Invited paper

Szathmáry, Emġke

University of Manitoba

Cultural Lenses and Biological Filters on What Makes a Hungarian in the Present and in the Distant Past

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
The definition of a memoir that best fits this presentation is “an account of the personal experiences of an author.” This paper provides the reflections of a biological anthropologist specializing in the genetics of the Indigenous peoples of North America, who was born in Hungary, raised in Canada, and served 12 years as President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Manitoba. Perhaps it is the ghost of C.P. Snow’s “two cultures” - the gap in understanding between the sciences and the arts - that may question the relevance of this professional background to Hungarian Studies. However issues raised by Kenyeres János, AHEA’s 2019 keynote speaker, in his examination of Hungarian identity manifest in literature - specifically in writings that reflect “essentialist thinking”- are related to fundamental issues about the nature of human diversity with which biological anthropologists have been grappling since the 18th century. In an era in which commercial genetic genalogical services promise to identify ancestors, and genetic studies of living peoples as well as archaeogenomic studies of skeletal remains seek to identify relationships, current perspectives on what constitutes – or not – “the essence of an individual and the groups to which one belongs” are worth considering. Facts, whether in murder mysteries or in lawful courtroom trials, are subject to interpretation. It is the cultural interpretation that we give to genetic identity and genetic differences that imbue these concepts with meaning.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Emġke J.E. Szathmáry, CM, OM, PhD, FRSC, is President Emeritus of the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, where she was President and Vice-Chancellor (1996-2008). Earlier, she was Provost and Vice-President (Academic) at McMaster University, and Dean of Social Science at Western University. Szathmáry’s research focused on the causes of type-2 diabetes, the genetic relationships within and between North American and Siberian peoples, and the microevolution of subarctic populations. Her fieldwork involved Ottawa, Ojibwa and Tlicho populations in Ontario and the Northwest Territories. She has published over 90 scientific studies and reviews, and co-edited four books. Her disciplinary service includes terms as Editor-in-Chief of the Yearbook of Physical Anthropology (1987-1991) and the American Journal of Physical Anthropology (1995-2001).