2024/25 Budapest Fellowship Program participants: Evelyn Whitehead, Daniel Whitehead, Charles Yockey, Helen Roy, and Matt Roy
A new group of American researchers has arrived in Hungary to participate in the Budapest Fellowship Program (BFP), where they will be involved in research, teaching, and engaging in various cultural and professional activities over the course of ten months.
The Hungary Foundation and Mathias Corvinus Collegium (MCC) launched the fifth year of the Budapest Fellowship Program at the renowned Gundel in Hungary last week.
The five selected fellows, Charles Yockey, Daniel Whitehead, Evelyn Whitehead, Helen Roy, and Matt Roy, are commencing their ten-month-long endeavor to fully immerse themselves in Central and Eastern European, particularly Hungarian, history and culture.
Over the next ten months, the fellows will engage in independent research at four renowned Hungarian host institutions: the Danube Institute, the MCC School of Law, Axioma, and the Hungarian Institute for International Affairs. In addition to their research, they will immerse themselves in intensive Hungarian language classes and participate in Hungarian film screenings, book discussions, working lunches, and seminars on Hungarian history, legal development, foreign policy, and political thought.
The Budapest Fellows will also have the opportunity to explore significant sites and cities around the country and connect with Hungarian-speaking communities in the Carpathian Basin. Subsequently, they will become an integral part of the educational and think tank portfolio of Mathias Corvinus Collegium (MCC), contributing to teaching workshops and classes, and actively participating in a diverse range of public events.
Following the initial orientation day, the fellows engaged in seminars on Hungarian history and culture, covering topics from the Hungarian Settlement to the two World Wars. They also had the privilege of spending a day and a half in the Hungarian Parliament, gaining insight into the history of the Hungarian parliamentary system, visiting the Parliament’s public research library, viewing important memorials around Kossuth Square, and spending half a day at a private guided tour of the Hungarian National Museum.
One of the week’s most memorable moments was the stunning boat cruise on the Danube, followed by a traditional dinner. During this event, the family members of the fellows had the opportunity to learn about the mission of the program, meet the Budapest Fellowship Program and MCC staff, and savor delightful Hungarian cuisine.
We would like to express our gratitude to our partners for their invaluable contribution to the launch of this year’s program. Special thanks to Noémi Pálfalvi, Krisztián László, and Zita Boriska Polet at Mathias Corvinus Collegium, as well as our exceptional mentors for the fellows: Melissa O’Sullivan and István Kiss at Danube Institute, Gladden Pappin at HIIA, Lénárd Sándor at the MCC School of Law, and Norbert Filemon at Axioma.
A big thank you to BFP alumnus Stephen Sholl for his captivating historical tour of Budapest’s classical architectural heritage in the inner city, as well as Anna Righetto for walking our fellows through 1000 years of Hungarian history in the National Museum.
We are also immensely grateful to our esteemed lecturers: Tamás Pálosfalvi, Márton Zászkaliczky, Attila Pók, Kálmán Pócza, Tibor Glant, and Gergely Romsics, as well as to the staff of the Hungarian Parliament’s public education department for their invaluable contributions to the substantive educational experience during the opening week.