Allen, Marguerite

Roberta Buffett Center for International and Comparative Studies, Northwestern University

The Rupture in French-Hungarian Relations, 1896-1914

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
Between 1896 and 1914, a rupture in Hungarian-French relations occurred that ultimately manifested itself in the Treaty of Trianon. My paper throws new light on the genesis of this rupture, possibly the most important turning point in recent Hungarian history.

At the turn of the twentieth century, relations between Hungary and France appeared to favor rapprochement. The 1896 Millennium celebration in Budapest reawakened French interest in Hungary. The French had long admired the Hungarians who led the 1848 Revolution, and Madame Adams' “Friends of Hungary” salon, popular in the 1880s, revived in the late 1890s with prominent new members. In Hungary, the Francophile Independence Party, which won the most votes in the January 1905 elections, promoted the idea that Hungary deserved more independence from Austria. Independents wanted a Hungarian note-issuing bank, tariff independence, and more control over the Hungarian army. Dissatisfaction with the Triple Alliance was openly expressed in Budapest. Deputy Gábor Ugron, a leader of the Francophile wing of the Independence Party, discussed with French Minister of Foreign Affairs Theophile Delcassé the possibility of turning “the dual monarchy of the Hapsburgs in the direction of France and Russia.” The French, who viewed Hungary as the 'weak link' in the Triple Alliance, saw an opportunity to draw Hungary into the French sphere of influence.

How did relations between Hungary and France, so promising at the beginning of the century, end so disastrously in World War I and in the treaties thereafter?



Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Marguerite DeHuszar Allen received her PhD from the University of Chicago. She published a book on the Faust Legend based on her dissertation. She began researching her Hungarian roots in 1999, publishing an essay and article about family members. A Fulbright Scholar Research Grant, Hungary, helped launch her projected book on the history of the Hungarian journal Revue de Hongrie, edited by her grandfather. Her interests focus on twentieth century Europe, including the two world wars and the Hungarian Holocaust. She is an independent scholar affiliated with Northwestern University's Center for International and Comparative Studies, where she has been a Visiting Scholar.




Balogh, Éva S.

Independent Scholar

Hungarian Spectrum

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
Éva Balogh's Hungarian Spectrum, reflections on politics, economics, and culture blog has been selected for archiving by the Library of Congress. hungarianspectrum.wordpress.com


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Eva S. Balogh left Hungary in December 1956, after the failed Hungarian revolution. She studied at Carleton University, Ottawa, where she received a B.A. (hon.)degree in 1965, majoring in history. She continued her studies at Yale University, where she received an M.A. in Russian and East European Studies, an interdisciplinary program, and Ph.D. in history. Dr. Balogh taught East European history at Yale and published a number of studies on Hungarian foreign policy and party politics between the two world wars.




Bártfay, Arthur A.

Independent scholar

1912--My Hungarian Parents Move to America--A Family History

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
My parents--Bartfai Sandor & Toth Julianna--were born in Austria-Hungary. They were zseller who moved to Granite City, Illinois,
where other Toth sibilings had immigrated earlier. They had eight children. I was born in 1935 on a farm & started school in a one room school house down the road. In 1978, I made my first of five visits to Hungary, making contact with relatives. Uncle Imre was living in the Hungarian equivalent of an American log cabin. It had a thatched roof. Water came from a well in the yard.
One hundred years after my parent's immigration, I attended the Toth-Bartfay
reunion in St. Louis, MO.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Arthur Allan Bartfay graduated from Central High School in Flint, Michigan; earned a BA and MA from Michigan State University in East Lansing. He served on the faculties of Northern Illinois University in DeKalb and Central Michigan University in Mt. Pleasant. Arthur earned ABD credits at The Ohio State University in Columbus and, after 25 years, retired from the staff of Ohio State.




Biro, Ruth

Duquesne University

Hungary's Compelling Legacy of Visual Literacy: Memorable Spatial/Historical/Cultural Images of the Homeland in Materials for Youth

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
Study regarding Hungary's legacy of visual literacy emanates from an examination of school atlases published in Hungary, a series which presents memorable spatial/historical/cultural images that enhance visual learning, support Gardners's theory of multiple intelligence, and produce lasting memories. Comparative methods and geography scores attained by Hungarian students in international assessments also receive attention.
Hungary's exceptional contributions to numerous fields of endeavor are widely acknowledged and include WWII era emigre scientists in the USA such as Szilard, Teller, Von Neumann, Wigner and others frequently designated "Hungarian Martians" for their remarkable talents. Five Hungarian emigre author/illustrators have been identified as "Hungarian Martians with Color Pencils" in recognition of their superior skill in portraying memorable Hungarian characters, descriptions, and themes pertaining to the homeland for youth following their immigration to English-speaking countries. British Kate Greenaway Medal awardees Victor Ambrus (many Hungarian tales) and Val Biro (Hungarian Folk Tales and other) now live in England. Willy Pogany illustrated Tisza Tales and Hungarian Fairy Tales, among others. Caldecott awardees MIska Perersham and his American wife wrote Miki and other books. Kate Seredy was a Newbery honoree twice and the Newbery medal winner for three of her books about the homeland, The Good Master, The Singing Tree, and The White Stag. An additional author/illustrator to be discussed is Tibor Gergely, Caldecott honor illustrator of Wheel on the Chimney about the migration of storks in Hungary which includes images of the Kortvelyes ancestral estate of his wife poet/artist Anna Lesznai, also seen in other works.
Visual images appearing in The Hunter and the Animals , a wordless picture book by American author/illustrator Tomi DePaola feature folk depictions fro Hofer and Fel's Hungarian Folk Art in the background. Memorable visual images inspired the Hungarian Picture Dictionary for Americans by Biro, Kontra, and Radnai ( Budapest Tankonyvkiado, 1989), illustrated by Ferenc Sajdik, with photographs by Ede Tomori. Specific visual components complete the picture of compelling spatial/historical/cultural images of the Hungarian homeland for youth.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Dr. Biro earned an M.L.S. and Ph. D. from the University of Pittsburgh. A founding member of AHEA, she served as curriculum coordinator of the AHEA Ethnic Heritage Study of Pittsburgh FY 80-81, authoring "Children's Hungarisn Heritage" and "Hungarian Folk Traditions Revised" for the project. Her review of Kate Seredy's The Good Master appeared in Magill's Masterplots: Juvenile and Young Adult Literature II (1991). She directed two Fulbright-Hays Group Projects to Hungary, each onsite for six weeks for university professors in 1990 and for educators in 1991, which included visits to schools and education agencies and examination of Hungarian educational materials. With Judith Lechner, she compiled and presented the annotated guide "Children's Books by and about Hungsrians and about Hungary" for the International Reading Association World Congress at Eotvos Lorand University in Budapest in 2006. Dr. Biro was the AHEA Peter Basa Award recipient in 2012.




Bock, Julia

Long Island University

Hungarian Jewish Women Doctors during the Holocaust

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
The fate of women was different from men during the holocaust. They were ordered for Labor services only by the very end of the ordeal of the holocaust,after October 21, 1944 following the Ferenc Szálasi political take over. As the Head of State, he ordered women in Budapest, between 16 and 40 years of age to present themselves at the KISOK (Közép Iskolás Sportolók Országos Köre) Stadium with three days food supplies. By that time major deportation from the country-side that started at the beginning of April 44 that included women, was accomplished. The paper describes the women entering the profession, their choice of fields and their special fate during the Shoa.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Julia Bock completed her dual master’s degrees in History and Library Science, and her post graduate training at the Eötvös Lóránd University in Budapest, with a Ph.D. in History. The subject of her dissertation was the Minority Problem in the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. She worked as a research librarian at the Library of Parliament in Budapest.

After immigrating to the United States, she held various positions, first at the International Law section of NYU’s Law Library, later at the Bakhmeteff Archive at Columbia University as an Assistant Archivist. She studied for her MLS degree at Columbia University’s School of Library Service graduation she worked as a Technical Service librarian for a major law firm in New York. In 1994 she became the Head Librarian of the Leo Baeck Institute library, a German Jewish research collection. In 1998 she was invited for a position to create and to be the Head of the Library at the Museum of Jewish Heritage. Presently, she is the Acquisition Librarian at Long Island University Brooklyn Campus in an Associate Professor rank.




Cornelius, Deborah

Independent Scholar

The Many Lives of a Hungarian Jewish Scout Troop: 311. Vörösmarty cs.cs.

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
The Vörösmarty scout troop, founded in 1924, was officially banned from the Hungarian Scouting Association in 1941 along with all Jewish troops. Despite the ban the troop continued its activities - weekly meetings, Sunday hikes, a winter camp and summer camp, under the auspices of the Buda Jewish Community. Its leaders, mainly young Jewish intellectuals, strove to 'toughen' their charges. Scouts learned not only such skills as first aid and orientation but also literature and philosophy. On March 19, 1944, as the scouts were returning from their usual Sunday hike, they were quickly dispersed. The Germans had arrived.

Ten months later, in January 1945, the Vörösmarty came back to life. Several leaders, returning from forced labor, revived the troop which gained new vigor under the auspices of the Trade Unions. The troop now included girls - the first and only co-ed scout troop in Hungary. In 1948, the Vörösmarty was again dissolved, this time by the communists.

Fifty-two years later in 2000, former Vörösmarty members reached out to still surviving fellow scouts. The troop was revived and carries on activities in Budapest, including an annual meeting in April, when former members arrive from far-flung sites. This April the members celebrated the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Vörösmarty troop. The first of its many lives.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Deborah S. Cornelius received her PhD degree at Rutgers University in 1994. (MAT at Yale University, 1958 and BA from Connecticut College for Women, 1956.) Her scholarly interests include social and economic reform in Hungary, 1920-1945, Hungary's involvement in World War II, and the postwar democratic experiment, 1945-1948. She published two books on these subjects, Hungary in World War II: Caught in the Cauldron. Fordham U. Press, 2011 and In Search of the Nation: The New Generation of Hungarian Youth in Czechoslovakia 1925-1934. Columbia U. Press, 1999.





