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. Over the years, CHEF has had the opportunity to work with the Ottawa offices of the European Commission on this program. This fall, CHEF plans to continue the tradition of supporting Hungarian graduate students researching in Canada, especially in the case of young researchers seeking to explore issues related to Canadian multiculturalism, minority rights and public policy, as well as contemporary cultural expression in Canada.
CHEF Board members: Christopher Adam, Kevin Burns, Catherine Bélanger, Mark Curfoot-Mollington.
In 2015, CHEF will celebrate its 10th anniversary and will work with the Hungarian Studies Association of Canada (HSAC) on an international scholarly conference to be organized at the University of Ottawa as part of the annual Congress of Humanities and Social Sciences. Plans are also being made and partners being approached for developing a multi-part project for 2016-7 to mark the 60th anniversary of the arrival of Hungarian refugees to Canada in 1956-57. The thematic emphasis of CHEF projects remains focussed on the positive educational values of cultural diversity resulting from successful immigration and refugee policies in Canada and elsewhere in the world.
A bit of food for the soul before the board meeting. CHEF Board members: Judy Young-Drache, Catherine Bélanger, Mark Curfoot-Mollington.
CHEF also discussed a project related to Hungarian director János Szász and his film The Notebook (A Nagy Füzet), which will be screened at Ottawa’s Bytowne Cinema from October 3-9, 2014. (For showtimes, click here: Bytowne Cinema – the-notebook.) The movie explores the experiences of young twins living through World War II under the guardianship of their abusive grandmother. Finally, mention was made of an upcoming documentary on TVO ( October 29th, 9pm) “Judgment in Hungary” introduced by a discussion at 8pm around the topic of intolerance and racism in Europe.
Stay tuned to the Hungarian Presence website for more information on our upcoming projects.