Kedves Fulbright Alumni Barátaink!

Karácsony és az év vége közeledtével szeretnék a Fulbright iroda minden munkatársa nevében áldott, egészséges és megelégedettséggel telt karácsonyi ünnepeket, boldog új esztendőt kívánni!

Itt egy füst alatt pedig beszámolnék arról, hogy az elmúlt hónapokban milyen új lehetőségeket nyitottunk meg magyarországi potenciális Fulbrightosok számára!

1. Magyar nyelv és kultúra oktatása a clevelandi Cleveland State University-n: a 2015-16-os tanévtől egy közösen finanszírozott Fulbright lecturer lehetőséget hoztunk létre a CSU-n most novemberben. Erről a clevelandi magyar sajtó is beszámolt részletesen.

2. Az Indiana University-Fulbright közös oktatói ösztöndíjat megerősítettük, meghosszabítottuk.

3. Korábban beszámoltunk a Southern Illinois University-n létrejött “water science” diák ösztöndíjról, amely szintén a 2015-16-os tanévtől él. Ezen túl a Quinnipiac University MBA ösztöndíjáról is beszámoltunk, s nagy valószínűséggel meghosszabítjuk a Florida Institute of Technology, a University of Houston valamint a Texas Christian Universityvel való régebbi egyezményeinket.

4. Kilátásban van még a Purdue University-vel is egy közös diákösztöndíj létrehozása is.

Ezúton is szeretném hálánkat kifejezni azok felé, akik mint volt ösztöndíjasaink ajánlólevéllel, pályázatok bírálatában való részvétellel, interjúkon közreműködésükkel segítették munkánkat.

2014. február végén jelenik meg a magyar állampolgárokat megcélzó pályázati kiírásunk, amely a honlapukon elérhető lesz. Kérjük segítségüket abban, hogy a lehetőségről minél több kiváló potenciális pályázó értesüljön!

Egy-két szóban szólnék az amerikai ösztöndíjasok számára létrehozott, új magyarországi lehetőségekről is. Öt, de lehet hogy több, közös ösztöndíj jelenik majd meg a CIES Fulbright Opportunities for US Citizens katalógusában.

Ezek röviden:

• Az AIT (Aquincum Institute of Technology) “data mining” lecturing grant
• Az MTA Jogtudományi Intézetével egy alkotmányjogi kutatói poszt
• A Magyar Külügyi Intézetnél néhány kutatói poszt
• A CEU-n 2 kutatói, 2 oktatói poszt (egy-egy szemeszteres)
• Az egri Eszterházy Károly Főiskolán egy oktatói-kutatói poszt és erről egy rövid videó.

Folyamatos tárgyalásban vagyunk még 2 magyarországi felsőoktatási intézménnyel, ezért a változtatás jogát fenntartjuk!

További intézményes együttműködések kialakítására nyitottak vagyunk, várjuk az ötleteket, észrevételeket.

Barátsággal,
Jókay Károly, Ügyvezető Igazgató

Dear US Alumni Friends of Fulbright Hungary,

I would like to thank all of you who have volunteered to be peer reviewers this past summer, hosted our Hungarian colleagues, have sat in on interview panels, written letters of recommendation or have simply sent us some of your outstanding students and scholars as applicants.

As 2013 draws to a close, I want to point out several new, jointly-funded opportunties for US scholars that will appear in the CIES catalog in February, 2014, for the 2015-16 Academic Year.

• AIT (Aquincum Institute of Technology) “data mining” lecturing grant
• Hungarian Academy of Sciences Institute of Legal Studies research position in Constitutional Law (1 or 2 semesters)
• Researcher positions (2) at the Hungarian Insititute of International Affairs
• Two research positions at Central European University’s Institute for Advanced Studies and 2 lecturing posts at any CEU department.
• Teaching and research position in Eger at the Eszterházy Károly College.

Stay tuned, as we are still negotiating with two further Hungarian institutions of higher education!

The Fulbright Hungary US class of 2012-13 was very active, and you can listen to their experiences in long and short videos.

We are very pleased with joint grants we have signed for the 2015-16 academic year for your Hungarian counterparts at

• Cleveland State University
• Southern Illinois University
• Quinnipiac University

as well as renewals with Indiana University, Florida Institute of Technology, TCU and University of Houston.

We are in the midst of several other negotiations but are very open to entertaining forms of cooperation with your institution in the years ahead.

With best wishes for all the Holidays, Merry Christmas and have a healthy 2014! We look forward to hearing from you and to your visits as well.

With Friendship,
Károly (Charles) Jókay, Executive Director

Read more: ED Year-End Letter to the Hungarian Alumni

A delegation of 30 U.S. Fulbrighters, their families and Commission staff were invited by the IPU Hungarian-American Friendship group to the Hungarian Parliament on Friday, December 13, 2013. The Fulbrighters included students, scholars and high school teachers.

Gábor Tamás Nagy, (Fidesz) president, Hungarian-American Friendship group; vice president, Foreign Affairs Committee greeted the delegation, then engaged in an active Q & A session.