Csorba, Mrea

University of Pittsburgh

A Raptor Head in the Ear (and Tail) of a Stag: Re-assessment of Heraldic Steppe Imagery from Budapest to Beijing – a Century Later

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
Recovery of Iron Age animal plaques in the early decades of the twentieth century that featured profiled images of the heraldic stag from two peripheral regions of the Eurasian steppe—namely Hungary’s Carpathian Basin and China’s Northern Zone—stirred academic interest before succumbing to Cold War neglect. A review of Hungary’s Scythian-styled Zöldhalompuszta and Tápioszentmárton gold plaques is prompted by publication of newly excavated bronze plaques from China’s northeast that like the Zöldhalompuszta piece combine two key diagnostic motifs of migratory steppe culture. The uncanny symmetry of a raptor’s head tucked in the ear of the Carpathian stag and the tail of the Chinese stags mandates recognition of the kaleidoscopic utility of select steppe imagery from the Danube to the Amur Rivers. This paper reviews cultural biases that, along with the reality of disturbed sites and mixed burials, stymied archeological assessment at both ends of the steppe. With the new data, it offers methodological insight to infuse Hungary’s migratory legacy with relevance for the twenty-first century.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Mrea Csorba received all three academic degrees from the University of Pittsburgh. She has been teaching art history at the University of Pittsburgh and Duquesne University as adjunct Assistant Professor since the early 90’s.
Her MA thesis (1987) investigated horse-reliant cultures associated with Scythian steppe culture. The Ph.D. (1997) expanded research of pastoral groups to non-Chinese dynastic populations documented in northern China. Dr. Csorba's current research continues the theme documenting diagnostic artifacts of Scythian culture in the peripheral reaches of the Eurasian steppes. She first presented on the stag plaques of Hungary at an International Conference on China’s Periphery and Beyond held at the University of Pittsburgh, May 2011. Subsequently she presented the Hungarian material with parallel material that had recently been reassessed to northeast China, along with newly excavated artifacts, at the International Symposium hosted by the 1st Emperor’s Institute of Archeology in Xian, China, Aug. 2013.





Czipott, Peter V.

Independent Scholar

The Prophetic Voice in the Poetry of Miklós Radnóti and Sándor Márai

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
As the shadows of war, fascism and genocide became pitch-dark over Hungary 70 years ago, Radnóti and Márai both turned to a prophetic voice in their poetry. Radnóti’s Eclogues, begun in the late 1930’s, fuse Virgilian classicism, modern colloquialism, and the spirit of Biblical prophecy. The prophetic voice reaches its apogee in the Eighth Eclogue where the prophet Nahum speaks. Márai, in his “Book of Verses” – much of it written simultaneously with Radnóti’s final “Bor Notebook” – finds a similar breadth of expression. Márai’s rage at Hungary’s betrayal of its moral and cultural heritage reaches similar levels of biblical thunder. Radnóti’s late poetry and “The Book of Verses” present complementary poetic images of the times. The two authors had different perspectives – Radnóti, a victim of the Holocaust and Márai, a Gentile survivor (who also saved his Jewish wife) – but their humanity and morality were alike. Radnóti is deservedly known worldwide as a great poet of the twentieth century and chronicler of the Holocaust. Márai, best known for his prose, deserves recognition for a fine body of verse, even if it does not reach the very highest rank. Similarities and contrasts between their poetry will be discussed, using recently published translations of Radnóti and Márai.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Peter V. Czipott, Ph.D., is an applied physicist and literary translator. Born in California to Hungarian parents, he obtained B.A. and Ph.D. degrees in physics from the University of California, San Diego. Working with the poet John Ridland, he has published translations of poetry by, among others, Miklós Radnóti, Sándor Márai, György Faludy, Sándor Reményik and Bálint Balassi in journals in the U.S., UK and Australia, as well as bilingual book-length editions of selected poems by Radnóti (“All that Still Matters at All”, New American Press, 2014) and Márai (“The Withering World”, Alma Classics, 2013).




DeRose, Kathy

Duquesne University

Judith Fenyvesi, Sister of Social Service: Leader/Activist in the USA in the aftermath of the Hungarian Holocaust and Communist Era

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
This presentation will detail the life of Sr. Judith Fenyvesi, Sister of Social Service, who was a leader and activist in the aftermath of the Hungarian Holocaust and Communist era. Some writers say that she was a “Woman of Courage and Light.” The amazing story of her life indeed reflects these two attributes. Sr. Judith was born into a prominent Jewish family in Salonta, Romania—a small village near the Hungarian border. This territory later became a tug of war between the two countries. Turning points in her life as they relate to Hungarian history will unfold in this presentation.

Some of the major events that shaped the life of Judith Fenyvesi include her conversion from Judaism to Catholicism; she worked in the Catholic resistance movement in an effort to maintain Religious freedom under Communist rule; when ties to Rome among priests and bishops were severed by the Communist regime, it was Sr. Judith who carried messages to the Papal Nuncio; she was later arrested and held for 28 months before she was sentenced to ten years in prison as a political prisoner. In 1964 Sr. Judith immigrated to the United States where she joined the Sisters of Social Service in Buffalo, NY. After completing a Bachelor’s Degree and a Master’s degree in the states, she created a social work program at Daemen College, eventually serving as its Director.

Perhaps the darkest and most painful event of her life was the annihilation of her entire family at Auschwitz. While she felt the guilt of survival for many years, Sr. Judith used the harsh realities of the Holocaust to fulfill a lifelong dream; that was, to work to alleviate human suffering and to give hope to those in darkness.

Fran Rossi Szpylczyn recently posted on a Pastoral blog the following, “What strikes me is that in Judith we find a woman, persecuted at many levels—for being a Jew, for being a woman religious, for being a Catholic. And even at her worst, she found the light of Christ to guide her on through many circumstances” (pastoralpostings.wordpress.com/tag/Judith-fenyvesi, 25 June 2013).


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Kathy DeRose, Ed. D. has worked at Duquesne University for the past 26 years and is currently Director of Continuing Professional Development in the School of Pharmacy. In addition she is the Assistant Director of the Post baccalaureate Weekend PharmD. Program. Dr. DeRose holds both Administrative and Instructor positions in the School of Pharmacy.

In her current position in the School of Pharmacy, she has developed an education methods rotation, a 12-credit academic concentration and currently works with Pharmacy Residents and Fellows in the teaching methods component of their residencies and fellowships. Her coursework includes: Service Learning, Teaching Methods for the Pharmacy Practitioner, Organizational Leadership, Conflict Resolution and Intro to Qualitative Research Methods.





Di Francesco, Amedeo

Università degli Studi di Napoli "L'Orientale" (Naples Eastern University)

Amerika mint irodalmi téma a XX. századi magyar irodalomban

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
2002-ben megjelent Budapesten egy antológia "Amerika! Amerika! Magyar írók novellái Amerikáról, az amerikai emberről, és az amerikai magyarokról" címmel. Az angyagát gyűjtötte, válogatta és összeállította Kőrössi P. József, Noran Könyvkiadónál. Az előadásom célja ezek a novellák a bemutatása és elemzése, amely hasznos megközelítés lehet annak a képnek a megértéséhez, amelyet Amerikáról alkottak Magyarországon, a XX. sz. első felében.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Dr. Amedeo Di Francesco a „L’Orientale” Nápolyi Tudományegyetem professzora, magyar nyelvet és irodalmat tanít. A Miskolci Egyetem és a Debreceni Egyetem díszdoktora. 1971-ben a Római Tudományegyetemen szerzett diplomát magyar szakon. 1975-ben a Magyar Tudományos Akadémián szerzett kandidátusi fokozatot. 1994-ben kulturális tevékenységéért a Premio Internazionale Sebetia-Ter per la Cultura díjjal tüntették ki Nápolyban. 1995-től az Annali dell’Università degli Studi di Napoli “L’Orientale” – Studi Finno-Ugrici főszerkesztője. 1996-ban a Magyar Köztársaság művelődési és közoktatási minisztere a Pro Cultura Hungarica emlékplakettet adományozta számára. 1996-tól 2006-ig a Nemzetközi Magyar Filológiai Társaság (majd Nemzetközi Magyarságtudományi Társaság) elnöke, jelenleg választmányi tagja. 2002-ben a Hungarica et Slavica könyvsorozat alapítója (Boris Uspenskijjel és Aleksander Wilkoń-nyal) a nápolyi M. D’Auria kiadónál, 2008-ban az Ister – Collana di Studi Ungheresi sorozaté (Edizioni dell’Orso, Alessandria). 2002-ben Magyar Köztársaság elnökétől a magyar–olasz kapcsolatok ápolásáért és fejlesztéséért A Magyar Köztársági Érdemrend Középkeresztje kitüntetésben részesült. 2006-ban Nemzetközi Magyarságtudományi Társaság Lotz János-emlékérmet adományozott neki a hungarológia terén kifejtett nagy jelentőségű kutatói, oktatói és szervezői munkájáért. Több mint kétszáz publikációja van, olasz, magyar, angol, francia, német, horvát nyelven. Világszerte tartott tudományos előadásokat hungarológia témakörben.




Fodor, Mónika

University of Pécs

Even Pictures Don’t Tell: Constructing a Sense of History in Stories of the Past

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
In this paper I discuss the power of history as narrated in personal stories about family members’ participation in major events of Hungarian and world history. Interview-based narratives are analyzed from the perspective of the storytellers’ sense of history. Narratives shift the focus of history from texts to interpreters and historical culture thus becomes a story created by participants rather than something read or viewed by them. Stories about historical events create and maintain communities as well as ethno-cultural identities in specific ways that allow several interpretations and recontextualizations. Relating to personal stories, a sense of history is defined as the knowledge of multiple series of events in the past that the individual applies to create interpretive frames of the surrounding world. Thus, the past and the present are linked in the narrative, which often breaks the traditions of linearity and disrupts the unity of textual truth and textual purpose. I approach the stories from narrative and discourse analytical perspectives.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Monika Fodor works as assistant professor at the Department of English Literatures and Cultures at the University of Pécs. Her research interest includes narratives, identity, ethnicity, oral histories, ethnographic fieldwork and the applications of these fields in teaching English as a foreign language. Currently she is working on exploring uncertainty and the chaos/complexity perspective in the context of assimilation and narrative identity construction. Her most recent publication is a co-edited volume (Arapoglou, Fodor, Nyman eds.)titled Mobile Narratives. Travel, Migration and Transculturation published by Routledge, New York.






