Here a Müemlek, There a Müemlek, Everywhere a Müemlek: Public History in Hungary

Dear Readers,

I am very proud to have a post on another blog this week.  Some observations on how history is treated in public can be found at the site of the National Council on Public History here:
http://publichistorycommons.org/in-the-academy-post/

Happy reading!

Some Things I Would Like to Bring Home to Oshkosh from Pécs – Part II: A Bakery

 One other thing I would like to bring with me from Pécs is a bakery.  This is even more ambitious than bringing back a car, I know.  Let me tell you, dear reader, what prompts my sincere admiration of Pécs’s bakeries. 

First of all, Pécs is full of them.  They are nearly on every corner in certain parts of town.  My favorite is called Aranycipó, or “Golden Wheat”:  a corny name, but a delicious place.  They have fresh bread every day, ranging from soft and white to crusty and sour to brown and heavy.  The crusty, brown ones are my favorite.  Ordinarily, I don’t really like bread but in Pécs (and my childhood hometown of San Francisco) it is hard to resist because it is so fresh and good and nutritious.  My favorite, the “King Ludwig Rye,” named after the eccentric Bavarian

scrumptious...

king, Ludwig II, is a rye-wheat mix, that turns out brown and a bit sour, with a crusty crust.  Like in a pint of Guinness, you can taste the B vitamins in every bite.  This is no tasteless bread, that can sit in your pantry for weeks without hardening or growing mold.  This is a bread you must eat now or else it will quickly turn to stone: carpe panem.  (I mean to say: seize the bread, but I haven’t studied Latin since the 9^th grade.) 

Aranycipó also has lots of good Hungarian pastries, sandwiches, and a little café downtown where you can sit, drink coffee, and consume baked goods.  In Oshkosh, the only independent bakery shop that I knew of closed recently, and anyhow they did not sell bread, only sweet things.  Nor were they a hang-out place.  Now, the bakery shops that are left are inside of supermarkets.  They have some good baked goods,

bread sold here... cafe around the corner...

including some good bread, but no place to sit down. 

While I can still find some more-or-less freshly baked bread in Oshkosh, it seems to be a niche market.  In Pécs, it is a staple.  Much of it is a soft, white bread that I really don’t like, but it is almost all freshly baked.  Rich or poor, gourmand or grub-seeker, Hungarians all seem to buy fresh bread almost every day. 

Some Things I Would Like to Bring Home to Oshkosh from Pécs – Part I: Cars

While in Pécs, I have almost daily experienced car envy, dear reader.  It is not that I have seen cars that I wish I could afford, mind you.  My taste in cars generally does not run towards the expensive end of the spectrum.  It is, rather, that I see so many cars that I wish it were possible to buy in the United States.  Thus, I thought I would devote this post to things I wish I could bring home to Oshkosh from Pécs. 

Of course, I don’t want Oshkosh to become Pécs, or vice versa.  There is something nice about going to a different place and seeing that it is, in fact, different.  I am not so immature as to want to enjoy all of Pécs while in Oshkosh.  But in four areas, I think Oshkosh could emulate Pécs without losing its Oshkosh-ness, and I would be very pleased.  The four areas that most tickle my fancy are the aforementioned cars, as well as bakeries, the amount of people downtown, and on the educational front: a cohesion among students in a major.

In this post I will focus on cars.  You may laugh, dear reader, but the object of my car lust is

my new favorite car on the Continent

this: the Dacia Logan, pictured here.  Not sleek, not overly powerful, and far from expensive, the Dacia Logan nevertheless has something impossible to find in cars made for the American market: seven seats fit into the space of a traditional station wagon.  Readers are probably familiar with the fact that European cars tend to be considerably smaller than American ones.  As the Dacia Logan and other cars show, European cars don’t give up seat space to do this.  The picture at this link will show you how reasonably-sized it is compared to human beings.  Another car that does this in Europe is the Ford C-Max.  The Ford C-Max looks more like a mini-mini-van, and some versions are now being sold in the U.S.A., but for some reason those versions are all 5-seaters. 

