Between June 5-11, 2016 the Commission organized a U.S. Study Abroad Capacity Building tour for 9 representatives of U.S. universities.

Day 1

U.S. Study Abroad Capacity Building tour participants visited Corvinus University of Budapest hosted by Zita Zoltayné Paprika (’05 California State University, Sacramento), Dean and Fulbright Board Member; the American Corner by Erika Sólyom (’03 Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Director; CIEE – Council on International Educational Exchange and Antall Jozsef Knowledge Centre.

Day 2

The 9 representatives of US universities met Director István Antal, Jesuit Roma College (Jezsuita Roma Szakkollégium) and Mária Bogdán (’08 Columbia University), Chair of the Board, Romaversitas Foundation.

During a workshop on internationalization of Hungarian higher education at the Ministry of Human Capacities hosted by Kolos Gálffy, Dep. Head of Bilateral Cooperation and Fulbright Board Member participants met representatives of 5 Hungarian universities among them Katalin Nagy (’02 Cornell Medical College, Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center), Vice Rector, University of Szeged.

Day 3

Capacity Building tour participants visited University of Pécs and met Director István Tarrósy (’12 ‪University of Florida), Centre for International Relations and Gyöngyi Pozsgai, International Relations Co-ordinator.
The group also visited the Faculty of Arts guided by Márta Nagy (’15 University of Iowa) and the Institute of Mathematics and Information Technology by József Laczkó (’03 New York University) & Dean Róbert Gábriel (’13 University of Montana—Missoula). The city tour was guided by Péter Müller (’93 Duquesne University & ’16 Cleveland State University)

Day 4-5

University visits at Budapest Metropolitan University by András Kepes (’85 Stanford University), Chair of Council of Arts and at Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music by Gyula Fekete (’94 Northwestern University & ’04 Chicago College of Performing Arts), Head of Composition Department. The group also visited the Aquincum Institute of Technology, Budapest University of Technology and Economics and Budapest Semesters in Mathematics.

Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Susanne Liaw ’15 and four of her students at the Debrecen-based Wáli István Residential College researched, edited, translated and published a booklet called “Roma Folk Tales”. Children from the Igazgyöngy Foundation for talented children provided dozens of vibrant illustrations, many of which were used on the book’s cover and to supplement each story.

The authors wrote as follows, describing the purpose of their project: “To break (these) stereotypes, we have collected several gypsy folktales to show a different side of the story… All of these stories show how smart and optimistic the Roma people are… These folk tales are an important part of our culture… We mustn’t let these tales vanish.”

Students at Wáli István studied English, learned about American culture, motivated talented kids to illustrate their folk tales, and in the end produced a series of illustrations, not all of which could appear in the booklet. Susanne and her students had rediscover aspects of Roma culture that were lost in living oral tradition, and this is a significant contribution to the students’ exploration of their own heritage.

Fulbright Hungary is proud of its Roma English Teaching Assistant project, and hopes to expand and continue collaboration with the Roma Residential Colleges and other foundations throughout Hungary in upcoming academic years.

To view the booklet, see issuu.com/fulbrighthungary/docs/roma_folk_tales

To download the booklet, see www.fulbright.hu/doc/Roma_Folk_Tales.pdf

The National University of Public Service (NUPS) and the Fulbright Commmission Hungary signed a cost share agreement on May 23, 2016, at the ornate Ludovika campus of the university.

Rector Prof. Dr. András Patyi, outgoing Fulbright board chair Prof. Dr. Beáta G. Vértessy, and Fulbright Executive Director Dr. Károly Jókay delivered short remarks before the signing.

In attendance were the deans and international office support staff from NUPS, as well as Fulbright board members such as incoming chair Prof. Dr. Tibor Frank, Corvinus University Dean Prof. Dr. Zita Zoltay Paprika, Dr. Tamás Magyarics from the Foreign Ministry, and representing the US Embassy, Counselor for Public Affairs Eric Watnik and Cultural Affairs Officer Mr. Christopher Machin.

The agreement formalizes the good relations that already exist between Fulbright and NUPS, and will encourage faculty and students from NUPS to invite their peers from the US. In the 2016-17 academic year, NUPS will host an English teaching assistant, and hopefully students and scholars from both the US and Hungary will take advantage of this arrangement in the 2017-18 academic year.

Budapest Metropolitan University, formerly known as Budapest College of Communications, and Fulbright Hungary signed a cooperation agreement on May 17, 2016. The agreement signed by Rector László Vass and Fulbright Executive Director Károly Jókay, supports the placement of US students with English Teaching Assistant (ETA) awards from Fulbright at Budapest Met. Budapest Met offers English-language instruction in Arts, Communication, Tourism and Business. ETAs from the US have worked at Budapest Met before, and US Fulbright scholars have taught there frequently. Budapest Metropolitan’s Rector, László Vass is a Fulbrighter, as well as Dean György Túry, and András Kepes, President of the University’s Arts Council. We look forward to placing the first ETA under this agreement at Budapest Met during the 2016-17 academic year and in many years into the future.

9 Fulbright alumni gave a talk at the American Hungarian Educators Association (AHEA) 41st Annual Conference at University of Maryland, April 28-30, 2016. Following the event a reception was organized at the Hungarian Embassy jointly with the Fulbright Commission.

• Bettina Fabos (’12 Open Society Archives at Central European University)
• Peter Hargitai (’88 Eötvös Loránd University)
• Amber Winick (’13 Szent István University / Museum of Applied Arts)
• Nóra Deák (’07 & ’14 American Hungarian Foundation)
• Mihály Fülöp (’03 George Washington University)
• Ilona Kovács (’94 & ’01 Library of the American Hungarian Foundation)
• Kristina Poznan (’09 & ’12 Eötvös Loránd University)
• Tamás Stark (’13 Nazareth College of Rochester)
• Dénes Mátyás (’15 Cleveland State University)

American Corner Veszprém and the English and American Studies Institute, University of Pannonia, will hold their annual America Week program series in Veszprém on May 2-6. The programs will consist of a photo exhibition, concerts, a theater evening and presentations on various U.S.-related topics by university faculty and students including:

The Commission organized a visit to West Hungary for U.S. Fulbright grantees on April 1-2, 2016. The group visited the Benedictine Abbey of Pannonhalma, the Széchenyi Mansion, Nagycenk; the Iron Curtain Memorial at the border between Austria and Hungary; the University of West Hungary followed by a sightseeing tour of Sopron and the Esterházy Palace, Fertőd

Fulbright Association leaders & alumni gathered at an exclusive reception hosted by Hungarian Ambassador to the U.S. Réka Szemerkényi (’93 Johns Hopkins University) during Capitol Hill Advocacy Days on April 13, 2016 to celebrate 70 Years of the Fulbright Program.

Lisa Kay (’11 MOME – Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design‬) has been awarded the Peter J. Geisser Special Needs Art Educator of the Year award in Chicago at the National Art Education Association convention.

In 2011, Kay received a Fulbright U.S. Scholars Award, traveling to Hungary to gather research on the impact of trauma on students’ art work. She credits her current success to learning from art educators in Hungary about psychological and emotional effects of trauma and students art work. Kay also developed a project with Hungarian art educators on “ugly and beautiful drawings” to compare how special needs children in Hungary and the United State view positive and negative things in life. She explains how impactful they’ve been in terms of educating those at Temple and in the Philadelphia community. “Currently, I’ve brought in all aspects of what I’ve done in Hungary. I’m developing a trauma reform art curriculum for art teachers and art therapists,” she says.