Freifeld, Alice

University of Florida

From Chastened to Unchastened Crowd, 1989 to the Present

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
Crowd politics has been an essential element of Hungarian nationalism since the nineteenth century. Political scientists have made a sharp division between crowd politics and festive gatherings, between grassroots activism and government orchestrated events. But Hungarian politics invariably interconnect the two. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán operates within this tradition. Since 1989 he has employed political demonstration theater.

This paper will examine the assumption of the role of crowd leader by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán including his ability to use, seize, or orchestrate both festive gatherings and politically defiant crowds for regime change or to increase his hold on power; for electoral victories or parliamentary advantage, to attract international support or rally internally against foreign opinion.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Alice Freifeld received her PhD (1992), M.A. and B.A. from University of California, Berkeley. She joined the University of Florida in 1994 after teaching at Wheaton College, University of New Hampshire-Durham, University of Connecticut-Storrs, University of Nebraska, and Transylvania University, Lexington, KY. Professor Freifeld has published Nationalism and the Crowd in Liberal Hungary, 1848-1914 (2000), which won the Barbara Jelavich Book Prize in 2001. She also coedited East Europe Reads Nietzsche with Peter Bergmann and Bernice Rosenthal (1998). She has published numerous articles and is currently working on a manuscript entitled Displaced Hungarian Jewry, 1945-48.




Gyékényesi, John P. and Iren

NASA/Cleveland State U.

The Story of Andrew Stephen Grove - Mover of Intel Corporation and Pillar of Silicon Valley

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
Grove was born András István Gróf in Budapest, Hungary in 1936. He is a science pioneer in the semiconductor industry, businessman, engineer, manager, and author. He escaped from Communist-controlled Hungary in 1956 and moved to the US where he finished his education. He earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the City College of New York in 1960 (graduated No.1 in class) and a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of CA, Berkeley in 1963. After graduation, he worked for 5 years at Fairchild Semiconductor where he researched integrated circuits that eventually led to the microcomputer revolution in the 1970’s. In 1968 Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore (of Moore’s law fame) founded Intel and Andrew Grove joined them as the company’s first employee. He has been with Intel ever since, serving in various capacities including president in 1979, its CEO in 1987 and its Chairman and CEO in 1997. In 2004 he switched to being a senior advisor and lecturer at Stanford University.
Grove is credited with having transformed Intel from a maker of memory chips into a most dominant producer of microprocessors, with close to 100 000 employees. During his career, Intel became the model for Silicon Valley. Silicon Valley became the model for the world. And Grove became Time’s Man of the Year (1997) - an icon of the promise of American life.
His main slogan in approaching business, that is “Only the Paranoid Survive” grew out of his difficult life experiences. Other relatively new managerial concepts such as “strategic inflection point”, “constructive confrontation”, “knowledge power trumps position power” and the “devil is in the details” are also attributed to Grove’s innovative leadership style. These ideas guided him in making Intel’s death –defying climb to dominate the market for the world’s most important product in our digital information age. It can be safely said without hesitation that he is the best role model we have for doing business in the 21st century.



Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Dr. John P. Gyekenyesi is the Structures and Materials Division Engineer (retired) at the NASA Glenn Research Center and Adjunct Professor of Mechanics at Cleveland State University. He holds a bachelor and a master degree in Mechanical Engineering from Case Western Reserve University and a Ph.D. in Mechanics from Michigan State University. He authored and coauthored more than 80 scientific publications. He lectured widely in the USA, Europe and the Far East, mainly on durability and structural integrity of aircraft and spacecraft using advanced materials. For 20 years, he was manager of one of NASA’s largest mechanics research departments, focused on propulsion and power systems.




Haba, Kumiko

Harvard University (1 year), Aoyama Gakuin University, Tokyo

Democratization and Nationalism in Hungary after 1989

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
Democracy is not only the institution or institutionalization, but originally demos and kratos, people's good governance in the given society. At that time Nationalism/populism will be the important role of democracy to mobilize the people.
Hungary was the "honor student" of Democratization and Marketization in Central Europe before and after 1989, or even historically. The experiments of Democratization as the theory, policy, and performance were repeated in Hungary collaborated with other Central Europeans, western and American researchers and politicians. Pragmatic Democratization were brought up under the Kadar era, or already in 1848, 1918, 1946-, and 1956, as well.

The author will investigate the democratization in Hungary comparing other Central and Eastern Europe after the transformation in 1989 around 25 years, under so called “Anglo-Saxon” Two major party system, between Socialist Party and FIDESZ.
The author would like to investigate the Democratization with Nationalism more concretely after transition era, considering political participation, accountability and transparency, minority rights, social welfare and poverty and others. The author wishes to consider as well, why Hungary became relatively lower developed country comparing other Central Europe in the EU during these 14 years after 21st century even under the development of Democracy. And how is it possible to change for further Hungarian development.



Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Dr. Kumiko Haba is Professor, Member of Science Council for Japan, Jean Monnet Chair in the EU, and former Director of European Institute, Former Governing Council of the International Studies Association (ISA) in USA. She researched at MTA Tortenettudomanyi Intezete in Hungary, during 1978-80, 1994-95, and at Harvard University during 2011-12. Her Specialty is EU and NATO Enlargement and Hungarian Democratization, Nationalism and Minority questions (Hatarontuli magyarok kisebbsegi kerdesek es nemzeti egyutteles). She wrote 50 books (including co-writer) and 160 articles. Recent publications: The Euro Crisis and European Political Economy, ed. by Robert Boyer, Ivan T. Berend, and Kumiko Haba, 2013. History of Hungarian Revolution--Nationalism and Socialism in Eastern Europe, Tokyo, 1989.




Hargitai, Péter

Florida International University

Sándor Kányádi’s Romantic Renaissance: Beyond Shelley, Petőfi and Contemporary Populist Poetry

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
The paper will explore in what sense Kányádi’s verse signals a revival of romanticism espoused by the romantic poets Percy Shelley, Sándor Petőfi, and contemporary populist poetry. While focusing on a comparative study of the subject matter, style, and craft of Kányádi’s “new” romanticism within the scope of the tradition, the study will demonstrate how the Hungarian poet’s pioneering voice may be regarded as a forerunner to contemporary American populist poetry. The proposed primary texts for the investigation include a new translation by Paul Sohar, In Contemporary Tense (Iniquity Press / Irodalmi Jelen, 2013), The Norton Anthology of Literature (W.W. Norton Vol. II, Fourth Edition, 1979), Petőfi Sándor’s Összes Költeményei (Szépirodalmi Könyvkiadó, 1960) and The Oxford Handbook of Modern and Contemporary American Poetry (Oxford University Press, 2011).


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Peter Hargitai is an award-winning translator, poet and novelist, who publishes regularly in both English and Hungarian, He is an Associate of the Academy of American Poets and member of the Hungarian Writers Union. He is a retired Senior Lecturer in English from Florida International University.




Havas, Judit

Petőfi Irodalmi Múzeum, Budapest

“…irodalomról engedd meg hallgatnom. Ez a lélek uborkaszezonja.” (A Nyugat Harmadik Nemzedéke levelezése, 1930-1950-es évek)

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
Előadásom tárgya, kutatásom témája a XX. századi magyar irodalom Nyugat harmadik nemzedék tagjainak – Jékely Zoltán, Radnóti Miklós, Vas István, Takáts Gyula, Weöres Sándor, Kálnoky László -, állásfoglalása a vészterhes korszakban és 1945 utáni években.
Az egymás közti levélváltás gyorsasága nem csak az odafigyelést reprezentálja, de az irodalomba való besegítésnek is elszánt voltát. Az is kiderül a dokumentumokból, hogy gyakran egymás vendégei is voltak; de beszámolnak egymásnak verstani próbálkozásaikról, nevezetesen a rossz rím kérdésről alkotott véleményeket is megtudhatjuk az írásokból; s a magánéleti eseményekről is hírt adtak egymásnak a levelezésükben.
Izgalmas az a Rónay György által megörökített 1938-39-es találkozás is Radnóti Miklóssal, amelyet "Az igazra tanú" címmel jelentetett meg. Weöres Sándor doktorálni készül. Eközben a világban egyre feszültebb, sötétebb lesz a politikai helyzet. Háború készülődik.
Ebben a felbolydulni készülő világban a poetikai kérdésekről szóló beszámolók mellett a magánélet gondjai is nagyobb teret kapnak. Ahogy ez Vas István levélből is kiderül:
„Részint a Te ösztökélésedre kísérletezem most a magyar ritmussal – írja Vas István 1939 júliusában Kaposvárra. E nemben két olyan verset írtam most, ami talán a Te tetszésedet is meg fogja nyerni. […] Életem körülményeiről teljes bizonytalanságban lebegünk. Az én remek ideiglenes állásom megszűnt.”
S a lengyelországi dráma hírére Weöres Sándor furcsa olvasmányélményével reagál. A levelet 1939. október 22-én, Csöngéről írta: „Igaz is: most olvastam egy 1936-ban kiadott jóslat-gyűjteményt. Szerinte 1938-ban kitör az új nagy háború és 1945 körül ér véget. Páris és Marseille szerinte elpusztul, Francia-, Angol- és Oroszországban forradalom támad és minden összeomlik náluk. A cseh és lengyel ügyről a jós nyilván nem látott előre semmit. A végén Németországban támad egy fenenagy császár, stb.; szóval igen svábízű jóslat.”
Megkeseredettség, reménytelenség olvasható az 1940–41-ből írott levelekből. Jékely Zoltán 1944 májusában Erdélybe várja Takáts Gyulát, s azt írja: “irodalomról engedd meg hallgatnom. Ez a lélek uborkaszezonja.”
1945 után közülük jó néhányan foglalkoztak azzal a gondolattal, hogy újra kellene indítaniuk a Nyugat-ot. A lap szerepét részben átvette a Magyarok, ennek lettek a munkatársai, s itt folytatták vitáikat a megváltozott történelmi helyzetben való irodalmi szerepükről, lehetőségeikről.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Havas Judit irodalomtörténész, előadóművész felsőfokú tanulmányait az Eötvös Loránd Tudomány Egyetem Bölcsészettudományi Karán magyar-könyvtár szakon végezte. 1975 óta előadóművész. 2003-ban PhD fokozatot szerzett az ELTE Irodalomtörténeti Intézetében. Témavezetője Dr. Kenyeres Zoltán professzor volt. Jelenleg a Petőfi Irodalmi Múzeum tudományos főmunkatársa. 2006. március 15-én a Köztársasági Elnök a Magyar Köztársaság Érdemrend Lovagkeresztje kitüntetésben részesítette irodalmi munkássága elismeréseként.




