Accepted Abstracts

Being Hungarian in America: 37 interviews about the current state of the Hungarian diaspora and its future prospects in North America (Book)

Type of Abstract (select): Book Presentation

Abstract (max. 250 words):
Our family moved from Budapest to the United States in 2022 because of my husband’s job. Being a freelance journalist, I quickly started conducting interviews with Hungarians living in New Jersey and later on across North America about their past and present, the joys and difficulties of their daily lives, the preservation and transmission of their cultural heritage – providing a broad picture of the current state of the Hungarian diaspora and its future prospects in North America. Thirty-seven of these interviews were selected for inclusion in the first volume of my book titled Being Hungarian in America. The list of selected pieces include interviews with former or current leaders and representatives of various Hungarian (Catholic and Reformed) churches and associations (Hungarian scouts, weekend schools and summer camps, clubs, folk dance and folk traditions groups); as well as with a businessman and a Hungarian radio executive, the latter also being the publisher of the book. The perseverance and active community involvement of Hungarian Americans – guaranteeing the survival of their communities – can serve as a multiple role model, inspiration and affirmation for all of us. Their life stories are not only interesting and valuable, but also offer an authentic Hungarian American chronicle of the various waves of immigration, as well as proof that the only guarantee of survival is the preservation and cultivation of the Hungarian language, the culture and the traditions both at the family and at the community level, as well as the close cooperation between the Hungarian American organizations.
The presentation will be in Hungarian.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Ildikó Antal-Ferencz has a degree in economics, worked as a tax consultant. In 2016 she repositioned herself as a freelance journalist, focusing on family matters, but regularly covering cultural or civic societal issues (life protection, charities, faith, education, disabilities). She is an author or co-author of several books, hosted radio programs, round table discussions and conferences, and appeared on television programs in Hungary. She has been living in the US since 2022 and authored close to a hundred interviews and articles about the Hungarian diaspora in North America and released the first volume of her book Being Hungarian in America’.

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Pilgrims in a Foreign Land: A Survey of Hungarian Catholic Shrines in the United States and Their Relation to Other Ethnic Shrines

Type of Abstract (select): Paper presentation

Abstract (max. 250 words):
American Catholicism has been and continues to be molded by immigration and ethnicity. Much scholarly attention has been devoted to the religious and social functions that nationality parishes have played in serving Catholic immigrant communities and their descendants, but considerably less attention has been given to the unique regional forms of popular piety practiced in these ethnic parishes. Among these manifestations of popular piety was the rich tradition of pilgrimage to sites commemorating particular saints, apparitions, or miraculous images that were so closely connected to the immigrants' national identities. While many ethnic parishes and other ethnic Catholic associations continued practicing this tradition in their new homeland by sponsoring pilgrimages to existing shrines that had primarily been established by long-assimilated Irish, French, and German Catholic groups, some ethnic Catholic communities developed their own shrines with replicas of these objects of popular devotion from their homelands. Hungarian Catholics were no exception to this natural progression in the development of religious life in exile. This paper will present the history of several Hungarian shrines in America, ranging from narthex shrines to wayside shrines and diocesan shrines, and will examine parallels between them and the shrines established by other ethnic groups in America. With the recent designation of America's oldest Hungarian Roman Catholic church as the Shrine of St. Elizabeth in August 2023, the present moment is a fitting time to begin initial investigations into the legacy of Hungarian pilgrimage traditions in America.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Nicholas Boros serves as Upper School Mathematics Teacher at Hawken School in Gates Mills, Ohio. He completed his undergraduate studies in comparative religion, linguistics, and mathematics at Cleveland State University in 2015. His primary area of research focuses on the history of Eastern Orthodoxy in the United States, and he periodically works on projects related to the development of Hungarian Catholicism in America.

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From Jesuit Missionaries to Scholars of Sinology. Crossing Linguistic Boundaries through Editing Hungarian–Chinese Dictionaries (Panel)

Type of Abstract (select): Panel Discussion

Abstract (max. 250 words):
Facing a new society, one of the first boundaries to overcome is the one of linguistic differences. Especially so in cases when already the script is unintelligible at first sight, such as in Hungarian–Chinese encounters. Nevertheless, numerous tools can facilitate negotiating and reimagining this boundary, of which dictionaries are traditionally regarded as crucial. Thus, it is hard to wonder that subsequent generations of Hungarians, who aimed to develop a better understanding of China, embarked on the tedious journey of compiling bilingual dictionaries. The exact methods, scope, and motivation of these compiling generations, however, display significant differences, which can provide insights into the development of bilateral relations between the two countries. Therefore, this presentation aims to provide an overview of the dictionary writing processes of the last century, starting from the Hungarian Jesuit missionaries in the Chinese town of Daming, through the works of professors Hamar Imre, Bartos Huba, and Galambos Imre around the turn of this century, to the current magnum opus of the Akadémiai Kiadó. After a historical overview of earlier editions, the presentation will detail the editorial process of the most recent version, of which the author himself was part for the last more than two years.

