Fulbright Hungary Tours 4 US Campuses in March, 2019
Fulbright Hungary firmly believes that visiting US campuses, especially those that have our alumni in place, or those that have not sent students or scholars to Hungary in a while or ever, deserve our time and effort.
Following up on a trip in October-November 2018 (University of South Florida, Auburn University, University of Georgia and University of South Carolina Upstate), Executive Director Károly Jókay visited 4 campuses this March. The purposes of these visits included: meeting Fulbright Hungary alumni, discussing opportunties in Hungary and the rest of the V4+2 region (Slovakia, Czech Republic, Poland, Bulgaria, Romania) with faculty advisors and internationalization officers, holding public lectures targeting student and faculty recruitment to our region, and finally, exploring opportunities for collaboration such as cost-sharing agreements and other events in Hungary for visiting US university people.
Professor David van Dyke (’18 Eszterházy Károly University) hosted Károly at Wheaton College (Wheaton, Illinois). David is working on joint projects with Semmelweis University, including a dual degree in family and marriage therapy. We expect that David will be a frequent return visitor to Hungary, and that some of his students and colleagues will be in our applicant pool soon.
The University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana is best known as Károly’s alma mater where he earned his MA and PhD in Political Science almost 30 years ago. As a top producer of both in-bound and out-bound Fulbright students and scholars, U of Illinois has not been present in the Fulbright Hungary program. We were able to clarify our selection criteria, and offer a detailed explanation of the type of specialized grants we offer. Meeting with potential student and scholar applicants, as well doing an all-campus talk on V4+2 programs, will produce benefits down the road.
Marymount University is hosting its first Fulbright scholar in living memory in AY 2020-21, and she is a Fulbright Hungary grantee. ED Jókay attended the formal inauguration of President Irma Becerra. Many Marymount faculty expressed an interest in applying for a grant in Hungary, and President Becerra announced in her inaugural speech that raising Marymount’s Fulbright program participation is one of her key priorities (Momentum: Strategic Plan 2019-2024). Fulbright Hungary’s newest partner Széchenyi István University was also present at the inauguration, and ED Jókay had the pleasure of taking part in a ceremony at which Marymount and Széchenyi signed a cooperation agreement.
Jókay’s final stop was the University of Pittsburgh and its Center for Russian, East European & Eurasian Studies. Associate Director of REEES Zsuzsánna Magdó and the Honors College arranged for a day of 9+ meetings that included: the Hungarian Program, area studies programs, Scholarship mentors from the Honors College, the Center for Legal Education, Global Engagement, Center for International Studies and Study Abroad, and finally the Fulbright Association of Greater Pittsburgh. A general presentation on V4+2 opportunities had about 25 student and faculty audience members, and it seems that UPitt faculty and students will visit Fulbright Hungary on their next research foray.
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