Hegedűs, István

Hungarian Academy of Sciences

Turning Point in the Research of Hungarica Collections?

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
Researchers of Hungarian emigrant history, for various reasons (earlier political taboos, fragmented worldwide diaspora, lack of sources and expertise) have been struggling with a backlog for at least two generations. The discipline of emigrnt literature, both in Hungary and abroad, is still painfully lacking its own research institute or any kind of scientific infrastructure. Much of its primary sources are not properly explored, though they are more and more endangered by the passing away of the most active emigré generation, that of the onetime young ’56-ers. The failed efforts of the past two or three decades for saving what could be saved have clearly proven by now. Without an overall, systhematic resource exploration of scientific standards both in Hungary and worldwide there is no chance to preserve the rich and far branching herritage of the Hungarian diaspora in the West. Our planned OTKA-project from Fall 2014 may well be the next extanded phase of such a field research work with similar explorations of Hungarica diasporas. Our main goal is to conduct a new systematic research project in order to explore, save, and publish resources – mostly manuscripts – of the Hungarian western diaspora. During the past decades there have been a number of initiatives by researchers with a similar purpose; however these mostly remained sporadic, ad hoc, and only partial, often ending with not much success. The rescue of archival emigrant documents, in the meantime, has become more and more compelling both morally and practically, due to the rapid loss of the emigré generation. Thus we are fully convinced that it is high time to expand and speed up our efforts.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
István Hegedűs (MA in History, Eszterházy Károly College, Eger; MA in Library Science, Eszterházy Károly College, Eger; Msc in agricultural engineer specialized to rural development, Károly Róbert College) working as research assistant at the Institute for Minority Studies Hungarian Academy of Sciences. He is working on his doctoral thesis in History (about the estates and possessions of the Andrássy family during 19th-20th century). He is also interested in the preservation and development of Hungarica collections of the US. He spent half a year in New Brunswick, NJ with the Kőrösi Csoma Sándor scholarship.





Ivan, Emese

St. John's University, Jamaica, NY

Towards a Market Based Sport System? A Critical Analysis of the Hungarian Sport Policy 1989-90

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
The collapse of communism in 1989 was a moment of such enormous historical importance that Francis Fukuyama was able to advance his now famous thesis that this change was inevitable, given the existence of a worldwide historical evolutionary trend towards liberal capitalism. In his view, liberal capitalism marks the most desirous “end of history,” the most rational and enlightened way of organizing society. In contrast, contemporary sociological examination of capitalist institutions begins with the observation that there are different paths leading towards capitalism. These not only depend on the endowments of economic actors but also on institutionalized patterns of authority and organizational logic that are historically developed and resistant to change. National markets, then, differ systematically according to the kinds of resources and frameworks that particular national model provides.
This paper analyzes the causes and consequences of the ratification of Bill No IX in 1989 "Role of Sport Organizations" and also pays particular attention to the importance of this Bill on the further development of sport policy in Hungary. Although sport has so often been portrayed as a victim of the transition process, this paper argues that it has been the Hungarian sport community’s action (or lack of action) that has driven the sport policy development process in a particular, later most criticized direction.
The historically close relationship between the state and the sport community would not be eradicated, even by enhanced marketization, democratization, and liberalization. In Hungary the state continues to play a strong role in sport and in Hungary the transition process stimulated the expansion of governing capacities not through the transformation of public-private partnerships but through the configuration of central-local governmental relationship.



Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Dr Emese Ivan is an Assistant Professor of Sport Management at St John’s University (New York). Her teaching and research focuses on sport sociology, management, and role that sport plays in building a more just society worldwide.




Jobbitt, Steven

Lakehead University, Canada

A Return to the East: Right-Wing Geographies of Nation and Self in ‘EU’ Hungary.

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
This paper explores the cultural politics of space and place in contemporary Hungary, focusing in particular on symbolic geographies of nation and self that have emerged in the last decade amongst groups and political organizations on the right. Exploring the popular resurgence of eastern-oriented narratives and imagery since Hungary’s ascension to the EU in 2004, the paper gives careful consideration to the geographical foundations of a broad-based movement that has much in common with fin-de-siècle Turanism and cults of Árpád, and also with the populist, territorial revisionist movements of the interwar period. Central to this study is a critical examination of the geo-political “fantasies” of the Baranta Szövetség, a Christian-nationalist organization of predominantly young men and women (and their families) whose critique of the present and vision for the future is rooted in a fundamental reconceptualization not only of national “space” itself, but also of Hungary’s historical and geographical “place” within Eurasia more generally.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Steven Jobbitt is an assistant professor of modern European history at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario. He is technical editor of the AHEA e-journal, and guest editor for the upcoming 2014 cluster "Space, Place, and the Making of Modern Hungary."




Kerekes, Judit

College of Staten Island (CSI) City University of New York

Challenges and Educational Methods Used at a Summer School for Hungarian Scouts

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
At its inception Hungarian Scouting movement was based on the British model, established by Lord Baden Powell. It has been refined and may be considered highly successful in character building methods for young individuals.

The paper describes my six years’ experience in developing a successful program of Hungarian Scouts Summer School in Fillmore, New York. The curriculum was used both for simply education students and to develop future Scout Leaders. The many challenges included one interesting factors, namely, the student and staff were from different communities around the globe. The program, combining my European experience in education and my research, furthermore implementation of a program utilizing the Baden-Powel learning systems, the result of the developed program may be considered highly successful.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Judit Kerekes is an Associate Professor of Mathematics Education at the City University of New York College of Staten Island. She has published extensively on the educational aspects of mathematics and she was a co-author of two books on the same topic. She also lectured and presented numerous papers on education and has been involved in teaching in Hungarian Schools within the community. Kerekes has started and was the principal for the Hungarian Scouts Summer School Program in Fillmore NY.




Kulin, Borbála

University of Debrecen

How to Stay Pure in an Impure World? Gyula Illyés: Cathars

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
The artistic and political role of Gyula Illyés in the Hungarian cultural life of the twentieth century is still a question of debate. He is often charged by taking unprincipled compromises with the nationalist and communist power also. His conflict on this question with Sándor Márai is well known: Márai chose defection to stay morally integer, while Illyés decided to stay politically and artistically active in his country despite the communist dictatorship.
The best way to see clear in the question if Illyés can be charged by unprincipledness is not only to investigate historical documents but the analysis of his artistic works that deal with the question of political power and moral integrity. Most of these works are dramas written in the sixties. In this paper I will argue that it is his drama, the „Cathars” that shows us the most clearly how Illyés sees the dilemma of the must of acting and moral integrity. This drama reveals not only the strong self-reflectiveness of the author but the theological inspiration of his ethos and literary anthropology, too.



Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Borbála Kulin is a PhD student at the University of Debrecen, Hungary, Department of Literature and Cultural Studies. Her dissertation topic is "The poetic representation of the transcendent in the oeuvre of Gyula Illyés".
In 2004 she received her degree of Latin and Hungarian language and literature at the Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary.
Borbála Kulin's professional experiences include: editor of the Hungarian periodical of arts, culture and literature A Vörös postakocsi; (www.avorospostakocsi.hu) and of the Hungarian popular science magazine called T.H.E. She taught Latin in a highschool in Nyíregyháza and was the cultural manager responsible for international relationships at the Mustárház Youth and Cultural Center, Nyíregyháza. Her publications include articles on Gyula Illyés and co-edition, with Ildikó Józan, of Hadúr megfizet érte, reméljük. Illyés Gyula és Gara László levelezése. (2007)




Lauer Rice, Andrea

Lauer Learning

Pass it On - The Challenges of Passing on Ethnic Identity to the Next Generation: A Look at the Hungarian American Community

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
The challenge of passing on strong ethnic ties to the next generation is one that all cultures deal with in the United States. For three decades, U.S. Census data showed fewer 2nd and 3rd generation Hungarians claiming their ethnic identity every ten-year cycle. From 1990 to 2000, the number of people claiming Hungarian ancestry fell by more than 200,000, reducing the Hungarian American population to 1.4 Million. In 2012, for the first time, the American Community Survey actually showed a small uptick in Americans of Hungarian ancestry to more than 1.5 Million. We look at the meaning behind the data and propose new ways to segment our community as we work to profile each group.

Lauer Learning created the ”Pass It On” project as a way to reach out to the next generation. It proposes ways to reach the youth and help families strengthen ties to their roots. It deconstructs ethnic identity, identifies ways to strengthen each component, proposes ways to target “at-risk” communities and reach out to new communities. It is a blueprint for our community to work together as we find the most effective ways to pass on love of Hungarian heritage to the next generation.



Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Andrea Lauer Rice is the CEO and founder of Lauer Learning, a company that specializes in creating multimedia educational tools to teach children about history, culture and language. She has authored several books and graphic novels, among them, “Freedom Fighters ’56” and “56 Stories: Personal Recollections of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution”, published in two languages. She has designed and produced a number of educational and oral history websites and created an award-winning computer game, “FF56!,” to teach teens about the Hungarian Revolution. She is the Vice President of the Hungarian American Coalition and Founder of the Hungarian Club of Georgia. She has an MBA from Emory University’s Goizueta Business School and a BA in Journalism from Lehigh University.




