In just a few years, SZTE’s Open University program has grown into one of the University’s most successful and distinctive educational initiatives. Open to both the SZTE community and the wider EUGLOH Alliance, the program offers an inspiring international environment for interdisciplinary learning. Now entering its sixth year as part of the Alliance’s course portfolio, it continues to attract hundreds of students from across Europe each semester.
A longstanding tradition, reimagined
The idea behind Open University began to take shape at the University of Szeged shortly after the launch of the EUGLOH Alliance. It was built on one of SZTE’s most successful educational traditions: its public lecture series, originally launched in 2005 as Mindentudás Egyeteme (University of Omniscience) and continued since 2007 under the name Szabadegyetem, or Open University. Building on this strong foundation and reinterpreting it for a digital learning environment, EUGLOH Open University evolved into a new model for international learning. Featuring high-quality lectures delivered in English and designed to remain accessible to a broad audience, the program explores timely topics that resonate with both specialists and non-specialists.
Interdisciplinary thinking
One of Open University’s greatest strengths is its interdisciplinary nature. Each semester is organized around a broad central theme, explored from multiple perspectives by scholars representing a range of academic disciplines and interdisciplinary fields. Within this intellectually and culturally diverse environment, students from a variety of academic backgrounds can engage more easily with the topics while developing a deeper and more nuanced understanding of them. Perspectives from the humanities, the arts, and the social sciences play a particularly important role in shaping the program.
A key figure behind the initiative is Ágnes Sávai-Matuska, associate professor at the University of Szeged’s Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, who serves as its organizer, curator, and driving creative force. She describes one of EUGLOH’s most successful programs as follows:
“When I was invited in 2023 by the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences to join EUGLOH’s course development working group, I was unsure how strongly I could foreground the perspective I hold as a humanities scholar. After all, within the consortium, I was representing not just one faculty, but the University as a whole. At the same time, I realized that the humanities were underrepresented in the collaboration, and many interpreted the EUGLOH motto – European University Alliance for Global Health – as suggesting that medicine should play the leading role. I have always believed, however, that questions of individual and social health are inseparable from culture, from the ways institutions function within society, from the self-organizing capacity and values of communities, and from qualities such as empathy, openness to ambiguity, the ability to think in complex ways, and the capacity for renewal. In this process, I owe a great deal to Lilla Kocsis, Head of Office at the Directorate for Academic Affairs, whose support was there from the very beginning and remained unwavering as the course took shape. Fortunately, neither at the University nor within the consortium did I have to convince anyone that this perspective could be not only valuable, but genuinely transformative for students,” said Dr. Sávai-Matuska, before recalling one of her most memorable experiences connected to the program during the EUGLOH summit in Lund: “I was walking across campus with a colleague from Szeged when a practicing Indian physician, who had enrolled in the course as part of her additional professional training, came rushing up to me. She recognized me from the screen as the host of the series and wanted to thank me in person. She told me that through Open University she had encountered topics and perspectives she otherwise would never have had the opportunity to explore.”
Open University has become a dynamic forum bringing together ideas, disciplines, and voices from around the world. Alongside faculty members from the University of Szeged, the series regularly welcomes guest speakers from EUGLOH partner institutions and, beyond the alliance, experts from other Hungarian and European organizations as well as researchers teaching at leading universities in the United States. Through SZTE’s contributions to the initiative, EUGLOH students have had the opportunity to learn from scholars affiliated with University of California, Berkeley, Brown University, Duke University, and Georgetown University.
The themes explored over the years have been just as diverse as the voices and perspectives behind them. The course has addressed topics such as attention, the many meanings and functions of the placebo effect, the relationship between fact and fiction, and the interplay between religion and science. The most recent semester explored the social, ethical, artistic, and scientific challenges of the AI era, while the current one focuses on the transformative and renewing role of the humanities.
The invisible work behind the highly visible success
Since the 2020/21 academic year, the course has been offered each semester through the University’s online academic platform and, in keeping with its international mission, has been delivered entirely in English. Throughout the semester, students can join lectures via livestream and complete an online exam at the end of the course to demonstrate what they have learned. Those who successfully complete the program earn three academic credits.
What students experience as a seamless international learning environment is made possible each week by a dedicated team working behind the scenes. In the early years, the live broadcasts were managed by the University of Szeged’s Directorate for IT Services, while over time the University’s educational development team also built the expertise needed to support the program’s growing technical demands. Every Thursday evening, team members coordinate speakers, moderators, and the digital infrastructure behind the broadcasts – ensuring that students across Europe can participate in the lectures live, regardless of location.
The program in numbers
Year after year, Open University has continued to grow – now spanning 12 semesters and 12 thought-provoking themes, with 140 lectures reaching a total of 5,694 participating students. Together, these numbers reflect a program that has grown to become much larger than originally envisioned. What began as a local initiative has developed into a teaching model recognized across Europe. With its interdisciplinary outlook, international speakers, and innovative digital format, SZTE’s Open University offers a learning experience that extends well beyond the framework of a traditional university course.
At the University of Szeged, Open University is more than a success story – it stands as a compelling example of how open, creative, and internationally minded education can create a lasting impact. And if the past six years offer any indication, its most exciting chapters may still lie ahead.
Source: SZTEinfo
