Past Abstracts
1,037 abstracts found
George Herzog: A Hungarian Pioneer of American Ethnomusicology
Music/FolkloreThis paper highlights the contributions of George Herzog (1901, Budapest--1983, Indianapolis), one of the founders of American ethnomusicology, and draws attention to his under-researched personal archive housed at Indiana University’s Archives of Traditional Music (ATM IU), which he established in 1949.
Herzog arrived in the United States in 1925 to study anthropology under Franz Boas, bringing with him the methodological rigor of Hungarian folk-song research pioneered by Béla Bartók and Zoltán Kodály, with whom he had studied composition. His early professional training also reflected the German comparative musicological approach he acquired while assisting Erich M. von Hornbostel at the Berliner Phonogramm-Archiv. After earning his Ph.D. at Columbia University in 1931, Herzog taught and conducted field research at the University of Chicago, Yale, and Columbia, before joining Indiana University, where he relocated his extensive field recordings. His pioneering work in ethnographic documentation and analysis significantly shaped the development of ethnomusicology in the United States, and several of his recordings are now listed in the National Recording Registry at the Library of Congress.
Despite his achievements, including two twice a Guggenheim Fellowships, Herzog’s career was curtailed by illness. He ceased publishing in 1951 and retired early. His extensive archive—including correspondence (notably letters from Bartók), transcriptions, and field materials—awaits systematic study and renewed recognition of its global significance.
Herzog arrived in the United States in 1925 to study anthropology under Franz Boas, bringing with him the methodological rigor of Hungarian folk-song research pioneered by Béla Bartók and Zoltán Kodály, with whom he had studied composition. His early professional training also reflected the German comparative musicological approach he acquired while assisting Erich M. von Hornbostel at the Berliner Phonogramm-Archiv. After earning his Ph.D. at Columbia University in 1931, Herzog taught and conducted field research at the University of Chicago, Yale, and Columbia, before joining Indiana University, where he relocated his extensive field recordings. His pioneering work in ethnographic documentation and analysis significantly shaped the development of ethnomusicology in the United States, and several of his recordings are now listed in the National Recording Registry at the Library of Congress.
Despite his achievements, including two twice a Guggenheim Fellowships, Herzog’s career was curtailed by illness. He ceased publishing in 1951 and retired early. His extensive archive—including correspondence (notably letters from Bartók), transcriptions, and field materials—awaits systematic study and renewed recognition of its global significance.
Global is Mobile: Hungarian Higher Education and the Transition to Distance Learning
Education/Social SciencesHigher education in Hungary has recently undergone significant changes in how it reaches out beyond its traditional audiences. The Hungarian Higher Education Act (2011) mandates that universities prepare graduates for inclusive and connected workplaces. During my 2018 Fulbright fellowship at Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest, I researched how Hungarian colleges and universities are beginning to use technology to reach out to learners on their mobile devices: an area of great opportunity, since roughly 3.3 million Hungarians—more than two thirds—now own smartphones (Budapest Business Journal, 2016). More than 25% of the Hungarian population is under age 25 (Index Mundi, 2015), and many live in rural areas far from traditional campuses.
Colleges and universities across Hungary are only now beginning to move away from the “chalk and talk” in-person model of higher education, training students and faculty members in inclusive educational practices such as Universal Design for Learning (UDL), adult-learning theory, and distance-education design. This presentation will examine Hungary’s higher-education system as it joins wider technology-supported education networks, such as ERASMUS+ and EdiTE, through the lens of Hungarian identity, cultural norms, and shared values. Presentation attendees will be able to
• define core teaching and design opportunities and challenges as expressed in twelve Hungarian colleges, universities, and military academies;
• identify faculty-development and teaching-with-technology areas where U.S.-Hungarian scholarly collaboration would be welcomed; and
• apply their own scholarly expertise to the opportunity of distance- and technology-enhanced education throughout and beyond Hungary.
Colleges and universities across Hungary are only now beginning to move away from the “chalk and talk” in-person model of higher education, training students and faculty members in inclusive educational practices such as Universal Design for Learning (UDL), adult-learning theory, and distance-education design. This presentation will examine Hungary’s higher-education system as it joins wider technology-supported education networks, such as ERASMUS+ and EdiTE, through the lens of Hungarian identity, cultural norms, and shared values. Presentation attendees will be able to
• define core teaching and design opportunities and challenges as expressed in twelve Hungarian colleges, universities, and military academies;
• identify faculty-development and teaching-with-technology areas where U.S.-Hungarian scholarly collaboration would be welcomed; and
• apply their own scholarly expertise to the opportunity of distance- and technology-enhanced education throughout and beyond Hungary.
