Ethnic minorities in Europe: a presentation through literature and music
We are excited to announce that the Hungarian Cultural Association of Phoenix received a grant from Arizona Humanities towards this project! We can’t wait to partner with GCU’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences and bring you this wonderful program on campus.
The topic of ‘ethnic minorities in Europe’ will be introduced by Dr. Boroka Prohaszka Rad, via her personal experiences as an ethnic Hungarian from Transylvania (Romania), as well as her professional experiences from working as the assistant of Mr. László Tőkés, then vice-president of the European Parliament, who got elected from Romania as a representative of the ethnic Hungarians there. Dr. Prohaszka Rad is also an associate professor at the Department of Human Sciences of Sapientia, a Hungarian university in Romania. She will also present the topic from the aspect of literature (her field of expertise), through Hungarian poetry written during the course of centuries in Transylvania.
To make the presentation more accessible to the public, the focus will be on the poetry of Sandor Petofi (1823-1849), the internationally most renowned Hungarian poet until today. The other two presenters, Dora Danics (one of the most popular Hungarian songstresses nowadays) and Robert Sinha (a Hungarian-Indian guitarist graduated from the Dutch Royal Conservatory) will perform songs they composed on the English translations of Petofi’s poetry.
Petofi was not only a great poet, but also a true democrat, a freedom-fighter, the icon of the 1848-49 Hungarian Revolution against the Austrian Habsburg Empire. He died as a soldier at Segesvar (Transylvania), during one of the battles of the revolution.
The presentation will also show how the idea of liberty traveled between America and Europe: Age of Enlightenment (18th century – Europe), Declaration of Independence (1776 – America), French Revolution – Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (1789 – Europe). And as a direct consequence of the latter, the Central European revolutions of the first half of the 19th century against feudalism.
Amongst these, the 1848-49 Hungarian Revolution was probably the most important, thanks to the significance the Habsburg Empire (and Hungary) had in the first half of the 19th century. In humanities and arts this had a result: Petofi’s poetry (who was the iconic poet of the revolution) immediately got translated to many languages, and became renowned in the whole 19th century world. For example the English translations used by Dora Danics and Robert Sinha were published in New York, 1881.
David Dean, professor at the College of Humanities and Social Sciences will also discuss the idea of liberty from an American perspective and will lead the conversation following the presentations together with Dr. Reka Vicsacsan, instructor of Communications and President of the Hungarian Cultural Association of Phoenix, who will focus on the experiences of ethnic minorities in the U.S., with an emphasis on Hungarian communities in America.
Please save the date for this amazing experience, November 14, and scan the QR code/revisit our website for more details. If you subscribe to our Remind, you will get notifications on the time and location of the event as we finalize the details.
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Arizona Humanities
Mission: Arizona Humanities builds a just and civil society by creating opportunities to explore our shared human experiences through discussion, learning and reflection.
Arizona Humanities is a statewide 501(c)3 nonprofit organization and the Arizona affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Since 1973, Arizona Humanities has supported public programs that promote understand of the human experience with cultural, educational, and nonprofit organizations across Arizona.
Hungarian Cultural Association of Phoenix
The Hungarian Cultural Association of Phoenix is a 501(c)(3) tax exempt, non-profit organization founded in May 2017.
Mission: Our goal is to preserve the Hungarian heritage and to create better understanding and appreciation of the Hungarian culture in our community. We serve and welcome people of Hungarian descent and those with an interest in Hungarian culture with educational and social events.
Grand Canyon University
Since GCU’s founding in 1949, the university has been a faith-based institution. It is the university’s position that academic quality and integrity are the primary purposes of the university as evidenced in the mission statement:
GCU is a missional, Christ-centered university with an innovative and adaptive spirit that addresses the world’s deep needs by cultivating compassionate Christian community, empowering free and virtuous action, and serving others in ways that promote human flourishing.
Through academic excellence, the university equips students with knowledge of the Christian worldview, instilling in them a sense of purpose and vocational calling that enables them to be innovative thinkers, effective communicators, global contributors and transformative leaders who change their communities by placing the interests of others before their own.
Hungarian Cultural Association of Phoenix 
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