Youth & Education

Call for Papers for the 2024 Annual HSAC Conference

Hungarian Studies Association of Canada (HSAC)

Hungarian Studies Association of Canada (HSAC) celebrated its 30th anniversary

July 13, 2015

We would like to thank Canada Hungary Educational Foundation Board member Christopher Adam for allowing us to reprint here a slightly edited version of his photo report of the 2015 annual conference of the Hungarian Studies Association of Canada (HSAC) first published in his online paper Hungarian Free Press on June 11th 2015.

The Hungarian Studies Association of Canada (HSAC) celebrated its 30th anniversary this year, at a conference held at the University of Ottawa from May 30th to June 1st, 2015. A member of the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, the 2015 HSAC conference was especially dynamic, with 29 presenters coming from across Canada, the United States, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and the United Kingdom. HSAC’s membership hovers between 75 and 90 members each year, and has shown signs of growth in recent years, especially among members from outside Canada. The two-and-a-half day conference began with a panel commemorating the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Canada and Hungary, with speakers including Agnes Pust and Greg Donaghy of the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development, as well as László Sinka of the Embassy of Hungary in Ottawa. The panel was followed by a reception offered by the embassy.     Read more

Canada-Hungary Educational Foundation board discusses upcoming programs

September 23, 2014

By Christopher Adam

The Ottawa-based Canada-Hungary Educational Foundation’s board held its autumn planning meeting on September 9th, 2014 to review some of its work over the past year and to chart a direction moving forward.

Now in its ninth year of existence, there was agreement that scholarship and internship programs should continue to form an important part of CHEF’s work, especially building on several years’ worth of experience partnering with the “Thinking Canada” study tour and supporting university students arriving to Canada from Hungary.   Read more

In pursuit of diplomacy: Miklós Horváth is “Thinking Canada”

September 20, 2013

By Kevin Burns

The young residents had a tough time with Tan Dun’s mysterious soundscapes but warmed up to the more accessible folky jazz of the Elemér Balázs Group. During his two-month internship at a residential youth rehabilitation centre in Elora, Ontario, Miklós Horváth gave a number of presentations on Hungarian and European culture. He thought that using examples of world music might be a good starting point so he chose some Youtube clips to play to his young charges. “They were quiet for a long time after,” he said. Several days later they told him what they really thought about the music, and when his internship came to an end they said even more. “They organized a goodbye session for me and that was so special because in that kind of institution when people leave they are just released. You do not see them again. They each came up to me and told me something they liked. It was very embarrassing. You know how Hungarians don’t like it when people say nice things about them.” (I don’t, but I’ll take his word for it.)     Read more

@ the Edge. The 2013 conference of the Hungarian Studies Association of Canada

May 29, 2013

By Kevin Burns

When Canada’s academics, scholars, and researchers in the Humanities and Social Sciences meet in Victoria, B.C., June 1- 8, they will be gathering “at the edge” in more ways than one. They not only meet in Canada’s most westerly university, but their focus will be the “edgy” theme selected for this year’s Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences, an event now known as “the Congress” and that once went by the weighty title, “the Learneds.”

“The theme of ‘@ the edge’,” as the national organizers explain on the Congress website, “reflects the University of Victoria’s geographical position in Canada and on the Pacific Rim, as well as the need to centre the periphery both institutionally and socially, testing the boundaries of disciplines, promoting innovative thinking, seeking relevance to both local and global communities, and committing to engaged scholarship and knowledge mobilization.     Read more

Fragile But Important Links

January 12, 2013

By Kevin Burns

Eszter Szenczi arrived in Canada to see first-hand a culture she had only read about in books back home in Hungary. She was one of 32 European graduate students who took part in the 2012 Thinking Canada study tour of Canada.