Going All In: The World Series of Poker and its Hungarian Champions
Science/EconomicsIn recent years, poker has certainly emerged as big business for media. The driving force behind poker’s growth are young amateur players who have found learning poker increasingly easy due to thousands of books, DVDs, blogs that are now easily accessible, and the rapid growth of online poker. In 2006 online poker alone generated worldwide revenue of more than 15 billion USD. In addition to that the game has also found a great deal of success on television. But ESPN does much more than just broadcast the World Series of Poker (WSOP) tournament from Las Vegas. It offers the viewers “mediated symbolic equipment to help them confront certain real life problems “ (Brummett). Given the WSOP’s overall popularity, its ideological discourse is worthy of critical analysis.
This presentation argues that the show advances a neoliberal global capitalist worldview, a system that promotes the international realization of the free market. This study analyzes the coverage of the 2007 WSOP Main Event as well as the media coverage of the three Hungarian Poker World Champions through 2010. The role and impact of the new Hungarian Poker Law will also be discussed.
This presentation argues that the show advances a neoliberal global capitalist worldview, a system that promotes the international realization of the free market. This study analyzes the coverage of the 2007 WSOP Main Event as well as the media coverage of the three Hungarian Poker World Champions through 2010. The role and impact of the new Hungarian Poker Law will also be discussed.
Good Neighbors Make Better “Strangers”: Hungarian-Austrian Tourism and the Legacies of Empire
History/Political ScienceMy paper proposes to examine continuities and ruptures between post-Habsburg Austria and Hungary through the lens of tourism between the two countries in the interwar period. In their endeavor to package “Austria” or “Hungary” as attractive commodities, tourism promoters struggled to define who it was, precisely, that they were marketing them to. The very vocabulary of the tourism industry at this time blurred the lines between domestic and international tourists. Both were denoted, ambiguously, by the word “stranger,” leaving uncertain (at least on paper) the relationships among the imagined Tourist, his/her “home” nation, and the place he/she was visiting.
My paper will explore how the quest to lure the “stranger” both sustained and was reliant upon certain habits laid down during imperial times: cross-border traffic between Austria and Hungary, the symbiotic rivalry of Budapest versus Vienna, and attempts to rekindle Habsburg-era “friendship” between Austrians and Hungarians. Despite (mostly one-sided) competition between the two capitals, not to mention the violent hostility that marked the two countries’ separation in the early postwar years, the 1930s marked an “era of good feelings” between them, especially after the imposition of the Austrian Ständestaat in 1934. This was particularly evident in tourism promotion on both sides of the border, which cast Austrians and Hungarians as special and reunited friends, invoking the old imperial “partnership.” In these ways, tourism allows us to see how the breakup of the empire fundamentally reframed, but did not destroy, the economic and cultural networks of the successor states.
My paper will explore how the quest to lure the “stranger” both sustained and was reliant upon certain habits laid down during imperial times: cross-border traffic between Austria and Hungary, the symbiotic rivalry of Budapest versus Vienna, and attempts to rekindle Habsburg-era “friendship” between Austrians and Hungarians. Despite (mostly one-sided) competition between the two capitals, not to mention the violent hostility that marked the two countries’ separation in the early postwar years, the 1930s marked an “era of good feelings” between them, especially after the imposition of the Austrian Ständestaat in 1934. This was particularly evident in tourism promotion on both sides of the border, which cast Austrians and Hungarians as special and reunited friends, invoking the old imperial “partnership.” In these ways, tourism allows us to see how the breakup of the empire fundamentally reframed, but did not destroy, the economic and cultural networks of the successor states.