Levin, Pamela

Nova University, Palm Beach State College

Remembering Raoul Wallenberg: A Theatre Play Tribute in Reading and Music

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
The story of Raoul Wallenberg is an account of impassioned devotion to a community threatened with destruction. Living in a neutral country, driven only by his conscience, he took upon himself one of the most extraordinary individual humanitarian tasks of all time.
Remembering Raoul Wallenberg is a chamber theater performance. Wallenberg’s inspiring story is told through the music of the cello and violin, interspersed with readings from poetry, eyewitness accounts, media reports, literary works and narrative.
Today’s session will begin with background information on creating and researching the script, the importance of testimony and eye-witness reports, and continues with readings from the testimony of two women who were rescued by Wallenberg.
Pamela recently performed the testimony of Miriam Herzog, rescued by Wallenberg, at a memorial service for Vera Parnes in Montreal. This reading, accompanied by violin concludes the session.
Remembering Raoul Wallenberg has been performed at the International Finnish Festival, Tenth Anniversary of Wallenberg, Holocaust Remembrance programs in Pensacola, Lake Worth, and West Palm Beach; Florida Atlantic University; and for a community-wide 9/11 memorial for the city of West Palm Beach, FL. Discussion and excerpts have been presented in a diversity of forums and conferences in Vienna, Cracow, London, Jerusalem and various venues in the United States.



Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Pamela holds an MFA degree in theatre. A member of Actors Equity Association, she has served on the faculty of Nova University, Broward State College and Palm Beach State College. Her graduate work included an internship at the prestigious Herbert Berghof Studio in New York City. She was Founder and Artistic Director for the Actor’s Conservatory Theater, directing plays by Harold Pinter, Tennessee Williams, Edward Albee and John Guare. After Holocaust studies at Yad Vashem, Jerusalem, Pamela began weaving together diaries, letters, documents and eyewitness reports to create unique performance pieces with Holocaust themes.





Maróti, Orsolya

Balassi Intezet, Budapest

A Turning Point in Heritage Language Teaching?

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
Bilingualism, language acquisition, language learning, language attrition – we could analyze the language usage of Hungarian language speakers living outside of Hungary from each perspective. From methodological perspective - discovering their interlanguage (Selinker 1972) and finding effective teaching methods for the new generations - it is worth considering the introduction of the concept of heritage language that involves the specific circumstances of their life and their relationship with the Hungarian language community.

What are the advantages of describing the typical aspects of heritage language in language teaching? How can we make use of its universal characteristics? What can we gain from discovering the features specific to the Hungarian heritage language? Would viewing Hungarian language from a heritage language point of view influence the method of teaching it?
Language teaching in Hungarian afternoon/weekend schools outside of Hungary is very similar to that of being used in primary schools in Hungary. The books they use were actually made for schools in Hungary. How can this influence the way students consider their language knowledge and their language identity? Is it possible to create course materials, language books that reflect this kind of view on heritage language and if so, does it worth it at all? Could a different approach change the education of future generations?

In the lecture I am attempting to lay out the possible answers and to show the changes in the teaching methods in certain Hungarian communities.



Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Orsolya Maróti (MA Hungarian Literature, Linguistics and Language Pedagogy, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest; MA Hungarian as a Second Language and Hungarian Studies, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest; MA Cultural Anthropology, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest; working on her doctoral thesis in Pragmatics) is working as the Head of the Hungarian Language Department at the Balassi Institute. She has experience in teaching foreign (HSL) and heritage students (HHL) for 15 years in the Balassi Institute, at Eötvös Loránd University and at the Corvinus University in Budapest as well. She has worked with Hungarian language teachers as a teacher trainer (HSL and HHL) in Canada, in the Netherlands, in Germany and in many other countries where there are Hungarian language courses for heritage and HSL students.




Mazsu, János

University of Debrecen

Right Way or Dead End: What Kind of Turning Point is the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867?

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
The Compromise of 1867 is one of the most controversial events in the dualist period, an event that has provoked extremely conflicting value-judgments in Hungarian historiography, and, more broadly, in Hungarian historical public opinion. The Compromise has been discussed in books, articles and historical essays to fill a whole library and has been the topic of a wealth of conferences and workshop discussions. Both as a cause of and background to the "good old peace-time days" or the "dungeon of peoples", the dualist monarchy is still alive and intensely debated in every-day historical public thinking.
Paging through a library of literature, the historian is, first, surprised and envious: why is there so great interest extending way beyond both the strict and broad confines of the profession? He is, then, somewhat perplexed, for on his first inquiry, it becomes clear what elicited and still elicits the unusual interest is only in a very small part the spectacular ceremony of crowning Franz-Jozef King of Hungary who had, de facto, ruled for two decades; or the operation of the political-constitutional system created by the compromise; or the success or failure of economic modernization extending up to World War I. Behind the symbolic meanings of the Compromise beyond its own significance there looms a whole series of basic issues of modern Hungarian history: Were there (are there) any alternatives in Hungarian social development or do regional factors, backwardness carried on since medieval times demarcate a compulsory pathway? Had there been and when any chance for western-like and democratic development, for catching up with Western Europe, or for a break-out of the peripheric state of backwardness? Had there been a reconcilable and balanced solution to the questions of national self-determination and the regional and/or European integration and which answer was realistic or unrealistic and when? As a consequence of the aforesaid, was there (is there?) a room for maneuver resulting in a real change of course and what is the responsibility of the Hungarian political elite and its leading personalities?

The complicated inter-relatedness of the Compromise and its close links to the fundamental modern-age issues of Hungarian historical development explain the intense professional as well as the broader public interest in it. The repeatedly erupting debates about the assessment of the Compromise indicate, as it were, when the answer to be given to the fundamental questions became current concern time and again in Hungarian political life. On the whole, this is how the evaluation of the Compromise became part of the national historical mythology and the assessors of the Compromise most often offered a straightforward or oblique clarification of their own value system and their self-definition by taking positions in relation to modern-age Hungarian social development until today.



Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Biography:
János Mazsu is Professor of Social and Economic History at Debrecen University, Debrecen, Hungary. He is an expert in Social and Intellectual History, recent researches on HGIS in urban history. He is awarded with Széchenyi Professor Scholarship, served as Ránki György Chair (Indiana University). Selected publications: "The Social History of the Hungarian Intelligentsia, 1825–1914". Atlantic Research and Publications, Boulder. Atlantic Studies on Society in Change 89. New York, Columbia University Press, 1997. 292.p. G. Szabó-Módi-Mazsu. "Debrecen, a cívis város" (Debrecen, the civis city. Hungarian, English, German). Budapest, 2003. 320.p. "A jó polgár" (The good citizen) with Setényi János. Debrecen, 1996. "Iparosodás és modernizáció" (Industrializations and modernization) ed. and co-author, Debrecen, 1991. "Tanulmányok a magyar értelmiség társadalomtörténetéhez". Gondolat. Budapest, 2012. 229.p.





Mellis, Johanna

University of Florida

1956 as a Turning Point? Elite Hungarian Athletes After the Revolution

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
It cannot be denied that the 1956 Revolution played perhaps the most central role in shaping the course of Hungarian history under communism and in collective memory thereafter. The Communist period did not, however, end after 1956, nor after the general amnesty in 1962. The reforms of the New Economic Mechanism from 1968-1972 and the state’s relaxation of its socio-cultural policies in the 1970s and 1980s in many ways altered the course of Hungarian society and everyday life. Yet the period of Goulash Communism has received very little attention from scholars of Hungary. At first glance this is perhaps surprising. Some historians have described the Kádárist period as a time of “relative abundance” of consumer goods and freedoms, particularly when compared to the “economy of shortage” that plagued their Romanian neighbors. The availability of consumer items and opportunities to improve and enjoy one’s lifestyle brought great promise to the Hungarian public; but perhaps more interesting were the myriad of ways in which Hungarians worked and took pride in obtaining these items, and experiencing what some historians have called the “pleasures” in socialism.
As one of the groups most well suited to take advantage and obtain these pleasures, elite Hungarian athletes stood to gain more than most citizens during this time. But while trying to acquire and enjoy these pleasures, elite athletes risked punishment from the Hungarian Communist state, as they had before 1956. This paper will, therefore, examine the ways that elite athletes pushed the limits of Goulash Communism in their attempts to obtain the “good life.”


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Johanna Mellis is a doctoral student studying Hungarian history at the University of Florida. Her teaching and research interests include East-Central Europe, Hungary, sport history, everyday life under communism/socialism, and oral history and memory studies.




Molnár, Erzsébet

University of Miskolc

Teaching Literature and Culture Focusing on the Role of National Values

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
We live in an intensively globalised world, where the diversity of cultures mix, confront and interact with each other in various fields of life. The national culture is a system of values which connects individuals to their nation. Culture and national identity are closely connected to each other. For Hungarians literature is one of the major components which contributes to the maintenance of our national values and identity. Literature is a great nation-building force that reminds us of our past, our common history both the heroic, glorious events and the sufferings we had to survive. Literature is also a valuable component of second language programs and one of its major functions is to serve as a medium to transmit the culture of the people who speak the same language. It contributes to the holistic development of an individual; is a resource for language learning, manifests valuable language experience; gives students cultural background and emotional content; speaks to the heart and personal experience of the learner; encourages imagination, creativity, personal discovery.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
MOLNÁR, ERZSÉBET Ph.D is a Senior Lecturer at the University of
Miskolc, Hungary. She received her Ph.D. from Pannon University in
Veszprém, based on a dissertation about the great Transylvanian-Hungarian
Polymath, Sámuel Brassai (1797-1897). She has been working at the Department of English
Linguistic and Literature at the University of Miskolc. Her specialty is language
pedagogy and the main issues of foreign language teaching.





