Traveling scholars project

This October 23rd will be the 50th Anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. The Hungarian Cultural Center, along with the The Institute for the History of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution located in Budapest, are proposing a symposium to discuss this important historical event. Two major scholars from the Institute and a scholar on the subject from here in the U.S. will be traveling throughout the States visiting major institutions of academia and research, revealing exciting new data and discoveries. The mood of the conference will be informal; questions and comments are invited and dialogue between the scholars and audience is encouraged. The three scholars will each give a twenty-minute presentation on their particular area of interest and specialty pertaining to the Revolution. Included will be visual presentations of the Revolution including photographs, video, film, and sound.

Although the Revolution took place in Hungary, the repercussions transcended time and place. It is often viewed in the context of the Cold War, which in some aspects confines the realities of the Revolution. However, the intention of the symposium is to bring this historical event, its ideas and feelings, and the philosophical investigation of revolution, to the doorstep of scholarly inquiry, here in the U.S. In the symposium’s presentation and discussion, it is intellectually unavoidable to examine the Revolution in an international context.

We are open to suggestions and ideas that would increase the scope of the program, so please feel free to contact us with your thoughts. We feel that this symposium will be an important catalyst for discourse about the 1956 Revolution.

Participants

Charles GATI, Professor, European Studies, School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University.

Author of: Hungary and the Soviet Bloc (1996), The Bloc that Failed (1990) and Failed Illusions: Moscow Washington, Budapest and the 1956 Hungarian Revolt (published in September, 2006 in English, Hungarian, Polish, Russian, and Slovak).

Topics: The role of the US (including the CIA and Radio Free Europe); the activity of Prime Minister Imre Nagy.

Csaba BÉKÉS, Founding Director, Cold War History Research Center, Budapest (www.coldwar.hu), Senior Research Fellow, 1956 Institute, Budapest (www.rev.hu). Visiting Fulbright Professor, New York University, 2006-2007.

Author of: The 1956 Hungarian Revolution and World Politics (1996), The 1956 Hungarian Revolution: A History in Documents (2002), Contributor to the forthcoming 3 volume Cambridge History of the Cold War (2009)

Topics: The Cold War context; Soviet decision making in 1956; the role of the Suez crisis and the United Nations.

Attila SZAKOLCZAI, Senior Research Fellow, 1956 Institute, Budapest (www.rev.hu)

Author of: A vidék forradalma I-II. (2003, 2006) [Revolution in the Countryside, I-II] (Ed.)
Az 1956-os magyar forradalom és szabadságharc [The 1956 Hungarian Revolution and Fight for Freedom] (2001), 1956. Felkelés, szabadságharc, forradalom. [1956. Uprising, Fight for Freedom, Revolution] (forthcoming: October, 2006).

Topics: The activity of the fighting groups and revolutionary organizations; events in the countryside; the reprisals following the revolution.

Program:

October 2nd , 7-10pm New School New York City The Transregional Center for Democratic Studies, New School for Social Research (Swayduck Auditorium, Ground Floor Lobby – 65^th Fifth Avenue between 13 & 14^th St.

October 3rd , 12:00-1:20pm Princeton (Princeton, New Jersey) Rm. 219 Aaron Burr Hall. which is on the corner of Washington Rd. and Nassau Street.

October 4th , 4-6pm George Washington University – Lidner Family Commons, 6^th Floor of the Elliott School of International Affairs.

October 5th, 5:30-8pm European Union Studies Center(New York City) CUNY Grad Center,  Rooms: C202/C203, 365 5^th Ave. between 34^th & 35^th Streets.

October 9th , 3-5pm New York University (New York City)– King Juan Carlos Center, 53 Washington Square South. First Floor Screening Room

October 10th, 12:00-3:15pm Harvard (Cambridge, Massachusetts) Center for Government and International Studies in Room S354 at 1730 Cambridge Street.

We are also planning on hosting the three scholars for an evening presentation at the Hungarian Cultural Center on October 6th.

Look forward to this exciting program!