Gradus ad Parnassum: Two late 19th-century country boys’ journey to Budapest
Education/Social SciencesTwo of the 20th century’s most significant and influential Hungarian composer–pianists, Béla Bartók and Ernő Dohnányi, were neither born nor raised in the capital city. Their paths as provincial boys to the Royal Academy of Music in Budapest were not only marked by parallel experiences but also by a formative personal relationship. Analyzing the musical and music pedagogical environment shaped by their parents and mentors, as well as the musical surroundings of their childhoods, reveals how the gradual professionalization and Hungarianization of the middle-class musical and pedagogical life of the multilingual and multicultural rural Hungary paved their ways. In the opening of my presentation, I will aim to provide a concise depiction of the musical and pedagogical life of the Hungarian countryside, drawing on document analyses incorporating rarely referenced sources from Bartók and Dohnányi scholarship. Following this, I examine aspects of 19th-century piano pedagogy that may have served as a foundation for their development. My research, for instance, highlights that young “wildlings” like them (borrowing Bartók’s own expression) matured into students of the Hungarian Royal Academy of Music (founded by Franz Liszt in 1875) through the rigorous technical training practices—later increasingly criticized—that acted as the stepping stones to the heights of their craft. In the second part of the presentation, I outline a historical analysis showing that the “purgatorial” function of independent technical training at the beginning of musical studies was an axiom-like element of piano pedagogy, traceable back at least to Beethoven’s generation. This approach was passed down through generations and represented the “German” path of instrumental teaching—later frequently and strongly condemned by Kodály—both on the periphery and in the mainstream of musical life, from Beethoven, through Czerny, to Liszt and his prominent disciples. However, it may seem peculiar that, although the Academy’s curriculum adhered faithfully to the “German” concept of foundational instrumental-technical training from the student years of Dohnányi and Bartók until nearly the end of their own teaching careers, instrumental technique was practically no longer a topic in their own Academy teaching. This, I argue, reflects not only the Academy professors’ consciously adopted “Parnassian” attitude but also offers insights into the origins of their approach, as revealed by my research.
Grammatical Characteristics of the Online Hungarian Media in Transylvania
Language/LiteratureIn the last three years, a group of researchers from Sapientia University and Babes-Bolyai University has monitored the language use of Hungarian online media in Transylvania. The research was financed by Domus Hungarica Scientiarium et Artium. We feel that in the past years, online media has become the main source of information for many, thus gaining the role of language model for the readers. In my presentation I aim to discuss the grammatical characteristics of the online media in Transylvania, with special emphasis on morphological and syntactical phenomena. As far as morphological problems are concerned, I will present examples, such as the omission of case suffixes and the omission of the definite article. Based on a preliminary analysis, our conclusion is that we may see a few grammar issues emerging as language phenomena in the language use of Hungarian online media in Transylvania, such as the omission of suffixes, incorrect agreement between the verb and subject or the misuse of articles (both definite and indefinite articles) etc. resulting in agrammatical Hungarian sentences. And as such, the aim of our research is not only presenting the state of the language in the online media, but also raising awareness, namely that in order for the online media to serve as a model, a more conscious and controlled language use is needed.
Guided Discovery for Preservice Teachers
Education/Social SciencesIn this talk we present teacher education methods used at Budapest Semesters in Mathematics Education (BSME), a study abroad program in Hungary for American preservice teachers. The aim of the program is for these preservice teachers to learn about the guided discovery pedagogy used in Hungarian middle and secondary school mathematics classrooms, stemming from the work of Tamás Varga, an internationally recognized Hungarian genius in mathematics education. At BSME, we challenge preservice teachers’ view of mathematics by discovery of problems drawn from various fields including art, music and language and provide them the pedagogical and methodological tools to likewise challenge their future students. To this end, BSME participants play the dual role of a student and a teacher. As students, they are exposed to tasks of guided discovery; as teachers, they reflect on this experience, and based on their experience and self-reflection, they create and teach their own tasks. In the talk, we illustrate this method of teacher training by presenting some simple selected examples of guided discovery tasks that are used in BSME classes and by illuminating how interesting questions and ideas from multifarious fields may transform into substance of mathematical discovery. We also discuss how BSME participants engage in task design and reflection.
Hagyomány, történelem és az én elbeszélése
Language/LiteratureElőadásom középpontjában Závada Pál szociográfiája és regényei állnak. Mindenik a múltat igyekszik megragadni, az emberek, az adott közösség, földrajzi egység életét és gondolkodását meghatározó történelmi, társadalmi, gazdasági, politikai vonulatok identitás-meghatározó erejét tárja fel. Mind a Kulákprés című szociográfiában, mind szépirodalmi munkáiban a történelem kiemelt szereppel bír, a mikro- és makrotörténelem perspektívái, a különféle narratív struktúrák megjelenítései, a történetmozaikokból felépülő regények szövegdarabjai vizuálisan és textuálisan egyszerre konstruálnak történelmet. Történelem- és hagyományfelfogásuk felől vizsgálva, a múlt elbeszélésének lehetőségeiként értelmezve a műveket azt láttuk, hogy olyan tágan értett közös térbe és időbe íródó történetmozaikokról beszélhetünk, amelyek identitásformálói egy tótkomlósi szlovák-magyar identitással rendelkező, szlovák-magyar kevert nyelvet beszélő közösségnek.
