22-26 February 2021
3rd UNESCO MOST Winter School 2021
How to be a Citizen? Citizenship and Responsibility in the New World of Uncertainty
The notion of citizenship is undergoing profound change as the tensions between global, regional, and national forms of belonging and integration are becoming increasingly contested. The assumed relationship between citizens and nation-states is challenged by the evolving trends of economic, political, and social globalization. At the same time, growing economic disparities and injustice, climate change and pandemics have not only resulted in the rise of a precariat and denizens within the core of the world-system but have likewise led to an increase in migration flows towards Europe by the marginalized populations of global peripheries. While these trends, entwined and interdependent, emerge as the most obvious symptoms of global distress, the questioning of contemporary (dis)order is articulated from various sides of the political spectrum.
The 3rd UNESCO MOST Winter School invites all who are interested to join us at the Institute of Advanced Studies Kőszeg (iASK) and online
More details later!
7 September 2020
340-year-old Renewed Building of the Benedictine Convent & School
The newly renovated building of the former Benedictine Convent & School reopened to the public in Kőszeg as a hotel on Monday, September 7. The building is owned by the Benedictine Pannonhalma Archabbey and will now serve as accommodation for visitors.
The renovation was supported by the Hungarian government with HUF 1,435 billion (just under EUR 4 million) under the iASK Creative City – Sustainable Region (KRAFT) program.
21-22 September 2020
Expansive Horizons-6th Creative City and Sustainable Region Conference
About 50 speakers and roundtable participants in five different panels, in person or online, discussed the opportunities of the Western Pannonian region, KRAFT responses to challenges and the impact of the creative industry on regional development. Researchers, mayors, university leaders, tourism experts and local government leaders talked over, among other things, the development of the Veszprém-Balaton region, the cooperation of the Association of Pannonian Cities, as well as climate change, creativity, tourism and economic issues.
For more information: https://archive.iask.hu/vi-kraft-conference/
12 October 2020
KRAFT Renovation Project Completed in Kőszeg – Old Lutheran Vocational High School Opens as Training Hostel
The renovated former dormitory of the Lutheran Vocational High School, now a 28-room, state-of-the-art training hostel was opened in early October. The work was not limited to the building: the five-hectare garden and farmstead were also renewed and a riding hall was created in order to support Equestrian Tourism in Kőszeg. The infrastructural development project was implemented in the framework of the KRAFT program launched in 2015 and coordinated by iASK. Opening the brand-new facilities coincided with the celebration of the school’s 120 + 1 year anniversary.
For more information: https://www.vaol.hu/kozelet/helyi-kozelet/kollegiumbol-tanszallo-korszeru-felteteleket-teremtettek-a-szakmai-kepzeshez-4338928/
News
iASK Director and the Kőszeg-KRAFT Program Recognized by Vas County
iASK Director Ferenc Miszlivetz was awarded the prestigious Ernő Pungor Prize in recognition of his pioneering work in developing and implementing the Kőszeg Creative City – Sustainable Region program. The award was presented by László Majthényi, President of the Vas County Assembly and Péter Balázsy, Chief Notary in Szombathely on the occasion of the 64th Anniversary of the 1956 Revolution.
For more information: https://archive.iask.hu/ferenc-miszlivetz-received-a-prestigious-award/
Renovation of the long-abandoned Synagogue in Kőszeg has finally begun thanks to the Creative City – Sustainable Region Project by iASK
The larger plan for the renovation foresees the restoration of the entire synagogue complex, including the Rabbi’s house, courtyard, garden, and fence. Work on the synagogue is expected to be completed by the second half of 2021, while the Rabbi’s house should be completed by spring 2022. An article published by Jewish Heritage Europe presents the history of the synagogue.
George Csepeli received a prestigious Award
The Gyula Rézler Award was given to György Csepeli (former iASK fellow) by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and the Gyula Rézler Foundation for his scientific activities in the research fields of national identity and digital transformation.
Iván Bába received a prestigious Hungarian State Award
The Cross of the Hungarian Order of Civic Merit was awarded to Iván Bába (iASK researcher) by János Áder, the President of Hungary. The venue of the ceremony on October 23rd was the Hungarian Parliament.
For more information: https://archive.iask.hu/hu/english-prof-ivan-baba-received-a-prestigious-hungarian-state-award-from-janos-ader-the-president-of-the-hungarian-republic-on-23rd-of-october-2020/
ONLINE EVENTS
2 October 2020 – COVID workshop 
The health and education implications of the coronavirus epidemic were discussed at the workshop, where foreign and Hungarian researchers, education and health professionals related their experiences, the risks and the need for resilience in lectures, panel discussions and professional consultations.
For more information: https://archive.iask.hu/health-and-education-covid-19-workshop-by-iask/
4-31 November 2020 – Expanding Horizons- “Best of Blue Sky”
With the motto of this year’s Festival of the Hungarian Science “Science Shaping the Future” selected lectures will be presented by iASK from well-known scholars, experts, diplomats and researchers that deserve attention and rediscovery.
For more information: https://archive.iask.hu/expanding-horizons-best-of-blue-sky/
The Future of Europe Lecture Series
27 October 2020
Prof. Dr. Vesna Crnic-Grotic (Faculty of Law, University of Rijeka) and Prof. Dr. Gábor Kardos (Faculty of Legal and Political Sciences at Eötvös University, Budapest)
Trends in the Protection of National and Language Minorities in Europe
For more information: https://archive.iask.hu/trends-in-protection-of-national-and-language-minorities-in-europe/
7 November 2020
Prof. Chris Hann (Director, Max Planck Institute, Halle,Germany)
Karl Polanyi: The Significance of a Patriotic Hungarian for His Homeland One Hundred Years after His Exile
NEW PUBLICATIONS
Images of Kőszeg Kraft
Ferenc Miszlivetz, Laura Takács eds.
An exclusive publication on buildings renovated during the KRAFT program is expected in the near future. The five-year-old institute would like to introduce itself with the book on the occasion of its birthday. What is the secret of creativity and attraction in the frontier, is primarily the question in this imposing volume.
Navigating Troubled Waters: Dedicated to George Schöpflin on his 80th birthday
Ferenc Miszlivetz, Attila Pók, eds.
It is a great honor to publish a volume of academic essays to celebrate George Schöpflin’s contribution to our intellectual wellbeing. Schöpflin is an intellectual in the broadest sense of the word with expansive knowledge and curiosity about the world. His intellectual appetite encompasses literature (it’s hard to name an author he hasn’t read) food, politics (both global and local), history, languages, travels and jokes. The essays in this volume were written by iASK researchers.
For more information: https://archive.iask.hu/navigating-troubled-waters-dedicated-to-george-schopflin-on-his-80th-birthday-2/
Fatal Compassion – The “Hungarian Problem and the UN, 1956-1963”
András Nagy
Published by iASK and Kossuth Publishing House
The book is based on several decades of archival and historical research on what happened and why after the 1956 Hungarian Revolution at the UN and beyond. Documents classified for 60+ years recently became accessible and reveal the background of clashes between secret services, the pragmatism of the great powers, the involvement of cynics and of fanatics. The story of the Danish diplomat Povl Bang-Jensen is also told, as he gave his life trying to solve the “Hungarian Question” and the illusion that many people nurtured about the role of the UN and its principles.
Further details and a video book recommendation: https://archive.iask.hu/hu/nagy-andras-halalos-egyutterzes-a-magyar-ugy-es-az-ensz-1956-1963/
Singapore Globally Entangled
Anikó Magasházi
Transnational corporations and their networks play a significant role in the transformations that have been taking place within the global economy. The question arises why certain countries are more successful than others in advancing from a cheap labor-based economy towards an innovation-driven one. In this book, answers to the “why’s and how’s” are sought by analyzing Singapore’s economic and social development over the last three decades with an outlook on Southeast Asia as a whole, in order to explore lessons that can be drawn for other emerging regions.
Memory Politics and Populism in Southeastern Europe
Jody Jensen, ed.
This volume explores the politics of memory in Southeastern Europe in the context of rising populism and their hegemonic grip on official memory and politics. This timely book speaks to the increased political, media, and academic attention paid to the rise of discontent, frustration and cultural resistance from below across the European continent and the world.
In order to demonstrate the complexities of these processes, the volume transcends disciplinary boundaries to explore memory politics, examining the interconnections between memory and populism. It shows how memory politics has become one of the most important fields of symbolic struggle in the contemporary process of “meaning-making,” providing space for actors, movements and other mnemonic entrepreneurs who challenge and point to incoherencies in the official narratives of memory and forgetting.
Forthcoming from Routledge in 2021