From May 8 to 10, ten researchers from the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada, visited the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Szeged to take part in the 8th University of Szeged – University of Manitoba Partnership Conference. The partnership between the two universities, established in 2004, centers around biennial conferences that bring together experts from diverse fields to explore a shared topic from an interdisciplinary perspective.
In fall 2023, the University of Szeged and the University of Manitoba held their 7th biennial partnership conference in Winnipeg, focusing on the theme of nomadism, with the event attended by a nine-member research delegation from Szeged. This year, the 8th University of Szeged – University of Manitoba Partnership Conference was held in Szeged. Entitled Continuities and Discontinuities in Intercultural Dialogues, the event approached the concept of “dialogue” in a broad sense. Participants explored not only dialogue between cultures and between continental and American traditions, but also the relationship of a culture with its own past, as well as the interactions between different ethnic groups within a single country. These topics were examined from multiple disciplinary perspectives, including history, literature, American studies, Hungarian studies, art history, and philosophy. In keeping with the tradition of previous conferences, the papers presented will be published in a joint volume in the Americana eBooks series.
Prof. Dr. Zoltán Gyenge, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
Photo: Dóra Krizsán
In addition to the biennial conferences, the second pillar of the University of Szeged and University of Manitoba’s academic cooperation is an internship program focused on teaching Hungarian as a foreign language in Manitoba. Every two years, a Master’s student from the Hungarian Studies Program at the University of Szeged is selected to serve as an intern in Winnipeg, where they teach beginner-level Hungarian and give English-language presentations on Hungarian culture to students with an interest in the subject.
The third pillar of the University of Szeged and University of Manitoba’s cooperation is a three-week intensive English-language summer university course on Hungarian culture and language, launched in 2022. The course introduces students coming to the University of Szeged to the richness and diversity of Hungarian history and culture through university lectures, guided museum visits, culture-themed city walks, and project-based assignments in both Budapest and Szeged. Students earn academic credit by completing written assignments and delivering oral presentations. The course is coordinated by Dr. Anett Árvay, head of the Hungarian Studies Program at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences.
From left to right: David S. Churchill, Zoltán Dragon, György Endre Szőnyi, Andrea Kökény, Stephan Jaeger, Gábor Csepregi, Paul D. Morris, Justin Jaron Lewis, Greg Bak, Oliver Botar, Anett Árvay, Elena Baraban, Réka Cristian, Erzsébet Barát, Irén Annus, Sarah Ciurysek, Simone Mahrenholz, Katalin Jancsó, and Ian Calliou
This year’s conference was supported by the University of Szeged’s Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, the Institute of English and American Studies, the Doctoral Program in English and American Literature, and the Doctoral School of History. Additional support came from the MTA 200 Anniversary Symposium of the Szeged Regional Committee of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, the Foundation for Szeged, and, notably, the Municipality of Szeged, which welcomed the speakers with a guided tour of the Town Hall and a pleasant gathering over lunch.
SZTE BTK