A múlt elbeszélését narratív struktúraként fogja fel, annak tudatával, hogy a múlt elbeszélései (akár történelmi, akár irodalmi alkotás) konstrukciók, sosem ábrázolhatnak teljesen, hiszen mindig szelekció eredményei, minden írott dokumentum szöveg, amely korlátot szab az objektivitásnak. Az elbeszélt történelem nyelvbe és kulturális diskurzusba ágyazott, a múlt komplex szöveghalmazként érthető, a posztmodern metafikciós történelmi regény pedig reflektál a múlt szövegszerűségére, az elbeszélő szöveg intertextualitására és parodisztikusságára.
A múlt elbeszélését narratív struktúraként fogja fel, annak tudatával, hogy a múlt elbeszélései (akár történelmi, akár irodalmi alkotás) konstrukciók, sosem ábrázolhatnak teljesen, hiszen mindig szelekció eredményei, minden írott dokumentum szöveg, amely korlátot szab az objektivitásnak. Az elbeszélt történelem nyelvbe és kulturális diskurzusba ágyazott, a múlt komplex szöveghalmazként érthető, a posztmodern metafikciós történelmi regény pedig reflektál a múlt szövegszerűségére, az elbeszélő szöveg intertextualitására és parodisztikusságára.
Hamvas Endre vívódásai
History/Political ScienceHamvas Endre (1890-1970) kalocsai érsek, a magyar püspöki kar elnöke, a kommunista diktatúra legkeményebb éveiben közvetített az államhatalom és a katolikus egyház között. Hamvas tiltakozott a zsidók deportálása, a Benes dekrétumok, valamint a németek háború utáni kitelepítése ellen, és felháborodásának nyilvánosan is hangot adott. A bebörtönzött Mindszenty József mellett is végig kiállt, azonban 1956 után –legalábbis látszatra– együttműködött a kommunista kormánnyal. Ennek az együttműködésnek a keretében Hamvas képviselte Magyarországot a második vatikáni zsinaton, valamint a Béke Világtanács moszkvai ülésén is. Az elmúlt években sorra jelentek meg olyan kiadványok, melyek a Hamvassal kapcsolatos államvédelmi és állambiztonsági iratokat tartalmazzák, természetesen válogatva. Bár a tudományos feldolgozás még várat magára, ezeknek a kiadványoknak köszönhetően bepillantást nyerhetünk e korszak közéleti szereplőinek személyes vivódásaiba, félelmeibe.
Haute Couture in Ornamented Fur, Skin and Felt in Siberian Iron Age Burials with Recognized Parallels in Hungarian Folk Art
Cultural Studies/ArtsThis paper reexamines archeological evidence of ornamented leather and felt work preserved in frozen tombs of herders and pastoralists at Pazyryk dating from the fourth – third c. BCE in the Altai region of Southern Siberia. The review is prompted by intensification of international scholarship that, responding to fresh excavations in and around the area, is generating productive debate on interactive economies and regional social complexity. Missing from the debate is recognition of large-scale production of organic commodities custom-made into tomb furnishings and elaborate articles of ceremonial dress out of fur, skin and felt for an elite class and their prized horses at the top of Pazyryk social order. The frail arts preserved in burial offer an exclusive view of a grassland industry generally missing in the archeological record. Parsing the data builds an understanding of patronage of an haute couture industry supported by auxiliary sectors of steppe economy including hunting, trapping, technical and creative processing, and trade. Quite possibly they offer a view into the distaff side of grassland economy. The author cites illustrative references for the parallel use of motifs, applique patterning and palette in Népi Gyapjú and Szűcs-Munka by later-day Hungarians which attest to the continued strength and viability of the industry among pastoralists.