Factors in the size of European cars include, of course, the expense of gasoline.  Gasoline in Hungary costs about 400 forints per liter.  A good price I’ve seen recently was 391 forints for a liter.  Translating this to dollars and gallons would give a price of $6.56 per gallon.  Compare this to a current price in Oshkosh of $3.83 per gallon according to wisconsingasprices.com and it becomes obvious that small cars, with better mileage per gallon, are a bigger priority in Hungary.  Another common reason given for the size of cars in Europe is that older cities, with small streets, encourage small cars because driving space and parking space is simply smaller than in the mostly newer cities with wider streets in the U.S.A.  Finally, I would add, Europeans are just used to living in smaller spaces than Americans are, and also spending less time in their cars.  At any rate, my attention to the Dacia Logan has been intensified by the fact that, with a growing family, my car at home might not fit us all anymore, and seven or eight seats would be really nice.  If only I did not have to give up so much mileage per gallon to gain those extra seats in the U.SA.  In Europe, I would have many options.  The Dacia Logan, according to a certain popular website ranges from thirty-one to fifty-two miles per gallon, depending on

my new favorite car, states-side

the engine.  Back home, I can think of just two options that combine many seats with high mileage per gallon: the Mazda 5 and the new Ford Transit Wagon.  Neither of these are as small as the Dacia Logan, but one could see them fitting in on the streets of Pécs.  In fact, the Mazda 5 is a pretty popular car here. 

P.S.: I am not trying to argue that everything in Pécs is better than everything in Oshkosh.  When I return, I plan to write a little bit about things I’ve missed in Oshkosh.  I do wish, though, that I could bring a car with me. 

Ode to a Countryside Restaurant near Pécs

Dear Readers,

Forgive my vanity, but in lieu of a normal post, I will put up here a recording of my most recently written song: an ode to a countryside restaurant near Pécs called Tenkes Csarda.  A csarda is a restaurant in a rural setting in this region.  You can see them in Hungary, Croatia, and Serbia, as I've noticed.  The settings are almost always really beautiful and the food, at this one, is just delicious.  I've been here twice now, the first time as a guest of the Fulbright Commission, and I can't say enough about how nice it is.  I hope the song makes this clear.  

The photos are of the restaurant itself, and the views and meals mentioned in the song.  The paprikas photo comes from http://www.falusiturizmus.hu/hu_HU/gastro/50/tenkes-csarda.html.

The photos of the restaurant and the view of the vineyards across the road come from http://www.panoramio.com/photo/29846741 and http://www.panoramio.com/photo/29846674.  The meat in a green cream sauce comes from http://szindbad.blog.hu/2009/08/24/szunyog_alias_sziget_csarda_harkany.

Finally, I thank my friend Laza for taking time to whip off this recording at his home studio.  It was a lot of fun, and only the second time I've been recorded playing music apart from some teenage tape recorder sessions.

So, What Do Hungarian Students Think of Americans, in general?

     I've just come from my last class meeting at the University of Pécs, dear reader.  No, please, I don't need your handkerchief to dry my tears just yet.  I'm not leaving Hungary for a while.  In fact, I must give my final exam in one course three or four times yet, in an interesting contrast with American-style final exams.  (If students fail the first or second time, they get another chance!)  We had a fun final session, including a mock final exam, and a chance to discuss students' final questions for me.  Last week, I asked them to write down a question, anonymously, about any aspect of the United States, past or present, that interested them.  The results were quite interesting.
     Many students were curious what I, or other Americans, think about Hungary, its educational system, its politics, its standard of living, or its general atmosphere.  I mostly referred to students to this blog, though we talked a bit about the interesting distinctions between university systems, how they are set up in the U.S.A., how much they cost (which students found shockingly expensive), and how few classes Americans usually take at once (which students seemed to like the idea of.)  Of course, I was also curious what these young Hungarians think about the U.S.A., and many of their thoughts came out in their questions. 
     There were some questions about the past of the U.S.A. still, and they showed a great deal of intellectual curiosity, and a particular preoccupation with the post-World War II world.  "What do we call history?" was one big question.  Questions about favorite presidents and the development of education were also juicy ones.  But the Cold War dominated the list.  "Why did the Americans let the Russians occupy states after World War II?"  "Was the Communist threat the only reason for the Vietnam War?"  "Who murdered John F. Kennedy?  Was it the FBI or the CIA?"  Another question asked what the role of the CIA and FBI has been over the years.  There was lots of interest in these, especially the CIA.
     Most questions, though, were about the U.S.A. in the present.  These questions focused on Native Americans, African Americans, immigrants and immigration policy, religion in America, and many on Barack Obama.  Do I like him? Do Americans accept him, as an African-American President?  What do Americans think of his role struggling with recession?  In general, there was great interest in knowing what the general stories of Native Americans and African Americans are now.  A series of questions focused on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, U.S. foreign policy in general, and the significance of Osama Bin Laden or, more recently, the terrorist attack in Boston.  In another course, a student was quite curious about the situation of Muslims in the U.S.A. Another big question was: "Does the 'American Dream' still exist?"
     One particularly intriguing question, I thought, was this: "Why do so many stereotypes exist against the U.S.A.?"  I told my class that I had no idea why so many stereotypes existed against the U.S.A., and maybe they could tell me why, or at least what the stereotypes were.  In fact, another question had betrayed one stereotype: it asked "Why do Americans think they are the 'ruler of the world?'"  I asked what other

