Archive for December, 2015

Prima Primissima Award 2015

Written by Fulbright on 12/11/2015. Posted in News

Prima Primissima Award 2015

Three Fulbright alumni have been awarded the prestigious Prima Award in 2015: Gyula Kodolányi (’84 University of California, Santa Barbara) received the Prima Primissima award and Imre Oravecz (’85 University of California, Santa Barbara) received the Prima Award both in the Hungarian literature category.

Gábor Stépán (’94 California Institute of Technology) has been awarded the Prima Award in the Hungarian science category. The Award was created by businessman Sándor Demján and financed by OTP Bank since 2013.

Our International Education: Stories of Living, Teaching and Parenting Abroad

Written by Fulbright on 12/04/2015. Posted in News

Our International Education: Stories of Living, Teaching and Parenting Abroad

New book on ‪Fulbright‬ grant experiences of Monica Housen (’11 Dual Language High School, Balatonalmádi), Christine Tapu (’11 Teleki Blanka High School, Székesfehérvár) and Sherry Marx (’11 Eötvös Loránd University)

What makes a person pack up and move to another country? What does she or he hope to gain from the experience? How do children fit into the picture? Our International Education presents the stories of three American women, a university professor, a high school math teacher, and a high school English as a second language teacher, who move to Hungary for a year to teach. Each woman brings her young children and enrolls them in local Hungarian public schools though none of them speak Hungarian at the beginning of the experience.

US Roma ETAs visited Uszka

Written by Fulbright on 12/03/2015. Posted in News

The weekend of Nov. 27-28, Roma English Teaching Assistants (ETAs) Susanne Liaw (’15 University of Debrecen & AC Debrecen) and Rachel McVey (’15 Jesuit Roma Residential College / Romaversitas Foundation) visited Uszka, a small village located in eastern Hungary along the Ukrainian border at the invitation of István Sértő-Radics (’01 University of Mississippi & ’91 Johns Hopkins University), mayor of Uszka. The town has a population of 400, and is notable for its large population (80%) of Roma residents who live in harmonious integration with non-Roma Hungarians. Zsuzsanna Lakatos, a graduate student in the North American Department at the University of Debrecen, where Susanne Liaw teaches, accompanied the ETAs to serve as a translator.

There, the trio immersed themselves in the local culture by interviewing residents, such as a young father of two who was teaching himself English and web design. One of the village councilwomen prepared traditional foods for the ETAs, such as vakaró, a Roma-style flat bread. The ETAs also attended a church service and observed the central role religion played in the life of the community, and toured some of the new facilities built under an economic development project that has been going on for the past two years. The weekend provided valuable insight into the struggle and progress of the Roma population in overcoming social and economic barriers.

US Fulbright scholars at Csányi Foundation

Written by Fulbright on 12/01/2015. Posted in News

U.S. Fulbright scholars presentations at Csányi Foundation

For the 4th consecutive year U.S. Fulbright scholars have been visiting the Talent Development Program Community Houses of the Csányi Foundation nationwide.

On November 6, 2015 Ellen Litwicki (’15 University of Szeged) visited the Community House of Szeged and spoke about Halloween & Day of the Dead with the students.

On February 6, 2016 Robert Mevissen (’15 Eötvös Loránd University) visited the Community House of Pécs and spoke about his PhD research: Natural Identities in the Habsburg Monarchy: State, Society and the Danube with the students.

On February 19-20, 2016 Susanne Liaw (’15 University of Debrecen & AC Debrecen) visited the Community Houses of Kaposvár & Nagybajom and spoke about the cultural aspects of her Los Angeles hometown, its celebrity and car culture, but also about her work as an urban educator working with underprivileged youth.