Novák, Tamás

Consulate General of Hungary

Hungarian Scientists in the United States

Type of Abstract (select): Paper presentation

Abstract (max. 250 words):
Hungarian scientists came to the United States in several waves over the last hundred years. Many of them became world-famous Nobel Prize winners in the twentieth century, others have been working in the United States for decades, while many came more recently. The combination of the knowledge provided by the Hungarian education system and the conditions offered by the US research and scientific community is a special characteristic of most of these scientists. Last year I started organizing conferences dedicated to the scientific heritage of the great Hungarian minds, but with a future-oriented perspective. We want to see what the future holds for science. Our starting point was John von Neumann, who had an immense impact on various fields such as computer science/artificial intelligence, mathematics, physics, chemistry, economics and even meteorology and climate change. But other Martians of the last century have also given a lot to the world, and the new generation of young scientists is also on the rise. In November 2023, probably the largest multidisciplinary conference ever dedicated to Hungarian science was held at New York University. In April this year, Philadelphia became the venue for the next major scientific event, a city where Katalin Kariko spent several decades to achieve her outstanding scientific results, that earned her the Nobel Prize. This year is also memorable because two outstanding scientists, Gyorgy Olah and John Harasnyi, received the Nobel Prize exactly 30 years ago. In addition, 2024 marks the 50th anniversary of the invention of Erno Rubik's famous cube, which has enchanted hundreds of millions of people over the past decades. These events and anniversaries give us further opportunities to strengthen cooperation between Hungarian and American scientists and educators through innovative ideas and events.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Tamas Novak has been an S&T diplomat at the Consulate General of Hungary in New York since 2018. Prior to his current position, he worked at the Budapest Business School, where he was the Chair of International Business and held various leadership positions. In addition to his teaching duties, he was a research fellow at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. In 2013-2014, he spent a year at SAIS in Washington DC. as a research fellow of the Austrian Marshall Plan Foundation. Tamas holds an MSc in Economics and a PhD in International Relations from Corvinus University in Budapest.




Olson, Judith E.

American Hungarian Folklore Centrum, NJ

Táncház as affirmation of self and nation in a Communist context: Social implications of a change in dance approach

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
Forty-two years ago on May 6, 1972, members of two Hungarian traditional dance performing groups got together for a dance evening. Turning away from a practice of performance structured by the vision of a choreographer, they improvised their dances in the manner of Hungarian villagers, choosing songs, partners, and figures to represent themselves as individuals within a close community.

The implications of this action, which grew into the international táncház movement, would seem to be limited. However, it marked not only a change of dance elements but also a change in relationship toward the past that had larger ramifications within Hungarian society and resonated with changes in thinking in many other countries.

While the founders of the táncház movement maintained that their actions grew out of an impulse to explore new sounds, the movement quickly became a means of indirect protest against Soviet control and efforts to obliterate Hungarian nationalism, combined with a questioning of authority in general. Using the very spaces set up by Communist authorities to organize people (Mary Taylor, 2008) dancers explored solidarity with each other and Hungarians in other countries and social positions as well as their own personal autonomy. And, as one participant put it, ”When they came, all they found was a roomful of people dancing.”

This paper explores the varied ramifications of the new approach in both artistic and social terms through interviews with participants, published materials of the time, and the work of other scholars.



Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Judith E. Olson (M.Phil, NYU, M.M. University of Colorado) is an historical musicologist working in the area of traditional Hungarian music and dance in Romania, Hungary, and among Hungarians in the United States and Canada. She combines research in traditional settings, in Hungarian dance camps, and within revival groups with analysis and discussion of dance structure, process, and improvisation. She presents frequently at venues such as the International Council for Traditional Music, the International Musicological Society, the Society for Ethnomusicology, and AHEA. She performs this research and organizes táncház (dance parties) in New York City under the auspices of the American Hungarian Folklore Centrum. A secondary research area is 19th century German music and musical culture.




Papp, Klara

Penn State College of Medicine

The Role of Hungarian Mathematicians in Developing the Science of Social Network Analysis

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
Each one of us is part of a social network, from which no one is left out. Though we do not know everyone on the globe or even in our community, each person is connected to every other person through links with people. Similarly, there is a path linking any two neurons in the brain, any two companies in the world. Likewise, one might study the spread of infections or the dispersal of ideas on the internet through their linkages. The interconnections between any numbers of phenomena may be studied through social network analysis, a discipline that started in the 1930s in sociology.

The field of social network analysis was greatly advanced by the work of Hungarian mathematicians, most notably Paul Erdős and Alfréd Rényi who applied graph theory to the study of social networks. This enabled the visual illustration of networks and accelerated its growth from the domain of sociology to information technology, medicine, marketing, and other diverse disciplines. Hungarian mathematicians have made significant contributions to the science not just to its visualization, but also the popularization of the method, most notably Albert-László Barabási among others. The roles of Hungarian mathematicians and scientists in developing this field will be highlighted during this talk.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Klara Papp, PhD is professor and Associate Dean of Assessment and Evaluation at Penn State College of Medicine. She earned her PhD in educational psychology from State University of New York at Buffalo. She provides expertise to medical faculty in educational testing and measurement. She recently moved to Pennsylvania from Cleveland, Ohio where she directed the Center for the Advancement of Medical Learning (CAML) at Case Western Reserve University. On a national level, Klara served as chair of the research committee for Clerkship Directors in Internal Medicine and received its Charles H. Griffith III Educational Research Award. She has served as an accreditation reviewer for California schools and colleges, and has been a member of the NIH study section for grants in health and science education. She applied social network analysis in illustrating relationships among Scientists at Case Western Reserve University and became fascinated with its potential for identifying areas of growth and development.




Pastor, Peter

Montclair State University, NJ

The Transfer of Hungarian Subcarpathia to the Ukrainian SSR of the Soviet Union in 1945

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
Better known as Ruthenia, this region, Kárpátalja (Subcarpathia) in Hungarian, had been part of the Hungarian kingdom since its foundation in 1000 until 1919. As a result of the defeat and collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918, the revolutionary Hungarian government gave Kárpátlalja autonomy and named it Ruszka Kraina. The Allied victors, however, awarded Ruthenia to Czechoslovakia at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. The loss of Ruthenia, along with the other territories that were taken from Hungary by the peacemakers, was accepted under duress by Hungary when its representatives signed the Peace Treaty of Trianon on June 4, 1920. The Hungarian government’s revisionism, which called for the reconstitution of historic Hungary, included the return of Ruthenia. The opportunity to recover Ruthenia from Czecho-Slovakia with German help came in 1938 and 1939. At that time the possibility of acquiring the same territory came to the consideration of Soviet foreign policy makers as well, most importantly, to Stalin. The Soviet dictator, however, waited for the right conditions to take over the contested land. The lukewarm, then hostile, foreign policy of Hungary towards the Soviet Union during this period, which culminated in Hungary’s entrance into the war against the USSR on Germany’s side, sealed the fate of Ruthenia. Upon Hungary’s defeat Ruthenia became a de facto part of the Soviet Union late in 1944 and de jure in 1945.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Peter Pastor is professor of history at Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ. He received his BA from the City College of CUNY and his PhD from New York University. He is the author, editor, or coeditor of seven books. His most recent co-edited volume is Essays on World War I (2012). He is also the author of more than forty articles focusing on Hungarian-Russian relations, or on twentieth century Hungarian history. He is also the president of the Center for Hungarian Studies and Publications, Inc., a non-profit corporation specializing on publishing the works of Hungarian historians in English. He is a frequent visitor to Hungary and is on the faculty of the Doctoral Program in History of Eszterházy Károly College in Eger, Hungary, as an invited foreign instructor. In 2003 he received the Commander’s Cross of the Hungarian Republic (a Magyar Köztársasági Érdemrend Középkeresztje) for exceptional contributions to the furthering of Hungarian-American cultural ties.

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Pigniczky, Réka

Documentary Filmmaker/Journalist, 56Films

Megmaradni (Heritage): A Documentary Film by Réka Pigniczky

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
„And so the years passed, and later I started to think about how it was possible to live a Hungarian life outside of Hungary.” (László Böjtös, Cleveland, Ohio)

Réka Pigniczky’s latest documentary addressing the issues of cultural identity, Heritage portrays the generation who fled Hungary after the Revolution of 1956 and who made their home in the United States. Only a small percentage of this group held onto their Hungarian identity, but for those that did it held a sense of mission. From Hungarian school and scouting to folk dance ensembles and church groups – even sports teams – the parents of this generation instilled Hungarian language, culture and identity into their children through a unique Hungarian “incubator.” Heritage is a collection of interviews with this group of Hungarian refugees and never before seen archive film footage of their first years in the U.S. Cast: László Böjtös, Szabolcs Kálmán, Kálmán Magyar, Andrea Mészáros, dr. Károly Nagy, Ödön Szentkirályi, and Katalin Vörös.
(2013, 65 min., English subtitles)



Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Réka Pigniczky is a television journalist, producer and independent documentary filmmaker. She worked for the Associated Press Television News for nearly 15 years, both in New York and Central Europe. She completed her first feature-length documentary, Journey Home: a story from the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, in 2006. It won awards in Hungary and was invited to screen at a number of international film festivals. She completed her second feature-length documentary, Inkubátor, in 2010. It was released theatrically in Hungary as well as on television, and it enjoyed wide critical acclaim after the Hungarian Film Festival. The film was also voted one of the 25 best films released in Hungary in 2010. Réka also directed an ethnographic film (Kazár: from the Cradle to the Grave, 2008) and a short biography about László Hudec, a Hungarian architect working in Shanghai and credited with building the first skyscraper in Asia in 1938. She recently released her third film dealing with the issues of cultural identity: Heritage (Megmaradni, 2013).
Réka and her family recently moved back to the U.S. and her company, which she co-owns with Barnabás Gerő, is based in both Budapest and San Francisco. Apart from making films, she also freelances as a reporter/director for Duna World Television. She holds degrees in political science from the University of California, San Diego and the Central European University. She received her master’s degree in international affairs and journalism from Columbia University in New York.





Pordány, László

Embassy of Hungary, Canada

Road to Democracy, Hungary 1987-90. The role of Intellectuals.

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
With the proposed paper the author would like to remember, remind of, and commemorate the 25th anniversary of the latest turning point in Hungarian as well as in general East-Central European history: a determination and successful effort to get rid of the occupying Soviet armies, to put on end to the communist regime and to start on the road of freedom, private property, democracy and independence.
Tentative title of the paper: Road to Democracy, Hungary 1987-90. The role of Intellectuals. A personal account.

