Institute for Social & European Studies

Jean Monnet European Centre of Excellence

Fall 2011/Winter 2012

Profs. Ferenc Miszlivetz and Jody Jensen participated in the final event for the current program of the European Trail, highlighted at the Summer University this past summer. This event took place in the

European Parliament with contributions on the following topics: Citizenship, Urbanity, Democracy and Citizenship, Interculturality and Cosmopolitism.

Robert Manchin (Gallup Europe) participated as well as Floya Anthias (University of Roehampton), Siep Stuurman (Center for the

Humanities, University of Utrecht), Eric Corijn (Vrije University of Brussels), Rik Pinxten (University of Gent), Yolanda Onghena (Cidob Barcelona), Gerard Delanty (University of Sussex) with a contribution

entitled: “From Integration to Interaction: A Cosmopolitan Approach to the Idea of Europe”; W!odzimierz Staniewski (Center for Theater Practices, Lublin), and Igor Stiks (University of Edinburgh) with a contribution on: "Citizens' rebellion: towards a radical democracy in Europe?"

Prof. Miszlivetz closed the day with: Reflections for the Future. The event was organized by ISES friends Claude Infante and Ine Pisters, to whom we are grateful. A small publication entitled, The European Trail, is available with contributions from original participants in the project.

An expanded publication is in the works!

RE-THINKING REALITIES

A DAY OF DEBATES AT THE EUROPEAN

PARLIAMENT

November 29, 2011

The European Trail: Re-thinking

Realities |A day of debates at the

European Parliament Nov 29 2011

In this issue:

Inauguration of the Ágotha Kristof

Centre at the Europe House in

K!szeg Dec 12 2011

1

2

From Crisis to Uncertainty: Social,

Political, Economic, Cultural and

Human Responses Dec 15 2011

2

3 Global Civil Society Yearbook, Book

launch with Mary Kaldor

Mid-March 2012

3 XVII International Summer University

in K!szeg June 22-July 7, 2012

4 The Summer Seminar on Critical Thinking in the 21st Century July 8-August 5, 2012

4 New Programme at ISES: International Relations and Consular Studies 2012/2013

2 ISES Newsletter | Fall 2011/Winter 2012

Inauguration of the ÁGOTA KRISTÓF CENTRE At the Europe House in K!szeg, December 12, 2011

Ágota Kristóf (October 30, 1935 - July 27, 2011) was from K!szeg and lived in Switzerland. Under the auspices of the UNESCO Chair at ISES, we plan on remembering her contribution to European Arts and Letters by opening a Centre in her honor. Ms. Kristóf is best known for her trilogy, which begins with the first novel, The Notebook (1986), which was followed by The Proof (1988), and The Third Lie (1991). This moving trilogy has been translated into over 30 languages. Its most important themes are war and destruction, love and loneliness, promiscuousness, desperation, desire and loss, truth and fiction. Ms. Kristóf received the European prize for French literature for The Notebook, and won the 2001 Gottfried Keller Award in Switzerland and the Austrian State Prize for European Literature in 2008.

The purpose of the workshop is to address:

• The deeper causes of this growing uncertainty as it surfaces in the spheres of economy, politics, society, culture and the everyday life;

• To consider what human and social forms of behavior, what kinds of changes of mentality are necessary and what kinds of new life strategies are plausible in this age of uncertainty;

• To present and assess how new emerging strategies and forms of behavior can contribute to solving this new age we face.

Participants included Profs. Miszlivetz, Jensen, Hankiss and Skelly. ISES students were also invited to participate. For an idea of what the workshop addressed, please read: My Personal Manifesto for Living in an Age of Uncertainty by Renjie Butalid, ISES MA student.

Below are some excerpts:

The very idea of ‘security’ and ‘stability’ that many people of my generation strive for after recently

graduating from university and landing a job, any job, with a steady paycheck in order to keep up with mortgage payments and maintaining a consumer-driven lifestyle, seems all but an illusion to me now. We only have to look closely at the world around us

FROM CRISIS TO UNCERTAINTY: SOCIAL, POLITICAL, ECONOMIC, CULTURAL AND HUMAN RESPONSES

Workshop at the Institute for Political Sciences at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences

December 15, 2011

to realize that the world is going through massive upheaval on many different levels, and the scale and level of complexity of this change is unlike anything that we have seen before.

