Expanding the View: Shedding the Horse Blinders on Migratory–Era Scholarship

Type of Abstract (select): Individual Presentation

Abstract (max. 250 words):
Recent investigation along the broad theme of collaborative research between Central
European and Western scholars on ancient Hungarian cultural history revealed siloed practices of scholarship that were set 100 years ago and which, still today, determine the shape of topics, composition of research teams, as well as access
to funding, publications of articles and scholarly outcomes. Initial publications of early Scythian finds within Hungary in European journals in the
1920s set the precedence for continued collaboration of Hungarian researchers with European colleagues – while American scholarship starting up in the 1960s formed relations with select Russian and Chinese archeologists. Entrenchment within these two polarities continues to this day, with fettered research resulting in inconclusive results at best, and mistaken conclusions at its worst. This paper interrogates past practices on both sides of the divide, then reports on recent advances in cross-over research that subvert old conclusions with interesting results.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Art Historian Mrea Csorba, Ph.D, received all three of her academic degrees from the University of Pittsburgh. She retired from active academic teaching for Pitt and Duquesne University in 2022. She continues to offer classes and lectures at educational and art institutes, now in Sacramento, California. Her BA degree focused on the Western Cannon; her MA thesis (1987) investigated horse-reliant cultures of Scythian steppe culture. For her PhD. (1997) she expanded research of pastoral groups in Northern China. Her continuing research may be viewed at http://edtech.msl.duq.edu/Mediasite/Play/2ea00c36fc2b4050ba46072efc0b80111d