He, Who Is Also Far, Is Actually Near – Hungarian Communities in the San Francisco Bay Area
Cultural Studies/ArtsThe constructed nature of social existence is not a new concept, and one must stress that the imaginary nature makes them not less, but incomprehensibly more powerful. One is not just trapped in his own projections, but also in what others constructed. Relations of power, economic processes, and other projective mechanisms are forcing identity in to us, and at the same time, an abstract “we” as a community forcing identity into “others”. It can be argued that a group of economical and social factors, what we tend to call modernity, created a social reality, in which it is increasingly problematic to clearly know who we are, and the only safe havens of self sameness are cultural identities. This process might be best understood through field research, as the subjects of the research are not just social interactions, but the very human imagination and emotion that creates them.
Understanding this underlines the importance of better understanding how individual Hungarian communities create their own cultural identity, and how the different surroundings affect this process, and what “we” as a “greater Hungarian community” can learn from them. To do so, I will be using the findings of two field researches conducted in San Francisco Bay Area in 2011. One focusing on the Hungarian Diaspora, and the other on Hungarians who chose not to get involved with the former and rather formulated their own micro-communities.
Understanding this underlines the importance of better understanding how individual Hungarian communities create their own cultural identity, and how the different surroundings affect this process, and what “we” as a “greater Hungarian community” can learn from them. To do so, I will be using the findings of two field researches conducted in San Francisco Bay Area in 2011. One focusing on the Hungarian Diaspora, and the other on Hungarians who chose not to get involved with the former and rather formulated their own micro-communities.
Heat Index: The Role of Paprika in Anglophone Tourism to Interwar Hungary
History/Political ScienceAmerican and British tourists played an oversized part in the imaginations of interwar Hungarian tourism promoters. Despite their relatively far-off geographical origins, despite having been enemies only a few years before, and despite arriving in comparatively low numbers, they fell into a circle of “close” and privileged foreigners whose prominence in the promoters’ minds overshadowed their actual presence. When it came to tallying successes in attracting visitors from abroad, Anglophone tourists were, in the words of one booster, aranyfácánok (golden pheasants): rich, glamorous, and willing to part with their dollars and pounds – as long as they were courted in the right way.
One of those ways, it seems, was to manage Anglo-American expectations when it came to Hungarian cuisine. Paprika – the sine qua non of cookery in modern Hungary – was a particular cause for concern. With a reputation for intense spiciness, some tourism promoters seemed to worry that paprika would be off-putting to the mild Anglophone palate, and attempted to reassure potential guests that the country would (literally) be to their taste. On the other hand, paprika had grown into a powerful metaphor for Hungarianness itself – but especially for an exoticized, eroticized fascination of Anglo-Americans for Hungarian women.
This paper is an early investigation into the role of paprika in promoting tourism to Hungary in the interwar period. Drawing on guidebooks, travelogues, advertisements, periodical sources, and films, it will explore the complicated way that paprika was emphasized or suppressed in the never-ending quest to attract big-ticket guests.
One of those ways, it seems, was to manage Anglo-American expectations when it came to Hungarian cuisine. Paprika – the sine qua non of cookery in modern Hungary – was a particular cause for concern. With a reputation for intense spiciness, some tourism promoters seemed to worry that paprika would be off-putting to the mild Anglophone palate, and attempted to reassure potential guests that the country would (literally) be to their taste. On the other hand, paprika had grown into a powerful metaphor for Hungarianness itself – but especially for an exoticized, eroticized fascination of Anglo-Americans for Hungarian women.
This paper is an early investigation into the role of paprika in promoting tourism to Hungary in the interwar period. Drawing on guidebooks, travelogues, advertisements, periodical sources, and films, it will explore the complicated way that paprika was emphasized or suppressed in the never-ending quest to attract big-ticket guests.