Thinking Canada is an initiative of the European Commission and Canada, jointly funded for the last several years by the EU and by Canada’s Foreign Affairs and Human Resource and Social Development departments.   Read more

Breathing in some unfinished family business: Teréz Rétfalvi seeks ways to bridge “here and there” with “then and now”

October 6th 2011

Kevin Burns

Teréz Rétfalvi has some unfinished business to attend to. It concerns identity and belonging. A visit to Pier 21 in Halifax in 1991, forty years after her initial arrival there as an immigrant at the age of 6, certainly had something to do with it. “It was very emotional and I was surprised by the intensity of my feelings when I saw the photograph of the ship we arrived on,” she explains with a sudden catch in her voice during our conversation, fully twenty years after that initial visit to the museum.      Read more

Olympian Gabor Csepregi in his element (again)

September 8, 2011

Vice-President of the Canada-Hungary Educational Foundation, and more importantly, since 2010 Vice-recteur à l’enseignement et à la recherche, Collège universitaire de Saint-Boniface (see our webpage about his appointment), Professor Gabor Csepregi was found by the Winnipeg Free Press enjoying a break from his serious daytime job. Where else but in his real element: water! Read Allan Besson’s article from the February 1st 2011 online version of the Free Press. We thank Allan for permission to reproduce it.    Read more

Hungarian Studies Association of Canada conference May 28-30th 2011 in Fredericton

May 4, 2011

This year’s conference of the Hungarian Studies Association of Canada (HSAC) is taking place on May 28-30th in Fredericton, New Brunswick as part of the Congress of Humanities and Social Sciences held under the aegis of the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences. The hosts are the universities of New Brunswick and St Thomas University. HSAC’s conference program is varied, covering a range of themes and disciplinary approaches: 17th and 20th century historical topics about Hungary, Canadian Hungarians, women’s studies, language teaching, philosophy, literature, music and relations between Canada and Hungary. A keynote address is being given by historian and Jean Monnet professor of European Studies, Maria Palasik about her forthcoming book “Chess Game for Democracy: Hungary Between East and West, 1944-47” to be published by McGill Queen’s University Press in time for the conference.    Read more

Study and scholarship opportunities in Hungary 2011-12

April 5th, 2011

There are various study and research opportunities in Hungary in the coming academic year 2011-12. Some, such as the Balassi Institutes’ Hungarian Language and Culture courses , are already described elsewhere on our Youth and Education page but here are some additional ones. For quite a number of these it is possible to apply for Hungarian government scholarships.   Read more

Hungarian State Scholarships for Canadian students to study in Hungary

The Balassi Institute, an agency of the Hungarian government, is once again offering its 10 month Program for Hungarian Language and Cultural Studies to foreign students for 2011-12. Courses start in September 2011. Canadian students of Hungarian origin between the ages of 18 (the student must be 18 by the beginning of September 2011) and 35 are eligible to apply. The call for applications this year is a bit later than usual as there have been changes at the Institute with the change of government in Hungary in 2010.  Read more

Canada’s Alexander Seredenko and Hungary’s Adam Banda are pioneers in a new musical “exchange” program

March 8, 2011

Kevin Burns

Canada’s Alexander Seredenko and Hungary’s Adam Banda are pioneers in a new musical “exchange” program organized by Andrea Fellner and János Vecsernyés

Franz Liszt once described the role of the artist as “the bearer of the beautiful.” There’s a new exchange initiative designed to bring a new generation of “bearers of the beautiful” from Hungary to Canada, and from Canada to Hungary. This initiative involves young and highly talented musicians.       Read more

Multiculturalism 40 years on, April 16th 2011

February 25, 2010

A graduate student conference entitled “Finding Meaning in Multiculturalism 40 Years Later” is taking place on April 16th 2011 at Ryerson University and has issued a call for papers. Using the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the introduction of Canada’s Multiculturalism Policy, the conference offers graduate students interested in multiculturalism and migration the opportunity to present and discuss their research. The conference’s goal is to have comprehensive and interdisciplinary discussion of contemporary Canadian and international migration around such issues as: Immigrants and Security, Politics and Policies of Migration, Mobility in a Global Context, Racialization and Poverty, Race and Multiculturalism, Immigration and Labour Markets, and others. Deadline for submission of proposals is March 8th 2011.  For more information visit http://ceris.metropolis.net