My paper is part of the proposed CESAR Panel
Name of the proposed panel: CESAR Panel - Trajectories of academic study of religions in Central and Eastern Europe.
Panel lectures:
1. Márk, Nemes and Boros, Péter - Introduction of CESAR at AHEA 2024
2. Márk, Nemes - The study of new religions in Hungary before and after the fall of the Iron Curtain
3. Péter Boros - From Jesuit Missionaries to Scholars of Sinology.
Crossing Linguistic Boundaries through Editing Hungarian–Chinese Dictionaries


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Peter Boros is a third-year sinology Ph.D. student at Eötvös Loránd University focusing on Buddhist–Christian dialogue in early 20th century China. His main research concerns Buddhist master Taixu’s approach towards Christianity, while also engaging in interreligious dialogue research in a broader sense, as exemplified by his recent comparison of Thomas Merton and Thich Nhat Hanh’s understanding of contemplation–meditation. He holds two MA degrees in international relations from Peking University, and Central European University. Additionally, he received the Fulbright Scholarship for AY 2024/25, and was recipient of the Hungarian New National Excellence Program scholarship in AY 2022/23 and 2023/24.

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A népszínmű tündöklése és bukása. Magyar művelődéstörténeti pillanatképek.

Type of Abstract (select): Paper presentation

Abstract (max. 250 words):
A népszínmű a 19-20. századi magyar művelődéstörténet meghatározó színjátéktípusa és drámai műfaja volt. Az előadás a vizsgálódásra választott színjátékfajta XIX. századi kultúrtörténetének vázlata; vizsgálja a kérdéskör problematikáját, a műfaj a magyar művelődéstörténetben betöltött szerepét. Tárgyalja a műfaj magyarországi megjelenését, előzményeit, pályája metamorfózisait, variánsait; ismerteti jelentős alkotóit és azok műveit, valamint megkísérli a művekből feltáruló világ felfedezését.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Gizella Cseh is a philologist and teacher in Hungarian, Hungarian as a foreign language and culture, Slovak language, language coach, PR-Spokesman, journalist in culture, tourist guide.

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Saying Goodbye – A Comparative Psychoanalytic Interpretation of Expatriation and Mourning

Type of Abstract (select): Paper presentation

Abstract (max. 250 words):
Expatriation can qualify as a social trauma. The expatriate is deprived of a familiar, secure environment in which to continue their life. The process of a kind of symbolic mourning for loss is a necessary step to connect with a continued existence abroad. But can the traditional understanding of mourning, which commonly refers to the expression of sorrow for someone’s death, be compared to the symbolic mourning that expatriates experience? This presentation will introduce and bring attention to some of the most important principles of psychoanalysis related to mourning and give a brief overview of the shared features of grief and expatriate loss. Taking into consideration the various stages of emotions which are experienced by expatriates and mourners, we shall see that in both cases a sense of continuity in daily life within a known environment is interrupted, resulting in the development of acute pain and encapsulated sadness that accompany loss. Distance magnifies the reality of absence, which is present in both expatriation and mourning. Both events shed light on significant changes in the individuals’ perception of themselves and of their environment brought about by the experience of loss. By exploring psychoanalytic approaches, this paper aims to offer a deeper understanding of the intricate ways the human mind works at times of crisis.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Teodóra Dömötör received her Ph.D. in American Studies from the University of Surrey, UK. She currently works as an Assistant Professor at Karoli Gaspar University, Budapest. As a visiting scholar, she conducted extensive research at Columbia University (NY) and JFK Presidential Library (Boston). Her primary research interests include the narrative representation of immigration and identity in twentieth-century transnational American literature. She is committed to an interdisciplinary approach: social history, psychoanalysis, literary theory form the basis of her arguments. In addition to articles and chapters in American and European publications, she is working on her monograph focusing on the trauma of expatriation.

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To Serve the Needs of Their Users: Two Natural-Philosophical Texts from Mrs. Heltai’s Printshop in Early Modern Transylvania

Type of Abstract (select): Paper presentation

Abstract (max. 250 words):
On April 3, 1655 flames engulfed most of the downtown of Kolozsvár (Klausenburg, Cluj) in the Principality of Transylvania, leaving smoldering rubble in their wake. Consumed by the fire was the town’s first known printshop, never to be rebuilt. What physically remains of the printshop is some of its typeface and some of the books it produced in its more than one-hundred-year existence. Among the surviving books are volumes printed by one of the region’s first known female printers, Zsófia Heltai, the widow of the printer, translator, and Protestant preacher Gáspár Heltai (Caspar Helth). While the Heltai printshop’s importance to the region’s book production and cultural life is widely recognized by historians, a comprehensive study of the widow Heltai’s operation of the printshop (~1574–1582) poses a challenge, owing, in part to a paucity of sources. This paper seeks to contribute to the scholarship on Mrs. Heltai’s multifaceted book-related activities by examining together the two known natural-philosophical texts that appeared under her care, an early herbarium and an astrological prognosticon, both published in 1578, in Hungarian. As a printer serving the reading needs of the wider region, publishing mostly vernacular works that would otherwise be unavailable through importation, her work contributed to the circulation of knowledge, including scientific ideas and practices.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Angela Gazda is a scholar of east central Europe whose current work focuses on the history of science, especially medicine.