Helytörténeti adalékok a magyar zsidó aranyvonat transzatlanti kutatásához
History/Political ScienceA magyar zsidóktól 1944-ben elkobzott értékeket szállító „aranyvonat” történetét eddig két kötet ismertette. Kádár Gábor – Vági Zoltán „Aranyvonat” (2001), illetve Ronald Zweig „Az aranyvonat” (2004) című munkáikban alapvetően levéltári dokumentumok alapján rekonstruálták az eseményeket. A kötetek elolvasása után számos kérdés merült fel bennem, főleg a zsidó aranyvonat szállítmányának brennbergi válogatásával kapcsolatban. Dunai Andrea 2019-ben megjelent „Javak Sorsa” című könyve a kiürítési vonatok történetét ismertette. 2017-ben egy brennbergi szemtanú több levélben is leírta, hogyan jutott hozzá egy ládához, amit az aranyvonat szállítmányából származott. Beszámolójának hatására 2017-19 között a Magyar Országos Levéltárban, az Állambiztonsági Levéltárban, a MÁV Archívumban és a Soproni Levéltárban kutattam a témában. Egy tucat szemtanúval is készítettem interjút, amelynek eredménye képpen kirajzolódtak az aranyvonat történetének eddig nem ismert körülményei. A helytörténeti kutatás során sikerült beazonosítani a 105 napig Brennbergbányán tartózkodó értékszállítmány válogatásának a helyszínét, körülményeit és a vonat 1945. március 30-án történt kimenetelének az eseményeit. Az aranyvonat szerelvényét 1945. július 19-én Werfenben az amerikai hadsereg átvette, leltározta, majd 1948 tavaszán a tartalmát átszállították az Egyesült Államokba. 1948 júniusában New Yorkban az értékeket (drágaköveket, drágaköves és arany ékszereket, ezüsttárgyakat, porcelánokat stb.) hat nyilvános árverésen eladták. A brennbergi szemtanúkkal készített interjúk készítése során az érintettek több mint 25 tárgyat adományoztak az Elfeledett Soproniak Alapítvány Gyűjteményének, amelyek beszámolóik szerint mind a zsidó aranyvonatról származtak. A tárgyak jelentősége abban áll, hogy egyrészt a magyar holokauszt tárgyi bizonyítékai, másrészt a zsidó aranyvonat Magyarország területén visszamaradt dokumentumai is.
Heritage and Repatriation in the History of Habsburg and Hungarian Archives
History/Political ScienceHow long has Hungary had a national archives? It’s a trick question: the Hungarian National Archives (Magyar Nemzeti Levéltár) was created only in 2012 with the integration of the central repository of the country (Magyar Országos Levéltár) and the county archives. The Országos Levéltár arose by stages beginning in 1723 as the repository of the state offices of the country. Formal definition of “the country” became more complicated after 1918, but Hungary’s archives fared better than those of Austria in the sense that Hungary retained possession of major bodies of public records for regions that were now part of neighboring countries—whereas many of the records in Vienna were “repatriated” to Austria’s successor states. The aspiration to create an archives “of the nation” arose well before 2012. Today’s nation is cultural and sociological more than administrative, and the archives increasingly shared the ambition of the National Library to document Hungarians everywhere. Repositories in Hungary have accepted donations by Hungarians in the diaspora for decades, but especially since the establishment of the Mikes Kelemen Program in 2014 for the shipment to Hungary. My paper will examine the results of the program and the disadvantages of separating the national heritage of diaspora populations from that of their host countries.
Heritage Institutions and Support for Hungary’s “Gypsy Music”
Music/FolkloreFrom the beginning of Bartók’s and Kodály’s research to today, “authentic folk music” in Hungary has been understood to be rural, and urban “Gypsy music” has been largely excluded. In recent decades, musicians and culture workers have struggled over the implications of this concept in new institutions of “heritage” [hagyomány]. In the words of museum studies scholar Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, heritage is “a new mode of cultural production that has recourse to the past”–it “add[s] value” to old practices in a way that “speaks in and to the present, even if it does so in terms of the past.” That value impacts access to institutional and financial support. Hungarian Heritage House [Hagyományok Háza], the institution in charge of the Hungarian State Folk Ensemble, the Martin Médiatár (archive of folk music and dance), and outreach programs for folk music, dance, and other folk arts, has cultivated a robust network of scholars and practitioners across the Carpathian Basin. While rural Romani musicians have served for decades as important informants for those scholars, urban Romani musicians have mostly been ignored, and fewer restaurants provided live “Gypsy music.” Beginning in 2017, Hungarian Heritage House supported urban Romani bands providing music in restaurants and cafés. This program has largely ended since the COVID pandemic. Using a combination of interviews and documents, this presentation shows how some urban Romani musicians have strived for greater acknowledgement of and support for their contributions to Hungarian heritage.