Programs for Canadians at Corvinus University, Budapest

January 2, 2011

Corvinus University Budapest is once again offering a number of programs of interest to Canadian (and international) students as well as professors. Corvinus U (formerly the Budapest University of Economics and Technology) is one of Europe’s top economics universities and has an increasing number of courses in English for international students. Those interested may also be eligible for scholarships from the Hungarian government.    Read more

Call for applications: Hungarian State Scholarships for February 2011

September 25th, 2010

The Balassi Institute is offering its Program for Hungarian Language and Cultural Studies to foreign students for 2011. Courses to start in February 2011 for 9 months, with two terms: February to June and September to December. Canadian students of Hungarian origin who are 18 or over are eligible to apply through the Canada Hungary Educational Foundation, with the deadline of October 18th 2010.    Read more

Thinking Canada – Contemplating Hungary

September 13th, 2010

With funding from the European Commission, the European Network of Canadian Studies has launched the first Thinking Canada study tour. Twenty-seven European students from some 23 of the EU’s 27 member countries – all with a Canadian Studies background – have been selected to participate in this three-part event which began with a four-day briefing session on the European Union and Canadian/European relations in Brussels. Their arrival in Canada on September 5th 2010 for a three week study tour marks the second phase of Thinking Canada. While in Canada, participants are taking part in meetings, seminars, and discussions in Ottawa, Québec, Montréal, Toronto, Vancouver, and Victoria.    Read more

Hungarian Studies at the University of Toronto in 2010-11

August 31st, 2010

Language, literature, culture, history and film courses are among the offerings at the University of Toronto’s Hungarian Studies Program in 2010-11. The Program is part of the Centre for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies at the newly expanded Munk School of Global Issues. Hungarian language, literature and culture courses have been available at the University since 1977 when the Hungarian Chair was established and it is good to see that the programs are continuing and being promoted. On September 9th 2010, interested students are encouraged to participate in an information session about courses and scholarship opportunities: http://www.munkschool.utoronto.ca/EventDetails.aspx?eventId=9459  

Among those teaching courses this year are Professor Robert Austin, who is the Program’s Coordinator, Susan Papp, Eva Tomory and C. Babey. The complete list of courses and their descriptions can be found on this page of the university’s website:http://www.utoronto.ca/hungarian/courses%202010-2011.html. Those interested might also wish to look at the student exchange and study abroad programs sections of the site as well as scholarships and awards listed here: http://www.utoronto.ca/hungarian/fellowship.html 

Remember also to check for scholarship opportunities offered by the Hungarian government through the Balassi Institute.   Read more

Gabor Csepregi’s New Challenge: St Boniface

July 22, 2010

The Canada-Hungary Educational Foundation would like to congratulate its Vice-President, Dr Gabor Csepregi on his appointment as Vice-President (Teaching and Research) at the Collège Universitaire St Boniface. Gabor has made significant contributions to the development of the Dominican University College as an educational institution during his tenure there as President and Regent of Studies.    Read more

Introducing the Hungarianpresence.ca website’s current intern – in her own words

By Éva Hegyi

I was born in Bonyhád, Hungary, and spent 10 years of my childhood in the village of Lengyel. In the summer of 1990, we moved with my parents and my sister to the Black Forest in the Southwest of Germany. Following High School, I spent two years working in London, England. After that, I took up my studies in translation, focusing on the languages German, English and French, at the Johannes-Gutenberg University of Mainz/Germersheim in Germany. After having completed my studies, I moved to Berlin to work as a translator and project manager at a translation agency focusing on IT translations.    Read more

Hungarian State Scholarships for Foreign Students 2010-11

Once again the Balassi Institute is offering Hungarian State scholarship to foreign students, including Canadians. There are two programs under which Canadian students, researchers, musicians, artists can apply. The first one is administered by the Hungarian Scholarship Office (MOB) and detailed information about it is in section 1 below.