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The Hungarian Faith Church (Hit Gyülekezete): Domestic and International Activism

Type of Abstract (select): Paper presentation

Abstract (max. 250 words):
The Faith Church (Hit Gyülekezete) is a Protestant religious movement which emerged as a semi-underground church in the latter years of the Cold War. Its roots are in the 1970s through a series of contacts with foreign, primarily American, evangelical churches. With the fall of communism in the post-1989 period, the church was able to function openly and today has grown to more than 70,000 members. The church combines elements of evangelicalism and Pentecostalism, but a central theme of the Church is in its philo-Semitism and it fits comfortably into the world of Christian Zionism, a belief in the continuing covenantal role of the Jewish people as God’s Chosen People. In this regard, the Faith Church has been highly active in promoting its beliefs in Hungary, including a deep connection to the Hungarian Jewish community and social and political activism to combat anti-Semitism in Hungary and to encourage good relations with Israel. This activism is not restricted to the domestic scene but has included linkages with Christian Zionist groups internationally and has numerous direct and indirect activities in Israel. This paper focuses on the church’s domestic and transnational activism.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Prof. Jeffery Kaplan is the author or editor of 30 books and over 100 articles and anthology chapters on religious violence, millenarianism, history, terrorism, and reconciliation. His most recent book is The Early Settlement Movement: The Birth Pangs of Gush Emunim, which will be published by Routledge in 2024. He is currently the Senior Distinguished Fellow at the Danube Institute in Budapest, Hungary, and an External Expert with the Islamic Cultural, Educational and Scientific Organization (ICESCO) in Rabat, Morocco.

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Rabbi Fulop Fischer's Sermons: Navigating Ambiguity and Advocacy in Hungarian Jewry

Type of Abstract (select): Paper presentation

Abstract (max. 250 words):
Fulop Fischer (1877-1944), an Orthodox rabbi in Sárospatak, eastern Hungary, was a beloved leader. He defended Jewish community interests in public speeches in churches and pamphlets, and translated important works of the era, such as essays by Samson Raphael Hirsch. Fischer's outspoken advocacy for his community led to the publication of many of his sermons from the 1910s until his death, which were distributed even beyond Hungary, and read by Hungarian Jews in Palestine and the US. In 1937, Fischer published a collection of his sermons on Zion and Zionism, titled Ción felé ("Towards Zion"), which offers a fascinating analysis of growing antisemitism in Hungary, the activities of the Zionist movement. Fischer's sermons express his ambiguous stance towards the Zionist movement and its lack of religious commitment, while also revealing his personal belief in Zionism's ultimate victory. Fischer's use of humor and pastoral guidance in dark times makes his sermons easy to read, yet deeply insightful into the spirit of the community. Despite the long and distinct history and culture of the Hungarian Jewish community, it is often overlooked by scholars, even within Jewish studies. This paper focuses on Fulop Fischer as an influential and popular rabbi of his time, and aims to contribute to research on Hungarian Jewry. Analyzing Fischer's work provides valuable insights into the historical context and debates within the Hungarian Jewish community during a time when questions around belonging to Europe and longing for Israel were especially relevant.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Ármin Langer is DAAD Assistant Professor at the University of Florida's Center for European Studies and affiliate faculty at the Bud Shorstein Center for Jewish Studies. His research interests are migration, identity politics and populism in Europe and the US. He is author of a monograph on German-Jewish integration, co-edited an anthology on Jewish-Muslim entanglements and published several articles in edited volumes and peer-reviewed journals. Armin holds a Ph.D. in sociology from the Humboldt University of Berlin. He was ordained as a rabbi by the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in Philadelphia and has served Jewish communities in Pennsylvania, Texas, Sweden, Germany, Austria and Hungary.