This includes the decline of the industrial revolution where the 80 year-long run that brought ever-increasing productivity (and along with it, well-paying jobs for an ever-expanding middle class) is coming to an end. As we speak, the nature of geopolitics in the Middle East and North Africa is being shaken to its core; the global financial crisis is still being felt in many parts of the world today, including Europe with its euro zone debt crisis calling into question the very existence of the European Union itself; rising food prices that are sparking food riots in many countries across the developing world, not to mention the untold millions of people worldwide that go to bed hungry every single day; and the increasing frequency of natural disasters worldwide together with the further degradation of our environment that is leading to unprecedented numbers of climate refugees.

In this day and age where nothing is for certain anymore, not even the world’s energy supply of oil, and where long-held beliefs and assumptions in ideas such as democracy, freedom and the role the media plays in shaping our

3 ISES Newsletter | Fall 2011/Winter 2012

GLOBAL CIVIL SOCIETY YEARBOOK

Book Launch, scheduled mid-March 2012

with Mary Kaldor & Ferenc Miszlivetz

Institute for Political Sciences,

Hungarian Academy of Sciences

perception of the world around us, are being challenged and called into question, we are told that the people and organizations who are best able to manage change, diversity and uncertainty, will be the ones who succeed.

I am certainly placing all my bets on this and have come to realize that with this given mindset, so many opportunities do, in fact, exist out there. And if those opportunities somehow do not exist at all, there is simply nothing to stop you from going ahead and creating

XVII International Summer University in K!szeg

RE-INVENTING THE FUTURE II: CITIZENS STAND UP June 22 - July 7, 2012

We liked the title of last year’s summer university, Re-inventing the Future, and thought it again timely and appropriate. That is why we are using it again this year, but with a different twist to reflect the astounding global citizen organization and solidarity expressed in the Occupy Wall Street movements.

Main themes and invited speakers so far include:

• Culture as a Tool of Reconciliation in a New Age of Uncertainty: Katalin Bogyay, Julia Marton-Lefevre, Mira Tucci.

• Reconciliation: minorities, religions, cultures: Attila Pók, György Csepelli, Leonce Bekemans,

• EU and Global Challenges: Re-inventing Economics, Citizenship and Democracy: George Schöpflin, Philippe Schmitter, Saskia Sassen, Tibor Palankai, Sándor Kerekes, József Böröc, Giuliana Laschi, István Teszler.

• Eastern and Central European cooperation: Iván Bába, Alvaro Vasconselos, Stuart Holland.

• Human, Political, Social and Economic Responses in the Age of Uncertainty: Elemér Hankiss, Robert Manchin, Jody Jensen, James Skelly.

The application period is now OPEN! All applications should be submitted in English electronically to Anett Horváth at international.relations@ises.hu

Application deadline: May 15, 2012

Participation fee is 800 EUR and covers tuition, meals (lunch and dinner), field trips, and social and cultural events throughout the entire program. Participants are welcome from all countries. Scholarships are available for MA and PhD students. Completion of requirements will provide 5 ECTs.

4 ISES Newsletter | Fall 2011/Winter 2012

THE SUMMER SEMINAR ON CRITICAL THINKING IN THE 21ST CENTURY:

Understanding The World We Live In July 8 - August 5, 2012

An enriched ISES summer program includes this new Summer Seminar on Critical Thinking in the 21st Century, organized by Prof. James Skelly.

As never before in human history, we need to understand the world we are immersed in, and more importantly the enormous difficulty we face in making meaningful sense of our current condition. The Summer Seminar on Critical Thinking in the 21st Century is meant to assist you in developing a critical analytical narrative that will help you to make sense of our world. Given the overwhelming amount of information in disconnected bits that we often find ourselves swimming in, it has become increasingly difficult to develop a coherent sense of what is happening in the actual world rather than in the limited virtual worlds we increasingly seem to inhabit. The tsunami of information that we are now subjected to may mean that ever more frequently human minds have a mass of bits of information strewn incoherently about in a manner that mimics the images of the devastation that followed the horrific 2011 tsunami In Japan.

