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.