Major points of content:

- Life and society in communist Eastern Europe including post–1956 Hungary, especially in the 1980s, the years directly preceeding the events of change.
- The general role of writers, poets and other intellectuals in Eastern European and Hungarian literature society, life and politics.
- The author’s experiences of the changes.
- The first breakthrough in the tug of war between those in power and those representing the changes: a meeting in the now legendary tent of Lakitelek.
- The birth of MDF, or Magyar Demokrata Fórum, the party that won the first free elections in Hungary in 1990, concluding the first phase of the events.



Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Dr. László Pordány is the Hungarian Ambassador to Canada since 2011. Previously he served in this position in South Africa (1999-2003) and in Australia and New Zealand (1990-1994). He was a founding member of the the Hungarian Democratic Forum, MDF, the party that won the first free Hungarian elections in 1989.

Dr. Pordany graduated from the University of Szeged, Hungary and conducted post-graduate studies at Indiana U. and Essex University, Colchester, UK. In 1989 he became full professor at the Szeged Teacher Training College. He lectured extensively at US and Canadian universities.

In additions to his many articles, linguistic and political, his major publications include Bevezetés a fordításba (Introduction to Translation) - University coursebook (1982) and Egy a nemzet. One Nation – Indivisible, an antology in two languages.




Rác, Katalin

University of Florida, 2013-14 ACLS Fellow (East European Studies)

Imperialism in late Nineteenth-Century Hungary

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
Nineteenth-century speakers argued that Hungary’s geographical position as well as the nation’s eastern origins defined its historical role in Europe and Asia. My paper examines some of the arguments related to the economic and political advantages Hungarian thinkers recognized in the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy’s Oriental politics from the Congress of Berlin in 1878 until the beginnings of World War I. It focuses on two main aspects of fin-de-siècle Hungarian foreign politics: imperial attitudes vis-à-vis the Balkans and other “Turanians.” The German linguist Max Müller created the ethnological and linguistic category of Turanians and included in this category every non-Semitic and non-Aryan language like Hungarian, other Finno-Ugric languages, as well as Turkish, and even Tamil. By the 1870s, Müller’s linguistic classification proved to be unscientific and misleading and its validity was completely refuted. Nonetheless, Hungarian nationalists who believed in the glory of the Asian forefathers kept referring to Hungary as the westernmost and most advanced nation of the future, great Turanian commonwealth. Turanism remained an important concept in Hungarian politics, and based on the “experience” of the Bosnian occupation from 1908, Turanism became a political movement fostering imperial designs. The paper sheds light on the curious dynamics between nationalist, colonial, and imperial desires manifesting in Hungary’s eastern politics. It argues that World War I finally dissolved the illusion that those imperialist dreams could ever come true.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Katalin Franciska Rác is a student of modern Central European and modern European Jewish history. Her doctorate “Orientalism for the Nation: Jews and Oriental Scholarship in Modern Hungary” studies the triangular relationship between national identity discourse, Jewish integration, and Orientalism in nineteenth- and twentieth-century Hungary. In the 2013-2014 academic year, she is the recipient of the Fellowship for East European Studies from the American Council of Learned Societies.




Rosen, Ilana

Ben Gurion University of the Negev

The Literature of Second Generation Hungarian Immigrants to Israel

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
In recent decades, the Israeli scene of literary, artistic and cultural creation is laden with the memory of the by-gone world of (or of the parents of) the contemporary generation of approximately middle-aged people who have reached prominent posts in Israeli intellectual, cultural, and artistic circles. A forceful example of this phenomenon is the work of people of Oriental or mizrahi origin, which is greatly inspired by African and Indian post-colonial doctrines. Another, just as prolific yet not that sounded in political terms, is the work of children of immigrants of European origin, mostly Holocaust survivors, depicting the early period of their families in the young, centralist and socialist State of Israel of the 1950s and 1960s. Interestingly, quite a few of these writers have Austro-Hungarian roots, whether as Hungarian- or Romanian- or Slovakian- or Carpatho-Rusyn-born, or as offspring to people coming from these places. In the proposed presentation, I will introduce the following writers and their central works: Judith Rotem, Yoel Hoffmann, Suzanne Adam, Esti G. Haim, Yael Neeman, and others. My presentation will strive to create a group portrait of these Israeli writers of Hungarian origin through their biography, identity and ideology (e.g., as Orthodox people or kibbutz dwellers, though mostly formerly), familial setting, Holocaust memory or legacy, literary devises with stress on language(s) issues, and last - their clinging to literary creation as an alternative, virtual space for entrusting their complex worlds.

Required equipment: over-head projector.



Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Ilana Rosen is Associate Professor of Hebrew Literature at the Ben Gurion University of the Negev at Beer Sheva, Israel. She studies the documentary literature of Jews of Central-Eastern Europe as well as the multi-ethnic narrative of emigration to and foundation of the south of Israel. Her publications include: Sister in Sorrow – Life Histories of Female Holocaust Survivors from Hungary (Detroit, MI: Wayne State UP, 2008), winner of the 2009 American Folklore Society (AFS) Elli Köngäs-Maranda Women Studies Prize; Soul of Saul – the Life, Narrative, and Proverbs of a Transylvanian-Israeli Grandfather (Burlington, VT: Vermont University, 2011).




Schneider, Lynn

City College of San Francisco

Budapest: An American Quest. A Family's Journey to 1920s Hungary. (Documentary film)

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
BUDAPEST: AN AMERICAN QUEST, A Family’s Journey to 1920s Hungary, is an award-winning documentary short film of reverse migration with a twist: two Americans go back to Budapest in the 1920s, fall in love, start a family and live in Hungary from 1925-1935. The filmmaker finds a box of their romantic 16mm black and white original footage from the 1920s, and intrigued by these beautiful mysterious images, sets off on her own quest to discover her family's hidden story.

BUDAPEST: AN AMERICAN QUEST, A Family's Journey to 1920s Hungary was the Official Selection at IFFCA, the International Film Festival of Cinematic Arts in Los Angeles, and at the International Conference on Jewish Genealogy in Boston 2013. At the Berkeley Video Film Festival BUDAPEST: AN AMERICAN QUEST won the Grand Festival Award for BEST ETHNOGRAPHIC FILM.



Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Lynn Schneider is a Berkeley Filmmaker who found a box of 16mm film footage of her family in Budapest after her father died suddenly at age 54 in California. The filmmaker has a B.A. in Anthropology from the University of California at Berkeley, and an M.A. in Teaching English as a Second Language from San Francisco State University. She currently works as a Professor of English as a Second Language at City College of San Francisco.




Szabó, Lilla

Independent Scholar

Life and Work of Painters Elizabeth Sass Brunner and Elizabeth Brunner

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
The life and art of Elizabeth Sass Brunner (Nagykanizsa 1889 - Naini Tal 1950) and her daughter Elizabeth Brunner (Nagykanizsa 1910 - New Delhi 2001), who travelled to India in 1930 upon Rabindranath Tagore's invitation and remained there for life, has become topical for several reasons. It was the exotic appeal of their lives surrounded by legends rather than their painting that has attracted the greatest interest so far. In Rózsa G. Hajnóczy's book The Fire of Bengal a lopsided, biassed picture is given of the two "Bessies" as she called them. In Rózsa G. Hajnóczy's book The Fire of Bengal a lopsided, biassed picture is given of the two "Bessies" as she called them. The fact alone that a little known paintress and her daughter left their small native town Nagykanizsa for India without any preliminary preparations and lived in Rabindranath Tagore's Santiniketan compund kindled the curiosity of generations. That their memory did not sink into oblivion owed to the above mentioned popular novel for a long time.
The deep and close friendship between the Brunners and Rabindranath Tagore, Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharial Nehru, R. Radhakrishnan, Indira Gandhi or the Dalai Lama and others were often stressed as catalyst in the political relations between the two countries. As regards the viewpoint of art history, hardly any meaningful assessment of their work was done or published.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Lilla Szabó, art historian, was born in Bratislava. She received her degree in History of Art at the Hungarian Language and Literature faculty of the Eötvös Loránd University. She completed her doctorate at the ELTE's History of Art department in 1983; the topic of her dissertation was the medieval architectural history of the Saint Martin coronation church in Bratislava. She has worked at the Hungarian National Gallery since 1979. Since the nineties, her main area of interest has been the cultural relationships within the Central European region during the period between the two world wars and research into the lives and work of Hungarian artists who lived or are still active outside the borders of Hungary in the neighbouring countries and around the world. She publishes regularly, is the author of several monographs and has held many lectures and organised varied exhibitions both in Hungary and internationally. She has spent longer periods abroad completing research in Germany (1988), India (1995; 2003) and the USA (1997; 2009). Fulbright Grand research scholar (2011-2012, New Brunswick).




Szántó, Ildikó

Independent Scholar

Problems of a Declining Hungarian Birth Rate: A Historical Perspective

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
In sharp contrast to its European neighbors, for over century Hungary has had a seriously declining birth rate. This paper aims to examine this anomaly through a historical perspective by considering the major findings of a series of demographic studies that identify the key factors behind falling levels of fertility. It does so by focusing on four major periods. The first period covers the era prior to the demographic transition that commenced before 1880, and takes into account registers from the eighteenth century, when the demography was characterized by high birth rates and high death rates. The second period is one of demographic transition, between 1880 and 1960. It coincided with modernization, and is the period when death rates fell, while at the same time being accompanied by a decrease in birth rates. The third period is the post-transitional era of 1960-1980; and the fourth covers the post-socialist change of 1990-2010, which – except during the 1970s - has shown a continuous decline in birth rate and population loss.
Significantly, as this paper shows, Hungary was the first country in Europe after the Second World War in which the level of fertility declined far below a level of simple replacement of the population, which is conventionally measured as less than 2.1 births per woman. Since 1981 the population has been declining by about 0.15-0.20 percent per year. At present, fertility in Hungary is one of the lowest in Europe and, in fact, in the whole world. The Hungarian age structure will, moreover, become increasingly problematic as the fertile age group of the population continues to shrink.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Ildikó Szántó received her M.A. degree in History from Macquarie University, N.S.W. She has taught interdisciplinary courses focusing on the ideological movements of the twentieth century in East-Central Europe at the Budapest University of Economic Sciences, Pázmány Péter Catholic University and the Budapest Business School.