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Theatre and Quarantine Culture

Type of Abstract (select): Paper presentation

Abstract (max. 250 words):
During my presentation, I focus on theatre: the theatre scene has undergone a major transformation in the last few years. On the one hand, the high degree of uncertainty that characterised the cultural industry has deepened as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic, and on the other hand, theatres have been trying to operate beyond their own limits in a period of temporary quarantine culture. In this paper, I will review the terminology of quarantine culture and pandemic.I do this with the intention of taking a provisional sample of the practice of the main, or Hungarian, theatre era through a specific 'filter'. In the remainder of the theoretical introduction, I will present the logic of the main and peripheral cultural industries and briefly describe their characteristics, and outline a narrative of a transformation that has taken place in the cultural industries. Following the introduction, I will organise the paper along these concepts, thereby discussing the phenomena of presence, performance, reception and mediatisation through the solutions of the Hungarian theatre scene in a given period, and show how the theatre field was able to achieve a transformation through a process of mediatisation, which I believe was not organic or 'violent', and which also implied a partial integration into the mechanisms of the main cultural fields.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Zsanett Lengyel is currently a student of the Doctoral School of Literary and Cultural Studies at the University of Debrecen. She has teaching and research experience. She has 5 degrees for now. In her researchers, she deals with different aspects cultural studies within theatre and museums. She has earned many research sholarships during the past 8 years – in the last semester, she was a short term scholar at University of New Mexico (US).

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The Fundamental Interconnectedness of All Things: Nationality Rooms in the Cathedral of Learning

Type of Abstract (select): Paper presentation

Abstract (max. 250 words):
The interior of a building provides hints about what the building itself might be like. The form, construction period, and architectural style determine the image it projects. This lecture aims to uncover connections between the design principles of three Nationality and Heritage Rooms in the Cathedral of Learning: the Yugoslav, the Hungarian, and the Austrian Rooms. Despite being three distinct rooms representing different nations, their connection becomes more apparent when considering that, from the 19th century until the early 20th century, some areas of the three countries were not part of a nation state, but of a multinational empire, Habsburg Central Europe. On the other hand, it’s also interesting to note that the design in two of the rooms (the Hungarian and the Yugoslav Rooms) reflects the imprint of the nation-states that emerged after the First World War (Serbia, Hungary, Austria). This presentation explores the distinction between nationality and ethnicity and how these two concepts are represented, or rather underrepresented, in the Yugoslav Heritage Room. Additionally, it delves into the connections between folk and neo-baroque in Hungarian art, particularly in architectural design and music, as well as highlighting the unique characteristics of the Austrian room.
The research was conducted within the framework of the Fulbright Scholarship, and the initial presentation of the research took place in Pittsburgh, U.S., at the University of Pittsburgh in the Cathedral of Learning's Hungarian Heritage Room.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Éva Lovra, Ph.D. is a civil engineer and urban engineer with an M.Sc., specializing in conservation engineering, holds a Ph.D. in architectural engineering with a focus on urban morphology. She conducted her postdoctoral research at the UCL Bartlett, the University of Novi Sad, and the Slovak Academy of Sciences. She serves as a senior lecturer at the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Debrecen and is a supervisor at the Doctoral School of Earth Sciences. She is a member of the Urban Sciences Committee of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and the Hungarian National Committee of ICOMOS.

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Book presentation: From the Miskolc Modernism to New York. Architecture of Victor Bohm (Book)

Type of Abstract (select): Book Presentation

Abstract (max. 250 words):

Lovra Éva: A miskolci modernizmustól New Yorkig. Bőhm Viktor építészete. Észak-Keleti Átjáró Egyesület, Miskolc, 2023. 264 p.
This research, initiated in 2020, centers around the multifaceted legacy of Viktor Bőhm. The exploration spans three years, encompassing studies, research, and professional presentations, with a primary objective to not only preserve Bőhm's inaugural residential creation in Miskolc but also to unearth, showcase, and contextualize his standing architectural achievements within Hungarian modernism. The focus extends to Bőhm's pivotal role in the Hungarian and international architectural landscape, emphasizing the need for local protection of his works. Addressing the void of individual protection for Bőhm's structures in Hungary, the study elucidates the interconnectedness of his Hungarian and American phases. While the American corpus is extensive, notably from 1940 to 1980, many of Bőhm's creations face transformations or disappearance. The exception, the former Rifkin & Grannick department store in Trenton, New Jersey, not only received international acclaim during its 1940s renovation but has also endured as part of the Thomas Edison State University. The research unfolds within the framework of a Fulbright Visiting Professorship, involving a comprehensive review of the American legacy, scrutiny of Linda Bőhm's personal archive, and on-site visits to Bőhm's extant building in Trenton. This volume aims to encapsulate Viktor Bőhm's acclaimed American architectural contributions and simultaneously analyze their profound impact on Hungarian architectural theory and history. Beyond architectural analyses, the book delves into Bőhm's broader artistic spectrum, encompassing paintings, furniture, and applied arts, aiming to position his legacy within the broader narrative of Hungarian and international architectural history.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Éva Lovra, Ph.D. is a civil engineer and urban engineer with an M.Sc., specializing in conservation engineering, holds a Ph.D. in architectural engineering with a focus on urban morphology. She conducted her postdoctoral research at the UCL Bartlett, the University of Novi Sad, and the Slovak Academy of Sciences. She serves as a senior lecturer at the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Debrecen and is a supervisor at the Doctoral School of Earth Sciences. She is a member of the Urban Sciences Committee of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and the Hungarian National Committee of ICOMOS.

