Hungarian Studies Newsletter, 1984 (12. évfolyam, 39-42. szám)

1984 / 42. szám

MISCELLANEOUS

A nine-week ETHNOGRAPHIC FIELD SCHOOL IN HUNGARY is offered in the framework of Northwestern University’s annual ethnographic field school under the leadership of anthropologist Oswald Werner. The goal of the field school is to teach the systematic collection of qualitative data about a social group to students in most any field, especially in the social sciences, medicine, nursing, education, business, law engineering. Intensive Hungarian language courses are incorporated into the curriculum and are augmented by close cooperation between Hungarian and American students. For further information contact Prof. Oswald Werner, Department of Anthropology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60201. Telephone: 312-492-5402; evenings: 312-328-4012. □

STUDY IN BUDAPEST. A three-month study and living experience at the Marx K.U. in Budapest is offered by DePaul U. for April -July 1985. The program focuses on the social sciences. Courses taught in English include: East-West relations; socialist development and planning; Hungarian culture. A regular member of the DePaul U. faculty will accompany the group. Tuition will vary for students enrolling from various colleges. For those taking 16 hours in Liberal Arts and Sciences tuition at DePaul is $1640. Added to this are air fare, room and board. Travel will be from Chicago to Budapest and return by Lufthansa and Malév. For further information contact Dick Farkas, Dept, of Political Science, DePaul University, 25 East Jackson Blvd., Chicago, IL 60604. Tel: 312-341-8149. □

A HUNGARIAN CHAIR is proposed for the Chicago Campus

of the U. of Illinois. The following announcement (slightly edited) was sent to us: “Twenty-seven years ago Hungary rose up against its foreign oppressor. By 1986, then, the revolution will be 30 years old. There could be no more fitting tribute to this memorable event than the creation of an endowed chair of Hungarian studies in the second largest city of the nation inhabited by thousands of Hungarian immigrants. The University of Illinois at Chicago seems as the most suitable place to locate such an endowed chair. It is the only university in the U.S. which has an endowed chair for Lithuanian studies in its Slavic Department. The Lithuanians are a nation of two million, whose country was absorbed by the Soviet Union without the consent of the Lithuanian people. Hungarians, over 10 million strong in Hungary, and well over 15 million world-wide, are a large nation in comparison. There is no excuse, we believe, for not trying to accomplish what the Lithuanians succeeded in doing. Unlike the Lithuanians, however, we are less well organized, too individualistic, and less affluent. It would therefore seem to make sense to form a nonprofit corporation with the specific purpose of raising funds for such an endowed chair. To endow a chair the donors must give to the university $1 million. This sum would be invested in bonds and stocks earning an average of 10% to 12% interest and dividends per annum. Salaries of the professor, his or her assistant(s), tuition and fellowship awards to students, travel and publication funds would be provided from this modest income of roughly $120,000. Endowment chairs endure in perpetuity and cannot be taken away by bankrupt state legislatures or the university: they constitute private property. Please send us your ideas, suggestions, donations, encour-6

agements, and publicize our efforts.” Address correspondence to Dr. Adam Makkai, Co-ordinator, Hungarian Studies Chair Foundation, P.O. Box 101, Lake Bluff, IL 60044. Tel: 312-234-3997. □

CHAIR OF ESTONIAN STUDIES has been established at the U. of Toronto. The Estonian-Canadian community provided $700,000 to fund the Chair. Another $100,000 is to be raised by Tartu College, and $300,000 is expected to come from the Canadian Government.

The Chair will focus on research, with a view to developing Estonian studies. Activities could include language and literature, history, political economy, ethnology or other fields linked to the study of the cultures and ethnic relations in the Baltic area and in Canada.

After World War II a large numberof Estonians immigrated to Canada, settling mainly in the Toronto area. The local Estonian community maintains a vigorous network of schools, clubs, churches, and other social organizations.

The Chair will be established in the School of Graduate Studies and will have links to units such as the university’s Center for Russian and East European Studies. The research interests of the visiting professors, who will fill the Chair during the first few years, will define the character of the position. (Ethnocultural Notesand Events.) □

HUNGARIAN FOLK DANCE FESTIVAL. The 1985 Pontozó will be held at the Pennsylvania State Univ., McKeesport campus, from May 31 to June 2, 1985. Hosting this annual event is the “Magyar” Folkdancers of McKeesport, and all inquiries and registrations are to be sent to Ms. Betty Király, 213 McClay, Elizabeth, PA 15037. Tel: 412-751-7528. □

This diagram calls attention to the grave problem of suicide in Hungary. It shows Hungary’s relative standing among nations with high suicide rates per 100,000 inhabitants. According to the May 6, 1984, issue of the Új ember

GLOBAL SUICIDE RATES

(Budapest) there were 4,659 successful suicides in 1982 as against 30,000 in the U.S. Causes of the high rate of suicides, according to the Uj ember may be found in broken homes, aggressive competition for obtaining and maintaining jobs, and neglect of religious tenets. □

THE EIGHTH HUNGARIAN TRIBE, an English language magazine published monthly by the Bethlen Press, is rede-NO. 42. WINTER 1964-1985, HUNGARIAN STUDIES NEW5LETTER