Szentkirályi, Endre

Nordonia Hills City Schools

Only 6% of Hungarian-Americans speak Hungarian at home. Why?

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
Of more than a million and a half Americans who listed Hungarian ancestry in their census questionnaires in 2010, only about 6% speak Hungarian at home. Why? What are the factors that allow Hungarian-Americans to maintain their Hungarian language despite these overwhelming odds? Nine in-depth interviews were conducted with a variety of second and third generation members of Cleveland’s Hungarian community, most of whom were born in the Cleveland area and all of whom grew up in Cleveland’s Hungarian community, to ascertain the factors impacting their language use in the family and in the community, as well as to analyze the formation of their cultural identities. Using their own insights garnered from the interviews, the presentation will show the importance of consistent parenting and peer friendships, and illuminate the role that involvement in scouting and other community events can play. It will show the value the interviewees placed on speaking a second language, as well as the importance of strictness. The presentation will also share linguistic insights, reasons for assimilation, and the role of American spouses. Odds are that 94% of those with Hungarian ancestry will assimilate into American culture. These case studies, examples of Cleveland Hungarians who maintain their language and culture even late into the 2nd and 3rd generations, will show how to beat those odds. Every generation confronts a turning point in its history, whether to assimilate or to preserve language and culture, and these factors are as valid now as they were for previous immigrant generations.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Endre Szentkirályi studied English and German at Cleveland State University, earned an MA in English at the University of Akron, and recently completed his PhD at the University of Debrecen. He has edited several books of oral histories, worked on the 56Films documentaries Inkubátor and Megmaradni, and has two forthcoming books, one with Zrínyi Publishing and one with Helena History Press. He currently teaches English at Nordonia High School near Cleveland.




Szili, Orsolya

Great Valley High School

Hungarian Teacher and Cultural Ambassador in American High School

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
“Increasing mutual understanding between the people of the United States and other countries through the exchange of persons, knowledge, and skills” is the main goal of the Fulbright Programs.
As a grantee of the Fulbright Classroom Teacher Exchange program teaching English Literature at an American high school this academic year, it is also my mission to be a cultural ambassador of Hungary. Meeting rigorous high school curriculum requirements, raising teenagers’ interests to the “world out there”, and discovering the best ways to share my home culture present me with a real, but rewarding challenge. It involves leaving room for questions, finding the right times and venues to tell about national holidays, celebrations, and cultural treasures; discovering parallels between Greek mythology, Shakespeare, contemporary American writers and Hungarian literature, and presenting all these in ways that add to the learning experience, and ultimately to the life of American teenagers. My goal is to show students that the world is far bigger than they know it, and they have a chance to get to know more of it. I wish to do this through the culture and literature of my home country, in ways that are relevant to the students, and could last longer than preparing for a test. Being an exchange teacher, I have the outstanding opportunity to do all these in a setting that allows American students and teachers to connect with Hungarian students and teachers, both on- and off-line.

Equipment needed: projector (power point)


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Orsolya Szili graduated in 2004 as MA in English Literature and Linguistics at Eötvös Loránd Tudományegyetem in Budapest, and has a postgraduate degree in Translation and Interpretation from the University of Pécs. Since 2004, she has been teaching English as a foreign language in Veres Pálné Gimnázium in Downtown Budapest, worked as a temporary instructor for the Translation Program of ELTE, teaching “Literary Translation Criticism” and “Interpretation” courses, and translated four books. She is one of 28 teachers participating in the Fulbright Classroom Teacher Exchange Program in 2013-14, and teaches English at Great Valley High School in Malvern, Pennsylvania.




Várdy, Steven Béla and Várdy, Ágnes Huszár

Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA

IMRE SARI-GAL Chronicler of Cleveland Hungarian Life

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
The paper is to be presented by Steven B. Vardy and Agnes H. Vardy.

In the course of the four decades before the outbreak of World War I, well over a million Hungarians [Magyars] emigrated to the United States, mostly to the northeastern industrial cities of America. Among these cities was Cleveland, Ohio, which by 1914 had over 60,000 Hungarians, working in the steel mills and factories of that industrial city. Most of theses immigrants came as guest workers, but for several reasons at least three fourths of them remained here permanently.
The life and labors of these Hungarians has been chronicled by Susan M. Papp in her monograph, Hungarian Americans and their Communities of Cleveland (1981). What was still needed was the description of Cleveland as a “living city,” with two major centers of Hungarain life. These included the Buckeye Road Area on the East Side, and the Lorain Avenue Area on the West Side. Both of these were classical Little Hungaries that survived into the late 20th century.
The man who took on the task to describe these Little Hungaries was Imre Sári-Gál (1923-2006) -- a poet and amateur historian -- who did this in two separate volumes: Az amerikai Debrecen [The American Debrecen] (1966), and Cleveland Magyar Múzeum [The Cleveland Hungarian Museum] (1978),
Born into a peasant family in Füzesabony in eastern Hungary Imre Gál managed to rise above his original social class by virtue of his ability and willingness to study. He enrolled at a nearby Teachers’ College, where he earned a Teache’s Certificate in 1945, the year that brought Soviet Communist domination to Hungary. Although his social background should have been an advantage for him, because of his dedication to his nation and to his people, he could barely survive in Soviet-dominated Hungary.
After the defeat of the Hungarian Revolution in 1956, Imre took the chance to leave his country and try his luck in the United States. After several years of training he became a heart surgery technician at the famed Cleveland Clinic, where he worked until his retirement in the late eighties.
In addtion to portraying life in Cleveland’s Little Hungaries, Imre also wrote poetry in which he described his struggles and his attachment to his two countries. After much soul-searching he repatriated to Hungary, hoping to find happiness in the country of his birth. That was not to be. By the early 21st century Hungary was not the country he had left behind. He also missed his America that had given him so much after his flight from Hungary. We encountered him in Budapest a few months before his death, where he revealed his yearning for the United States and the city of Cleveland.



Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Prof. S.B. Vardy,.Ph.D., is a McAnulty Distinguished Professor of European History at Duquesne University, longtime Director of the University's History Forum, and former Chairman of the Department of History.
He is the author, co-author, or editor of two dozen scholarly books, well over one-hundred scholarly articles, and nearly one-hundred encyclopedia articles and book reviews.

Prof. Agnes Huszar Vardy, Ph.D., is a former professor of English and Communications at Robert Morris University, is now Adjunct Professor of Comparative Literature at Duquesne University.
Prof. Vardy is the author, co-author, or editor of nearly a dozen books, and close to a hundred articles, essays and reviews. She is also the author of two historical-social novels, Mimi and My Italian Summer.




Vasvári, Louise O.

Stony Brook University & New York University

1944-2014: Hungarian Women's Fragmented Memories and Memoirs & Holocaust Cookbooks

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
In this paper I explore the Hungarian Holocaust through women’s fragmentary narrative testimonies, which can provide invaluable resources for understanding the experiences of the victims of war that personalize the events and at the same time serve to help write the obscure into history. I will first discuss several Hungarian diaries, among others, that of Eva Heyman who began writing her diary in 1944 on her thirteenth birthday and wrote until two days before her deportation, where she perished. Unlike diaries written in many other parts of Europe, in which the escalation of repression against the Jews unfolded over a period of years, Eva’s diary vividly reflects the sudden and swift attack on the Jews of Hungary.
In the second part of my paper I will discuss two recently published volumes, the Szakácskönyv a túlélélésről, the collected recipes that five Hungarian women wrote in a concentration camp, and the anthology Lányok és anyák. Elmeséletlen történetek where thirty five women write Holocaust narratives in which their mothers’ lives become the intersubject in their autobiographies, underscoring the deadly risks of intergenerational transmission, where memory can be transmitted (or silenced) to be repeated and reenacted, rather than to be worked through.



Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Louise O. Vasvári (Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley) is Professor Emerita of Comparative Literature and Linguistics at Stony Brook University and presently teaches in the Linguistics Department at New York University. She works in medieval studies, historical and socio-linguistics, translation theory, Holocaust Studies, and Hungarian Studies, all informed by gender theory within a broader framework of comparative cultural studies. Related to Hungarian Studies she has published with Steven Tötösy, Imre Kertész and Holocaust Literature (2005), Comparative Central European Holocaust Studies (2009), a special issue of CLCWeb (2009), as well as Comparative Hungarian Cultural Studies (2011), all in Purdue UP. In the 2010 issue of this journal she published “A töredékes (kulturális) test írása Polcz Alaine Asszony a fronton című művében.” She is the Editor of AHEA E-Journal.




Vasvári, Louise O., Enikő M. Basa, Steven Jobbitt, Ilana Rosen, and Katalin Voros

Stony Brook University & New York University

Roundtable Discussion of the Future of the AHEA E-Journal

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
Report on the progress of the journal, on the grant, and, in general, try to get our membership to participate more, to submit articles etc.

Discussion led by Louise O. Vasvári, E-Journal Editor, with the participation of Enikő M. Basa, Associate Editor; Steven Jobbitt, Technical Editor; Ilana Rosen, Book Review Editor; and Katalin Voros, Webmaster.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):





Vörös, Katalin

University of California, Berkeley

AHEA and Open Access Publication - Overview

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
Open access is a social movement regarding free access to scholarly communications between the academic world, publishers and the reading public in general. Its enabling technology is the Internet, which provides "free", unrestricted distribution of the results of scholarly work. The technology allows infinite possibilities for self-publishing and blogging; however, for academic on-line publications of quality the peer review process remains standard. In this informational talk options available for academic electronic publications will be reviewed, focusing on the AHEA E-Journal: Hungarian Cultural Studies.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Katalin Vörös is R&D Engineering Manager Emerita at the University of California, Berkeley, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, where she has worked for thirty years. She maintains an active informational mailing list for San Francisco Bay Area Hungarians. Katalin is Secretary/ Webmaster of AHEA and manager of the AHEA E-Journal conversion to open access project.