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Professional Development Session: Publishing a Monograph (Panel)

Type of Abstract (select): Panel Discussion

Abstract (max. 250 words):
This Professional Development Panel Discussion on Publishing a Monograph is proposed as part of AHEA’s new Early Career Scholars Network programming. In this panel discussion, scholars will share their experiences in book publishing. After a brief introduction by the moderator, each panelist will speak for 10-15 minutes. A Question and Answer session will follow, and during this time all panelists will have the opportunity to answer audience questions based on their relevant experiences. Topics of discussion will include: advice on selecting and approaching an editor or scholarly press, how to choose a topic of interest to publishers, the steps of the book publication process (initial conversations with editors, proposal development and submission, acceptance, revision, marketing, etc.), as well as other related topics, such as working with a translator, obtaining and documenting permissions to publish documents from archives, applying for subventions, etc. As a supplement to the discussion, a book publishing resource guide will be distributed to the session participants. The session is intended to benefit scholars in graduate school or less than ten years out of their doctoral programs who have questions about writing a first book, however, middle- and later-career scholars might also benefit from the discussion and contribute to it by sharing their own experiences in the Q&A session.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Sarah Lucas is Assistant Professor at Texas A&M

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Writing a non-fiction book about the Hungarian Rescuer of Shanghai Jewish Refugees (Book)

Type of Abstract (select): Book Presentation

Abstract (max. 250 words):
1938, Shanghai. Drained by Western colonization, China is suffocating in Imperial Japan’s grip. Its government fled to the mountains; the foreign elite is being evacuated on ships. The East Asian metropolis is flooded by destitute peasants chased by the frontlines and Jews who left everything behind in Hitler’s Europe. Paul Komor, the Budapest-born China Hand businessman who had been assisting his needy compatriots for decades, is now deprived of his precious citizenship by Hungary’s antisemitic legislation. While his national identity is questioned, he builds on his family’s charity traditions, and with the American JDC’s first female overseas social worker, they organize aid for Shanghai’s nearly twenty-thousand Jewish refugees. Situated in a seemingly “exotic” and “far” East, the events described in this non-fiction book deal with sensitive questions such as East-Central European Jewish assimilation, Hungarian nationalism, the agency of Hungary’s wartime government, and the relationship of the emigrant communities with their homeland. Punctuated with underground crime, love affairs, and political intrigue, the story takes the reader to the twilight of the colonial world before the dawn of New China.

This presentation introduces the recently published book A cserben hagyott hazafi. Zsidómentés a háborús Sanghajban (Budapest, Könyv Népe: 2023), currently rendered in English as “Patriot Left Behind. Rescuing Jews in Wartime Shanghai,” a non-academic work by an academic. Using multilingual archives from three continents, this rigorously researched non-fiction is based on parts of the author’s doctoral dissertation he submitted at New York University.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Mátyás Mervay is a New York-based Hungarian historian of China and Central Europe. His dissertation “Habsburg Refugees in China: Postimperial Diaspora, Diplomacy, and Orientalism in the Republican Era (1918-1949)” focuses on displacement, humanitarian assistance, and diaspora formation in a twentieth-century Sino-Central European foreign relations context. He earned his B.A. in History at the ELTE University (Budapest) and his M.A. degree at Nankai University (Tianjin, China), where he majored in Modern Chinese History. He has published academic and public history works in English, Mandarin, and Hungarian. Mátyás regularly teaches modern East Asian history, currently at Yeshiva and Princeton Universities.

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Balogh Edit kárpitművész Szálvetés című monográfiája és a Magyar Kárpitművészek Egyesületének tevékenysége (Book)

Type of Abstract (select): Book Presentation

Abstract (max. 250 words):
Előadásomban a Balogh Edit Ferenczy Noémi-díjas kárpitművész teljes oeuvre-jét felölelő Szálvetés című, 2023 decemberében megjelent könyvemet szeretném bemutatni. Balogh Edit a kolozsvári Ion Andrescu Képző- és Iparművészeti Főiskola falikárpit- és szőnyegtervező szakán diplomázott, 1986-tól Magyarországon él és alkot. Amellett, hogy jelentős egyéni művészi életművet hozott létre, 2011-től a Magyar Kárpitművészek Egyesülete vezetője is. Balogh Edit művészi életművének középpontjában a fénymisztika áll. Amellett hogy haute lisse technikával klasszikus gobelineket is készít, szívesen kísérletezik fémszálakkal és világító ledszálakkal, illetve olyan szövéstechnikai kísérletekkel, amelyek a transzcendens tapasztalások hol szimbolikus, hol absztrakt reprezentációjára törekszenek. A prezentáció bőséges képanyaggal illusztrálva mutatja be be a művész életútjának legfontosabb fordulópontjait a történelmi és kárpitművészeti környezet kontextusában illetve kitekintésszerűen utal a magyar Kárpitművészek Egyesülete több mint 25 éves tevékenységére, annak jelentős tagjainak munkásságára, mintegy megrajzolva a kortárs magyar kárpitművészek tablóját is vázlatosan.



Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Molnár Eszter művészettörténész, irodalomtörténész. Három kárpitművészeti monográfia szerzője (Hálózatok címmel Kneisz Eszterről, Szálvetés címmel Balogh Editről, és Claustrum címmel Pasqualetti Eleonóráról). Doktori tanulmányait az Eötvös Lóránt Tudományegyetem Irodalomtudományi Doktori Iskolájában végezte, doktori résztanulmányokat a kolozsvári Babes- Bolyai Egyetemen folytatott. Jelenleg a Szépművészeti Múzeum Közép-Európai Művészettörténeti Kutatóintézetének (Artpool) munkatársa. 2019-ben a Magyar Művészeti Akadémia három éves ösztöndíját nyerte el a kortárs kárpitművészet kutatására. A kutatás során mélyinterjúkat készített a Magyar Kárpitművészek Szövetsége tagjaival, cikkeket és tanulmányokat pubikált olyan magyar szaklapokban, mint a Magyar Iparművészet vagy az Art limes folyóirat.

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The Study of New Religions in Hungary Before and After the Fall of the Iron Curtain (Panel)

Type of Abstract (select): Panel Discussion

Abstract (max. 250 words):
Scholars of new religions studies (NRS) – specialized in new and emergent religiosity appearing since the Second World War – face unique challenges when discussing new religiosity in Hungarian contexts. In Western societies, emergent religiosity and its cultural milieu had nearly forty years to gradually develop since the late 1950s. This process was closely followed by the watchful eyes of the academic study of religions. However, on the opposite side of the Iron Curtain, most movements had next to no chance to establish longevity. With a few exceptional grassroots movements, like Jehovah’s Witnesses, Seventh-day Adventists, and Pentecostals, new religiosity was effectively held back from Central and Eastern Europe until the fall of the Soviet Union. However, the 1989-1991 regime changes and the following opening towards the West brought an uncountable number of new and alternative religions into the region, stirring serious societal concerns and creating a need for understanding these strange new movements. The Hungarian field of the academic study of religions was initially overwhelmed by the sudden abundance of new movements (and in some parts, it struggles even today to catch up to Western standards). My presentation aims to explore the Hungarian academic production closely before and after the fall of the Iron Curtain. The lecture will cover the early years of a still-forming NRS scholarship, outlining the initial explorations of involved researchers. Lastly, I will conclude my presentation by compiling current trends and ongoing research projects related to new religiosity in Hungary.
My paper is part of the proposed CESAR Panel, which Dr. Éva Petrás already discussed with the organizers.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Márk Nemes is a doctoral candidate of the University of Szeged's Málnási Bartók György Doctoral School of Philosophy. His main research interest is the academic study of new religious movements, with specific focus on systematic theory of religion. He is a founding member of CESAR, a founder of the IVHK conference-series and a former president of the Philosophy Department of the Association of Hungarian PhD and DLA Students. He is currently a Hungarian National Eötvös scholar, conducting his individual research at CESNUR Torino (Italy).

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Central European Symposium on the Academic Study of Religion (CESAR) Panel - Trajectories of academic study of religions in Central and Eastern Europe.

Type of Abstract (select): Panel Discussion

Abstract (max. 250 words):
Name of the proposed panel: CESAR Panel - Trajectories of Academic Study of Religions in Central and Eastern Europe.

Panel lectures:
1. Nemes, Márk and Boros, Péter - Introduction of CESAR at AHEA 2024
2. Nemes, Márk - The study of new religions in Hungary before and after the fall of the Iron Curtain
3. Boros, Péter - From Jesuit Missionaries to Scholars of Sinology. Crossing Linguistic Boundaries through Editing Hungarian–Chinese Dictionaries


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Márk Nemes is a doctoral candidate of the University of Szeged's Málnási Bartók György Doctoral School of Philosophy. His main research interest is the academic study of new religious movements, with specific focus on systematic theory of religion. He is a founding member of CESAR, a founder of the IVHK conference-series and a former president of the Philosophy Department of the Association of Hungarian PhD and DLA Students. He is currently a Hungarian National Eötvös scholar, conducting his individual research at CESNUR Torino (Italy).