In section 2 you can find information about the 10 month Hungarian Language and Culture Program (Magyar Nyelv es Magyarságismereti Képzés) offered to Canadians of Hungarian origin who wish to learn Hungarian or improve their knowledge of the Hungarian language and learn about Hungarian history, culture at the same time. Please note that the application deadline for this program is March 25th and applications should be forwarded with all necessary documentation to the Canada-Hungary Education Foundation by that date.   Read more

Interview with Professor Imre Szeman, University of Alberta

By Eva Hegyi

February 2010

Imre Szeman is Canada Research Chair in Cultural Studies and Professor of English, Film Studies, and Sociology at the University of Alberta. He is going to teach at the Central European University in Budapest in the summer of 2010. Our current intern, Eva Hegyi, has recently conducted an interview with the professor.  Read more

Hungarian Doctoral Fellowship at U of Alberta

The University of Alberta’s Wirth Institute for Austrian and Central European Studies is offering a fellowship in the value of $25,000 to a doctoral student from Hungary for 2010-11. Applications are accepted in the Humanities, Social Sciences and Fine Arts. Application deadline is April 15th 2010.

For details on this award, click here or contact the Chair of the Wirth Institute. Dr Franz Szabo at franz.szabo@ualberta.ca.

MA in International Economy and Business offered by the Corvinus University Budapest

This two-year MA program is offered in English at one of Europe’s best economics universities (ranked 6th by the Financial Times among international economics Faculties). The aim of the program is to provide graduates with a thorough understanding of the processes of international economy, ranging from the fields of international business and economics to international politics and international law. Read more

Competition for secondary and post-secondary students/ Concours pour les Étudiants du secondaire et du post secondaire

CHEF is announcing a Canada-wide essay and video competition on the immigrant experience in Canada – for secondary and postsecondary students under the age of 25.     Read more

Canadian student in Budapest

Ottawan Fanni Barocsi is studying Hungarian language and culture at the Balassi Institute – on a scholarship offered by the Hungarian government to foreign students. She will be starting her undergraduate studies in the fall of 2008 at Queen’s University.      Read more

Eyes across the Atlantic—Hungary’s State Security and Canada’s Hungarians, 1956-1989

Christopher Adam, a doctoral candidate in history currently completing his dissertation at the University of Ottawa, traveled to Bratislava on November 14, 2007 to present a paper at an international conference, which examined the activities of Communist-era state security agencies in the former Eastern bloc countries. Organized by the Nation’s Memory Institute of Slovakia (UPN), the conference presenters examined the role that Soviet advisors played in the satellite states, as well as the NKVD/KGB’s cooperation with other state security agencies in Eastern Europe and their activities in occupied East Germany and Austria.   Read more

Hungarian students prepare for 1,000-kilometre Canadian bike tour

Csaba Borsai, a secondary school teacher at Regnum Marianum High School in Budapest plans to take his students on a 1,000-kilometre bike tour of central Canada in July.

Entitled A Bridge between the Danube and  the Saint Lawrence, the Catholic school’s tour aims to introduce the students to the Canadian landscape and serves as a type of protest against global warming.      Read more

Arrested Development -The 1956 Revolution

by Emily Morry, April 2003

This essay was written for an undergraduate Russian history seminar that Emily Morry took at McGill University. There, she graduated with an honours degree in 2003, majoring in American history and minoring in Eastern European history. The following year, she pursued her Master’s in history at McGill, producing a thesis  entitled, “Brothers Gonna Work it Out?: Rap Music as a Reflection of the Complex Status of African Americans in the 1980s.” In 2005,  Emily began her PhD degree in American history at the University of Rochester. She intends to write her dissertation on conceptualizations of geographic places and living spaces in African-American music from blues to hip hop.   Read more