. We welcome persons from a variety of disciplines and backgrounds.
If interested, please click on Membership Information and Registration.