Péter Boros is a third-year sinology Ph.D. student at Eötvös Loránd University focusing on Buddhist–Christian dialogue in early 20th century China. His main research concerns Buddhist master Taixu’s approach towards Christianity, while also engaging in interreligious dialogue research in a broader sense, as exemplified by his recent comparison of Thomas Merton and Thich Nhat Hanh’s understanding of contemplation–meditation. He holds two MA degrees in international relations from Peking University, and Central European University. Additionally, he received the Fulbright Scholarship for AY 2024/25, and was recipient of the Hungarian New National Excellence Program scholarship in AY 2022/23 and 2023/24.

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The Many Lives of a Jesuit, Freemason, and Philantropist. The Story of Töhötöm Nagy (Book)

Type of Abstract (select): Book Presentation

Abstract (max. 250 words):
Éva Petrás: The Many Lives of a Jesuit, Freemason, and Philantropist. The Story of Töhötöm Nagy.
CEU Press, Budapest-Vienna-New York, 2023.
The life of Töhötöm Nagy, Jesuit, Mason, and secret service agent, offers fascinating insights into interwar Hungary, the Catholic Church and Vatican diplomacy, Freemasonry, and the activities of communist state security service. As a young Jesuit Nagy was one the leaders of a successful Catholic youth movement in interwar Hungary. After World War II he played an important role acting as an intermediary between the Vatican, the Red Army, and the Hungarian Catholic Church. After being sent to South America, he was attracted by liberation theology, but left the Society of Jesus, joined the Freemasons, and did social and philanthropist work in the slums of Buenos Aires. However, in the late 1960s he agreed to work for the Hungarian state security service in return for his repatriation. His biography traces the twists and turns of his life and at the same time gives insight into the 20th century history of Hungary, the Hungarian Catholic Church, Freemasonry, South America, and communism.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Éva Petrás (PhD) studied at Pécs University with double majors in history and English and subsequently received her second M.A. degree in modern history at Central European University in Budapest. Between 1995 and 2000 she was a PhD researcher at the European University Institute in Florence, where she obtained her PhD in the department of History and Civilization in 2003. Until 2008 she was a researcher at the European Comparative Minority Research Institute (EÖKIK). Between 2009 and 2020 she worked in the Historical Archives of the Hungarian State Security (ÁBTL) and currently she is a senior research fellow at the Committee of National Remembrance (NEB) in Budapest. In 2023 she received her university habilitation degree at Eötvös Loránd University.

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Nationalism and Orientalism: The Usage of Obituaries in fin-de Siècle Hungarian Jewish discourse

Type of Abstract (select): Paper presentation

Abstract (max. 250 words):
In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century the link between the Orient and Hungarian nationalism was passionately argued with Orient as trope used to highlight the specificity of Hungarian identity in its difference form other Europeans in that it was both Oriental and Occidental simultaneously. The nationalist-inspired Hungarian Oriental Studies served as a background for Jewish Orientalists like their Hungarian colleagues, sought to discover the history of Magyars in Asia, the circumstances of the conquest of Hungary, and the mixing of different peoples in the Orient prior to the Hungarian migration to Europe. Doing so represented Hungarian Jews as true Hungarians. The paper investigates Vámbéry’s obituary by Goldziher. Goldziher claimed Vámbéry’s motive to engage in Oriental Studies was not an abstract scholarly interest but stemmed from very specific personal motivations of Hungarian identity (magyarság). Vámbéry’s personal background and connection to the Neolog Orientalists enabled the Neolog to build on his work and connect Jewish history to Hungarian Oriental Studies in order to show how it was possible for a Jew to be Hungarian. Through this argument Goldziher directed the attention to Vámbéry’s motivation and true passion of Hungarology and fundamentally anchored Vámbéry as a Hungarologist in the obituary, permanently influencing Vambery’s memory and the usage of his memory for nationalist purposes.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Mari Réthelyi is an Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, USA. She received her PhD in Jewish Studies at the University of Chicago. Her research interests include modern Hungarian Jewish history and literature, Jewish race theories, Gender Studies, History of Nationalism, and Orientalism.
Louisiana State University, Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Jewish Studies 102 Coates Hall Baton Rouge 70803 Email: mrethelyi@lsu.edu

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Social Media as “Religion"