Other MPs present were:

• János Horváth, (Fidesz) member, Foreign Affairs Committee; president, IPU Hungarian Division and a U.S. Fulbright alumnus himself (’58 University of the Philippines)
• Katalin Ertsey, (LMP) member, Foreign Affairs Committee
• Erzsébet Lanczendorfer, (KDNP) member, Human Rights Committee

The Project on Nuclear Issues (PONI) yearly conference series brings together junior and senior level professionals from the laboratories, the military, and industry, academia and policy sectors to hear selected presentations on nuclear weapons infrastructure, strategy and policy. Anna Péczeli (’13 Federation of American Scientists) presented on Central European Perspectives on NATO’s Nuclear Policy at the 2013 Fall Conference of Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

Eszterházy Károly College (EKF) in Eger, Hungary and the Hungarian-American Commission for Educational Exchange signed a three-year agreement in Eger on December 6, 2013, to establish the Fulbright-Eszterházy Lecturing Grant. Starting as early as the 2014/15 Academic Year, Fulbright and Eszterházy College will sponsor one US lecturer per semester to teach in a variety of departments and fields at EKF. In the past, US scholars at EKF have focused on Study of the United States, English language and culture, communications and economics. EKF offers a variety of courses in English.

Cleveland State University’s College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, together with Fulbright Hungary and Cleveland’s United Hungarian Societies held a joint press conference on Saturday, November 30th, 2013, at the Hilton Garden Inn in downtown Cleveland, site of the 53rd Hungarian Congress of Cleveland’s Hungarian Association.

BRIEFERS:
Greg Sadlek, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, Cleveland State University
Károly Jokay, Executive Director, Hungarian-American Fulbright Commission, Budapest
Endre Szentkirályi, Vice President, United Hungarian Societies, Cleveland

The press conference featured the signing of a cooperative agreement establishing a Fulbright Visiting Professorship in Hungarian Language and Culture at Cleveland State University.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
Cleveland State University has a history with Hungarian Studies. The university first offered courses in Hungarian language and literature in the 1980’s, and also published Susan Papp’s exhaustive history in 1981, Hungarian Americans and their Communities of Cleveland. To honor this support of Hungarian culture, the university was awarded the Abraham Lincoln Award by the American Hungarian Foundation in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
It is appropriate to reestablish Hungarian Studies in Cleveland, because it is home to one of the largest Hungarian communities outside of Hungary. Indeed, Cuyahoga County, in which Cleveland resides, boasts around 44,000 people of Hungarian ancestry. Moreover, according to the latest census figures, around 3,500 of those speak Hungarian in their households. When adjoining counties are added, that yields about 105,000 people of Hungarian ancestry and about 6,000 who speak the language in their households. Cleveland’s Hungarians have a rich local history and a vibrant current community, with many churches and social organizations, each with strong pride in their cultural heritage. A program at Cleveland State would build upon this extraordinary regional support. Important first steps had already been taken. In the summer of 2011, Cleveland State University and the University of Szeged signed a Memorandum of Understanding to chart future cooperation between the two universities. In October of 2011, Dean Sadlek and several others from the university met with Hungarian Ambassador György Szapáry. Moreover, the Michael Schwarz Library at Cleveland State has taken possession of the archives of the late Miklós Kossányi, an audiovisual collection of Cleveland’s Hungarian community events from the 1970’s through the present day, and once finalized, will offer scholars and researchers access to its many sound recordings, video footage, and print material.

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
Finally, after receiving pledges from eight Cleveland Hungarian community organizations, including the Cleveland Hungarian Heritage Society, the Cleveland Hungarian Development Panel, the Hungarian Association, the American Hungarian Friends of Scouting, the Hungarian Cultural Center of Northeastern Ohio, the Cleveland Hungarian School, the William Penn Association, the Hungarian Community of Friends, and a private donor, Cleveland State University invited a Fulbright lecturer from Hungary for an entire academic year to start fall of 2014. In addition, according to terms signed by the university and the Fulbright Commission (Hungarian-American Commission for Educational Exchange), the Fulbright Visiting Professorship in Hungarian Language and Culture was established to run for three academic years starting 2015/2016.
Following the press conference, a roundtable discussion was held, featuring local and international Hungarian language instructors reflecting on Hungarian Studies at North American universities. Taking part in the roundtable discussion were Susan Papp, lecturer at the Munk School for Global Affairs at the University of Toronto, Imre Márkus, instructor at Lakeland Community College in suburban Cleveland, and Mártha Pereszlényi-Pintér, chair of Classical and Modern Languages and Cultures, John Carroll University.

Press release (Sajtóközlemény) in Hungarian

Media coverage in Hungarian
Tanulj magyarul az egyetemen! | bocskairadio.org | 2014.03.26
Beszámoló az 53. Magyar Találkozóról | bocskairadio.org | 2013.12.07
Újraindítják a magyar tanulmányokat a Clevelandi Állami Egyetemen | hirado.hu | 2013.12.03
Magyar oktatás indul a clevelandi egyetemen | hvg.hu | 2013.12.03