Heritage Language Instruction and the Success in Attaining Communication Goals
Language/LiteratureThe issue of whether polite language usage should be taught in a foreign language classroom is actually preceded by the following, equally complex question: what gestures, language strategies, or attitudes represent politeness for a given culture? While many may view politeness as a conceptual, or even ideological matter, it can also be interpreted as an opportunity for translating daily practice and customs into an essential classroom exercise. Throughout my work as an educator of Hungarian as a Second and Heritage Language and researcher in the field of empirical pragmatic linguistics, it has been the latter aspects of these questions—those pertaining to the instruction of foreign language students in the nuances of how Hungarian culture constructs politeness—that have fueled and continue to fuel my interest. In this lecture I will therefore explore how the question of politeness relates to the broader area of Hungarian as a Second Language and Hungarian Heritage Language instruction.
Heritage Language Transmission in the American Hungarian Diaspora – Results of an Online Survey
Education/Social SciencesIn order to gain insights in what factors play a role in language maintenance in a diaspora, it is crucial to investigate heritage language transmission during first language acquisition. Previous linguistic research has focused on adults in American Hungarian communities, while less attention has been paid to parent-child communication in the Hungarian diaspora in the U.S. A survey has been launched online to fill this research gap.
Parents of children of Hungarian heritage (ages 3-18) have been invited to complete the survey. All participants reside in the U.S. and no knowledge of Hungarian is required for the completion of the survey. The bilingual survey mainly includes multiple-choice questions and Likert-type scales to gain quantitative data on the potential factors behind heritage language maintenance. The survey also contains some open-ended questions to gather qualitative data on the American variety of Hungarian as it is used by the Hungarian-speaking parents and their children. The questionnaire has four parts: 1) parents’ linguistic background, language usage and linguistic beliefs, 2) children’s language usage, 3) characteristics of the parent-child communication, 4) parents’ attitudes towards the local and homeland varieties of Hungarian, as well as towards bilingualism and bilingual language acquisition in the diaspora.
224 submissions have been received to date, but the survey is still open and collecting responses (see at https://forms.gle/DRQdRFWfbrvke5oe6). The talk will present the preliminary results of the survey in progress.
Parents of children of Hungarian heritage (ages 3-18) have been invited to complete the survey. All participants reside in the U.S. and no knowledge of Hungarian is required for the completion of the survey. The bilingual survey mainly includes multiple-choice questions and Likert-type scales to gain quantitative data on the potential factors behind heritage language maintenance. The survey also contains some open-ended questions to gather qualitative data on the American variety of Hungarian as it is used by the Hungarian-speaking parents and their children. The questionnaire has four parts: 1) parents’ linguistic background, language usage and linguistic beliefs, 2) children’s language usage, 3) characteristics of the parent-child communication, 4) parents’ attitudes towards the local and homeland varieties of Hungarian, as well as towards bilingualism and bilingual language acquisition in the diaspora.
224 submissions have been received to date, but the survey is still open and collecting responses (see at https://forms.gle/DRQdRFWfbrvke5oe6). The talk will present the preliminary results of the survey in progress.
Hidden Hungarians: Martin Rose, the founding father of Rose Iron Works, a Cleveland Treasure
Cultural Studies/ArtsThis presentation will trace the history of Rose Iron Works, one of the little known treasures of Cleveland, Ohio, of which many native Clevelanders are unaware, much less that it was founded in 1904 by Hungarian immigrants. Martin Rose, born in 1870 in Csepe, Hungary, was a highly skilled ornamental blacksmith trained in the best shops in Budapest and Vienna. In 1929, he hired fellow Hungarian artisan, Paul Fehér, away from the preeminent Kiss studio in Paris in order to introduce Art Deco metalwork to the USA. “Muse with a Violin,” designed by Fehér in 1930, was inspired by the construction of Severance Hall, home of the Cleveland Symphony; the screen, a quintessential example of Rose and Fehér’s refinement of European style and an icon of American Deco metalwork, has toured many museums, including: The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; The Art Institute of Chicago; The Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian, and many others, including the Cleveland Museum of Art’s 2017-18 “The Jazz Age” show. Rose Iron Works became the source of decorative metalwork for prominent families building Cleveland’s early economic empire. Rose and his descendants collaborated with world-renowned designers such as Viktor Schreckengost with whom they produced a large mural for the entrance to Cleveland Hopkins Airport. They also collaborated on murals for Marathon Oil Company at their Texas headquarters. Rose Iron Works is located in the heart of Cleveland’s historic Saint Clair Superior East side neighborhood, where their forge shop has been operating for over a century.