Totally inaccurate!  I have a black cowboy hat!

stereotypes were, and tensed myself for the answers I thought might come.  And, with a mixture of apology, embarrassment, and laughter, they came: "Stupid," "Fat," "Immoral," "Gun-toting," and "Happy."  In short, the rather glib picture of a stereotypical American which we painted was of an overweight and violent gun-slinger, who manages somehow to engage in sexual escapades in his spare time, and is so lacking in the area of intelligence, that he cannot help but be happy, not really knowing any better. 
     Hmmmmm.
     I like to think we exorcised that image just by naming it.  Or perhaps students were so impressed by my erudition, pacific nature, and dashing good looks, that the stereotype was silently and yet decisively laid to rest. 
     At any rate, it was rather a fun conversation.  Students acknowledged how many of these stereotypes came from Hollywood, and yet there were other sources for these stereotypes as well.  In general, I think students of course grasp the complexity of the United States.  They seem to appreciate most of the history I chose to focus on, but were particularly interested in African-American and Native American experience, as well as post-World War II foreign policy, especially including the Central Intelligence Agency.  Many seem interested in studying or working for a bit in the U.S.A., but are a bit cautious, wondering what Americans' reactions would be to Hungarians as immigrants or visiting students.  I think they are quite welcome.  They are a fun bunch, with lots of interesting ideas and questions, and it has been quite insightful to try to get in their heads this semester, to try to know what in American history they care about, or wonder about.

Tenure and Promotion, a la Hongroise

What does a DSc wear? I'll investigate!

   

Like most systems of academic rank around the world, the Hungarian system is rather baffling to the outsider.  Let's see if I can sort this out.  The equivalent to an American assistant professor is an adjunktus.  Adjunktus is a false cognate with the American adjunct faculty, and I don't think I've met the equivalent of an adjunct instructor here in Hungary: a perfectly well-qualified university teacher who is, for dubious reasons, not actually part of the faculty.  The equivalent to an associate professor is an egyetemi docens.  Both of the foregoing ranks must have a Ph.D.  But here's where it gets tricky.  It is possible for Hungarian academics to get something called a habilitation, which seems like a cross between tenure and a second Ph.D.  The Hungarian equivalents to full professor (egyetemi tanár) seem to generally have both a habilitation and a Ph.D.  More rarely, one can also be honored by a DSc, or Doctor of Science, which is awarded only by the National Academy.  Thus, it seems, that Hungarians can attain a couple of distinctions which don't really exist in the United States.  (I must disclose that while I've learned this a bit from my colleagues at Pécs, I also consulted a fascinating Wikipedia article, detailing these ranks for many countries: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_academic_ranks#Hungary>.)   
     I had the pleasure of attending the tail end of a habilitation lecture today.  That's right, dear readers, this second Ph.D. comes with a special lecture.  In the case of my colleague, this meant two hours, discussing research he had done since the Ph.D., tying it all together, taking questions about anything and everything he had discussed (questions which came in either Hungarian or English, mind you), and then vacating the room for a few minutes, just like in a dissertation defense, to hear a committee's decision.  The room was packed with colleagues, students, friends, people from (gasp) other departments.  Moreover, I gather that it came with champagne and snacks which I, unfortunately, missed in order to be at my office hours. 
     I have to say: this was pretty cool.  I aspire, dear readers, to be granted tenure in a couple years.  As I understand it, a candidate gathers up evidence of everything she or he has done since starting as an assistant professor, submits multiple copies of this evidence in paper, and then hopes to receive a piece of paper in return, stating his or her official status.  Imagine, though, if in addition to gathering up all of this evidence on paper, one also had to spend a couple of hours discussing it and defending it, describing the connections of article A to monograph B, and providing a picture of your scholarly career to a room full of people.  Oh, and then topping it off with champagne and snacks.  It would be a bit like a dissertation defense, except mid-career.  As I think about the changing face of academia, the rise of online courses, and what I believe are the merits of face-to-face teaching, I wonder if we American faculty could use more face-to-face interaction on our scholarship.  Of course we have conference presentations, which are great.  Rarely, though, do these allow us to reflect with friends and colleagues on our careers altogether.  What do you think?  Wouldn't that be nice?