Type of Abstract (select): Paper presentation

Abstract (max. 250 words):
"It can be said that social media could be the most widespread 'religion' of our time. Similar to other belief systems, it shapes us, and we use it to shape our world according to our desires, values, and beliefs."(Dion Forster, 2018.) As an extension of this strong formulation, it is stated that the "actually" non-existent worlds, brought to life and sustained by faith, such as Twitter or Facebook, can profoundly reshape real things like the right to freedom with their reshaping capabilities. When examining the question from the perspective of unconditional faith and questions, humanity is deeply religious today, says Forster. However, our friendships are changing with the direction of our emotions, which brings cultural imagination rather than reason to the fore, in contrast to the positions represented by Descartes (ontological rationalism), Husserl (phenomenological rationalism), and Heidegger (perceptual rationalism). "Media undoubtedly establishes new canons, new norms, often imitating the language and rituals of religion and filling the vacuum left by an increasingly incommunicative biblical discourse." (József Zsengellér, 2004) Therefore, the influence of social media is compared to the social power exercised by religions for centuries.
This paper aims to explore Hungarian theological responses, alongside contemporary empirical communication theory, sociological, and social-philosophical research. It seeks to emphasize that both religion and technology require critical scrutiny from the perspective of social consciousness.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Éva Szabó is executive director of the Orly Museum for Hungarian Culture, Berkeley, CA; television journalist, media professional, and an expert in the field of social-religious matters. Currently a doctoral student preparing to obtain a theological academic degree at the Ecumene Doctoral School of Babeș-Bolyai University in Cluj, under the supervision of prof. dr. Sándor Fazakas (BBTE-DRHE). She collaborates with church foundations and civil organizations in Hungary, Transylvania, and United States. As a member of the "Facilitating Ethical Opinion Formation" cross-border professional project in Debrecen, Éva Szabó is involved in making scholarly literature accessible through translations, publications, and digitalization. Currently, her main research area focuses on the impact of the advancement of digital technology on the emerging field of digital theology and the exploration and critical interpretation of ethical and moral connections between social identity, social media, and society.

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The “Gypsy Problem” and Its Implications on the Hungarian National Identity in the Hungarian Press (1939-1945)

Type of Abstract (select): Paper presentation

Abstract (max. 250 words):
This presentation seeks to investigate the anti-Roma discourses articulated in the Hungarian press during the Second World War. Its main inquiries revolve around the negative media representation of Roma that served as the antithesis of Hungarian identity and how this type of portrayal can be interpreted in the context of the existential crisis triggered by the Treaty of Trianon and the Second Vienna Award. It will discuss how, despite the considerable controversy surrounding the infamous murder-robbery committed in the municipality Dános in 1907, the early twentieth-century idyllic and stereotypical media representations of the Roma community to narratives centering on the “Gypsy problem,” which contributed to the persecution and murder of the Romani community during the “porajmos” (Romani Holocaust). Press accounts consistently describe the perceived success of deportations of the “Gypsies” to labor camps, often conflating discussions of the “Gypsy” and “Jewish” questions. The “Gypsy” becomes a recurrently ridiculed figure in Hungarian joke columns, featuring stereotyped illustrations, while daily reports highlight crimes attributed to the “Gypsy,” such as murder, theft, and kidnappings. Light will be shed on how the Roma and the Jew were brought together in public discourse with the concepts of pollution, dirt, infection, violence, and danger to the Hungarian national unity, and how contemporary use of language in press aimed at justifying their deportation. Thus, this talk will approach discourse as a potent instrument that reinforces stereotypes, perpetuates existing power structures, and contributes to systemic racism.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Dávid Szőke is a senior lecturer at the University of Nyíregyháza, Hungary and holds a Ph.D. from the University of Szeged. His area of research revolves around the cultural and literary representations of ethnic, racial, and gender minorities. He previously held a postdoctoral fellowship at the Heidelberg University in Germany.

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100 Years of Hungarian Immigration to North America: Challenges and Opportunities for Research

Type of Abstract (select): Paper presentation

Abstract (max. 250 words):
The objective of this presentation is twofold. First, it offers a brief overview of the main trends and milestones in Hungarian immigration to North America in the past 100 years, apropos of the 100th anniversary of the Johnson-Reed Act in 2024 that significantly impacted Hungarian migration trajectories. It discusses the reasons behind the immigration quotas introduced, their impact on Hungarians, and future waves of immigration, while it also highlights inter-American implications of the restrictions introduced and the lessons learned from these. Second, reflecting on the events of the past 100 years, the presentation wishes to open the floor for a discussion on the directions research on Hungarian immigration to North America can go today, what some of the main opportunities and challenges are that scholars face, and what kind of projects and approaches may provide us with new insights into the past and present of Hungarian immigrants and contribute to the preservation of their heritage. As a case study, the presentation will also introduce a planned research project making use of a combination of traditional archival research, oral history and digital solutions that may hopefully be extended across North America in the future.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Balázs Venkovits is associate professor of American Studies and director of the Institute of English and American Studies, University of Debrecen. He earned his Ph.D. in 2014 and completed his habilitation in 2021. Among others, he is the recipient of OTKA (2022-26) and Jedlik (2013-14) grants, a JFK Research Fellowship (2013) and a Fulbright (2010-2011). His academic interests include travel writing studies, migration studies, US-Hungarian relations, and Hungarian immigration to North America. He has presented and published papers internationally in Hungary, Finland, the US, Canada, Mexico, Poland, the UK, and France

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