High School Entrepreneurship Education in Practice: What Makes a Hungarian Bill Gates, Steve Jobs?
Education/Social SciencesHow does a nation, a region become an economic powerhouse? What makes a young, talented student a successful entrepreneur, professional, leader?
The answer does not lie behind the GDP numbers, but mainly in the entrepreneurial spirit, knowledge and risk taking attitudes of the young generation. The presentation describes the subject of entrepreneurship education as a crucial factor in economic progress. It gives an overview of the entrepreneurship education landscape of the Carpathian Basin today. Using multiple perspectives it observes the common ways of entrepreneurial skill and competence development.
As a practical example of Central European entrepreneurship education, the presenter will talk about an independent, not-for-profit initiative, the Calasanctius Youth Business Program. The mission of this program is to educate the next generation of young leaders in the Hungarian communities throughout the Carpathian basin. The program aims at providing Hungarian-speaking high school students with knowledge of key ethical business principles, entrepreneurial skills and values that strengthen their ability not only to stay in their homelands, but to successfully develop their communities as well.
These objectives are realized through establishing a network of programs that tightens the personal relationships of our students across borders in the Carpathian basin, develops their Hungarian-American connections, and educates them on key business and professional areas such as teamwork, communication, problem solving, ethical decision making, volunteering, that are immensely valuable in their future success.
The answer does not lie behind the GDP numbers, but mainly in the entrepreneurial spirit, knowledge and risk taking attitudes of the young generation. The presentation describes the subject of entrepreneurship education as a crucial factor in economic progress. It gives an overview of the entrepreneurship education landscape of the Carpathian Basin today. Using multiple perspectives it observes the common ways of entrepreneurial skill and competence development.
As a practical example of Central European entrepreneurship education, the presenter will talk about an independent, not-for-profit initiative, the Calasanctius Youth Business Program. The mission of this program is to educate the next generation of young leaders in the Hungarian communities throughout the Carpathian basin. The program aims at providing Hungarian-speaking high school students with knowledge of key ethical business principles, entrepreneurial skills and values that strengthen their ability not only to stay in their homelands, but to successfully develop their communities as well.
These objectives are realized through establishing a network of programs that tightens the personal relationships of our students across borders in the Carpathian basin, develops their Hungarian-American connections, and educates them on key business and professional areas such as teamwork, communication, problem solving, ethical decision making, volunteering, that are immensely valuable in their future success.
High Stakes Cultural Politics: The Cold War and the New York Bartók Estate in the 1950s
Music/FolkloreBéla Bartók lived in the New York City area for the last five years of his life. His American estate dates its origins to 1943, when he entrusted his music manuscript collection to the care of two fellow Hungarian émigrés, Gyula Báron and Victor Bator, both then living in the United States. After his death, in September 1945, the estate devolved into their care. By 1960, thanks to Bator’s astute management, the Bartók estate had become one of the largest collections of unique autograph materials anywhere in the world devoted to a single artistic figure – a cultural treasure of intense interest for Hungarians and for the Hungarian Communist government.
The onset of Cold War politics in the late 1940s presented numerous challenges to the estate, particularly when its beneficiaries – Bartók’s two sons and wife -- became separated by the Iron Curtain. Documents and letters recently located in Massachusetts allow us to reconstruct the inner workings of the Bartók estate for the first time. Victor Bator emerges as a fierce defender of democratic ideals, recognized by President Harry Truman as an important ally in the American foreign relations battle against Communism. As I’ll demonstrate, Bator neatly parried attempts by the Communist party to gain control over the estate and its royalty stream in international courts. The New York Bartók Estate emerges as another important arena for Cold War cultural battles in the 1950s and 60s.
The onset of Cold War politics in the late 1940s presented numerous challenges to the estate, particularly when its beneficiaries – Bartók’s two sons and wife -- became separated by the Iron Curtain. Documents and letters recently located in Massachusetts allow us to reconstruct the inner workings of the Bartók estate for the first time. Victor Bator emerges as a fierce defender of democratic ideals, recognized by President Harry Truman as an important ally in the American foreign relations battle against Communism. As I’ll demonstrate, Bator neatly parried attempts by the Communist party to gain control over the estate and its royalty stream in international courts. The New York Bartók Estate emerges as another important arena for Cold War cultural battles in the 1950s and 60s.