The task of the Summer Seminar is to provide students with the foundation upon which they can begin to create narratives about the human project in which meaning is again central, and in the words of Jurgen Habermas, develop the “common ethical-political dimension that would be necessary for a corresponding global community.”

The number of participants in the seminar will be limited to no more than 20 students. Therefore, selection of students to participate will be rigorous and early applications are recommended. The program is open to advanced undergraduates, recent graduates, and MA level students. Students who think they would like to participate or want further information should contact Dr. James Skelly. Interviews will be arranged as part of the application process, as well as the submission of supporting documents – jamesmskelly@gmail.com.

Application deadline: May 15, 2012

,,International Relations and Consular Studies”

NEW PROGRAMME at ISES

In our globalizing world, international development and cultural diplomacy play increasingly important roles. This is reinforced by a deep transformation of the world system, of international affairs, and the reform of former hegemonic relations and structures. Recognizing these trends and needs, ISES and its partners (CUB, and HUN-DEV International Development Co-operation, Research and Management Nonprofit Ltd.) are pleased to announce the initiation of this new program.

Supported by: Federation of National Consular Corps Accredited to European Union Member States (FUECH), Honorary Consular Corps of Hungary, Union des Konsularischen Korps in Österreich (UCCA).

For more information on program components and structure, admission requirements and application deadlines, fees, etc., please visit the ISES website.

A 2-semester, online post-graduate course for the academic year 2012/2013

Finally, we wish you all happy holidays with friends and family and wish you the very best for the new year! No need to worry about false Mayan predictions – there is too much work to do. We would also like to wish Prof. Ferenc Miszlivetz, the director of ISES, bon voyage, as he is leaving for several months to take the prestigious István Deák Chair at Columbia University in New York.

– The ISES Team

About ISES The Institute for Social & European Studies (ISES) Foundation together with IGES-Corvinus University of Budapest, offers international multidisciplinary research and educational programmes that provide young academics and thriving professionals with a diverse education in European integration and regional cooperation, international studies and cultural heritage management.

ISES PROGRAMMES

1. Masters Programme in International Economic Relations with a special focus on European Integration Studies

2. Postgraduate Programme in Cultural Heritage Management & Sustainable Development

3. Postgraduate Programme in International Relations and Consular Studies (2012/2013)

4. International Summer University in K!szeg (Application deadline: May 15, 2012)

5. The Summer Seminar on Critical Thinking in the 21st Century (Application deadline: May 15, 2012)

JEAN MONNET EUROPEAN CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE

The quality of the teaching and the provision of our research facilities has

been recognised as excellent by the European Commission, with the designation of ISES as a Jean Monnet European Centre of Excellence in

June 2010. This award is granted to university-level institutions for top quality research and innovative teaching related to European Integration.

Erasmus Program Vas County

• Dombi Alapítvány • Hungarian Academy of Sciences

• Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs • PHARE CBC – Interreg

• Szombathelyért Alapítvány

UNESCO CHAIR IN CULTURAL HERITAGE MANAGEMENT & SUSTAINABILITY

In April 2011, ISES was awarded

a UNESCO Chair in Cultural Heritage Management & Sustainability with the aim to contribute to the emergence of international network-gathering

institutions with similar objectives related to cultural heritage management and sustainability worldwide.

UNESCO CHAIR RESOURCE CENTRE & LIBRARY

At the most recent International Summer University, ISES inaugurated the UNESCO Chair Resource Centre & Library. Located in the Sgraffitto House in Jurisics Square in K!szeg, the ISES UNESCO Chair Resource

Centre & Library is intended for MA and PhD student

researchers as well as professors to further knowledge and scientific inquiry in the social sciences and the humanities.

Institute for Social & European Studies Europe House, 14 Chernel Utca

9730 K!szeg, Hungary

W: www.ises.hu/en E: info@ises.hu

T: +36 94 563 055

ISES would like to give special thanks to the following partners: