Course Directors 

Júlia Vajda, Budapest ELTE University, Hungary

Roswitha Breckner, Technical University of Berlin, Germany

Resource Persons:     

Attila Melegh, University of Economics, Budapest, Hungary

Mihaela Miroiu, National School of Political Studies and Public Administration, Bucharest, Romania

Martin Peterson, University of Gothenburg, Sweden

Éva Kovács, Institute of Central European Studies, Budapest, Hungary

Mihály Vajda, KLTE University, Debrecen, Hungary

József Böröcz, Rutgers University, USA

Our team consists of persons representing different fields of social sciences, according to their scholarly training, the research topics and projects they have been involved in, and their personal interests. 

Roswitha Breckner (trained in sociology and history) is working mainly in the area of biographical research and migration. 

Julia Vajda, Ph.D. (trained in mathematics, sociology and psycho-analysis) is dealing with identity concepts and the theory of narrativity, while doing research on Jewish identity in post-socialist Hungary. 

Attila Melegh (trained in economics and sociology) is involved in research on East-West migration and discourse. 

Martin Peterson (professor of history) represents an interdisciplinary approach in his broad research and publication on (East) European History. 

Mihaela Miroiu (Professor of philosophy and political sciences) is working on topics in the era of societal transformation and Feminism. 

Éva Kovács (born 1964, Pécs)  has an M.A. from sociology and economics from the Economic University of Budapest and a Ph.d. in sociology and she is a research fellow at Institute of Central European Studies of Teleki László Association.

The different perspectives these persons in the team stand for will deepen the understanding of both, the theoretical and methodological approaches as well as the questions concerning the East-West dialogue within the course. All of them have a great practice in social research and teaching at university as well.

Course objectives

The course aims to combine theoretical explorations of different concepts of identity from an interdisciplinary perspective (historical, philosophical, psychoanalytical, and sociological) with a workshop based on empirical exploration of east-west experiences and discourses. In the course participants will examine to what extent specific formations of identities are connected to the division between the so called "East" and "West". In this context we will analyze also the meaning of "East/West" as geographical and social spaces in different times in European societies. Concerning identity, there will be a special focus on the concept of the ‘other’ The course investigation will be based on interpretive methods (narrative interviewing, hermeneutic text analysis, photo and discourse analysis) which allow to reconstruct the interchange between concrete ‘experiences’ made by subjects in their life contexts and the (changing) public discourses. Thus, the course shall provide the participants with a practice based introduction into the use of a current research methodology and its methods giving access to the visible and less visible changes in social contexts and their representation in individual’s lives.

Objectives include:

Course level, target audience

The course addresses young academics, Ph.D. students as well as researchers and lecturers of any level. Participants should be interested in enlarging or deepening their knowledge concerning identity concepts and in particular their skills in the use of qualitative methods. Building on a basic knowledge in this field, acquired by studying one of the relevant disciplinary subjects (social psychology, social sciences, history, philosophy, anthropology, cultural and regional studies) the course is conceptualized on an introductory level. Priority will be given to participants who intend to use the discussed theoretical and methodological concepts in a running or planned empirical research project.

A reasonably good knowledge of English is required due to the hermeneutic analysis proposed in the course description.

Syllabus

Teaching methods

In addition to traditional reading and discussions, the course is based on interactive course teaching. This includes role plays to practice specific elements of the proposed methods, work in trios and subgroups, thus providing the participants with practice based didactic teaching methods. During the course all participants shall have the possibility to conduct an individual interview to be discussed by the participants and the instructors. Results of the workshop-based practice will be presented by the participants at the end of the course based on a written analysis of his/her interview. Additional modules can be introduced according to the developing interest and work of participants.