Media outlet: Klub Rádió
Program: “Hetes Stúdió”
Date: June 11, 2011
Interviewer: Julia Varadi
Radio lead:
Central European University, CEU, the institution that regards the concept of open society and the values of democracy as its most important guiding principles, is 20 years old. According to a recent ranking, the CEU Department of Philosophy has the only world-class program in humanities in Hungary. You are listening to the interview by Julia Varadi.
Julia Varadi
When an organization has such a remarkable birthday as CEU is celebrating now, its 20th anniversary, it is time I believe to look back and reflect on whether it has reached its goals or not. What was its main goal when it was founded? I ask Katalin Farkas, Provost/Academic Pro-Rector of CEU.
Katalin Farkas
It was founded by George Soros in 1991, and the underlying idea was to educate leaders of the cultural and political life in Central and Eastern Europe after the fall of the socialist-communist regime; to provide them with education which is in accordance with the highest standards of international social sciences and humanities.
Julia Varadi
It also had an important role in helping to organize an open society in this country, for which a serious intellectual basis was needed—to which the ingredients could be attained in higher education.
Katalin Farkas
This was the original idea and it hasn’t changed, it is still part of the mission of the university. We still defend the values of open society and we are trying to provide an education which would help the next generation to participate in this mission. To a large extent, the idea had been realized, but it also become clear during the 20 years that this is not so simple.
Julia Varadi
It is probably because George Soros himself must have been more naive than we all should have been, all of us. In a kind of great euphoria, we all imagined that it was the time when society would really open up and some kind of beautiful capitalism would arrive in which everything would work completely differently and in a much better way. Well, this did not happen but I don’t think it is the fault of CEU solely.
Katalin Farkas
I don’t know if we were naive or we simply did not see what was going to happen. At the time most people who shared this mission, who embraced these values, really thought that the biggest obstacle in the way of creating an open society were repressive systems, repressive states. But later it turned out that values of open society, such as respecting otherness, a critical approach to all types of ideologies, the idea that we have to keep making the change, criticizing and questioning social and political practices, has other obstacles, not only the repressive, communist-socialist states, but non-governmental organizations. That is, there are ideologies and social groups which are not funded and led by the state, and still represent closed ideologies. This was one of the new, interesting developments. The other was that it is not necessarily communist-socialist governmental systems that are trying to repress otherness and critical approach.
Julia Varadi
Still, a lot has happened during the last 20 years due to Central European University. Many people graduated from this institution who work in leading positions today all around the world and who make decisions in essential issues. However, for those who might not be familiar with CEU, we should describe the institution briefly.
Katalin Farkas
This is a quite unique university in several respects, partly because it is very small. We have 15 departments mainly in social sciences and humanities.
Julia Varadi
Small in comparison to what?
Katalin Farkas
In comparison to all other Hungarian universities. At present, we have 1,600 students and around 300 professors. Half of them work full-time and the other half are visiting faculty. We do not have undergraduate programs, only master and doctoral programs. Furthermore, it is a private university, so we are not supported by the state, but solely by private income and funds. It is also a special feature of the university that, as I mentioned, it was established to foster an important social mission and we want to continue this mission. It is also quite unique because it is an international university. On the one hand, it functions as an institution of higher education which is recognized both in Hungary and in the United States; on the other hand, both students and professors come from all around the world. There isn’t a dominant majority among students; Hungarians are the biggest group with 18 percent.
Julia Varadi
Is this intentional or just a coincidence?
Katalin Farkas
It is a coincidence. The entrance examination is completely based on the assessment of earlier academic results.
Julia Varadi
And it is a very strict entrance examination.
Katalin Farkas
Yes, there is a very strict entrance examination.
Julia Varadi
As far as I know, many people don’t pass the CEU entrance exam. Even those excellent students who graduated summa cum laude from Hungarian universities don’t necessarily get into CEU. What are the entrance requirements exactly, what does a student have to know really well if he or she wants to study at CEU?
Katalin Farkas
There aren’t any special requirements; the students are only required to have high-quality knowledge in their areas. For example, I teach at the Department of Philosophy. Students there have to be good at philosophy. There are applicants from Hungarian universities regularly, and we accept them if they meet the standards.
Julia Varadi
You mentioned the Department of Philosophy. You were also the head of that department and you had to give that up for a while because of your job as Provost/Academic Pro-Rector. I only mention this because I have read recently that the CEU Department of Philosophy had been evaluated in an international ranking as the best Hungarian philosophy department.
Katalin Farkas
Yes, it had, in an international evaluation. There is a ranking that ranks all universities, university faculties, and programs in the world. And among programs in the humanities only the CEU Department of Philosophy got into this listing from Hungary.
Julia Varadi
This is great and it also signals that the international recognition of CEU is rather significant. At the same time, we can hear a lot about the challenges Central European University and all other Hungarian universities have to face. It is well known that there were many new decisions in the recent year, and there are others in progress, which are directed at the complete reorganization of higher education in Hungary. As far as I know—correct me if I am mistaken—this has a certain effect on how an internationally recognized private university can function in Hungary.
Katalin Farkas
It partly has an effect, since as I noted earlier, we have a double identity. Our programs and the whole university are recognized in the United States, and at the same time we function as an institution of higher education recognized in Hungary. The new act on higher education is under development at the moment. A few answers have already been published, but to tell the truth, we cannot know anything about it yet.
Julia Varadi
So the authorities would not give you a clear answer even if you asked them about it?
Katalin Farkas
There was a first draft which was followed by an extensive debate. Then a second draft was published and quite frankly, we don’t know yet about the exact content of this higher education act. But it will affect CEU to some extent.
Julia Varadi
What could be an obstacle or hindrance that CEU might have to face and will it be able to handle it? Is there anything to be afraid of?
Katalin Farkas
We aren’t afraid of anything. The only problem CEU might have is that numerically speaking, we are very small.
Julia Varadi
Is it not true that all universities will have to be accredited each year. Or the accreditation process: It might become stricter in Hungary or it might be taken away. Such things can be heard in connection with CEU as well.
Katalin Farkas
There are private institutions of higher education that receive funding from the state and there was a proposal in the first plans to reduce this funding radically. However, this does not affect CEU, since we do not get any funding from the state.
Julia Varadi
Is CEU affected by any decisions concerning accreditation?
Katalin Farkas
Of course it is affected. But for the moment we don’t know about a decision that could be a problem—except if, for example, a university had to have at least 10,000 students to qualify as a university. We wouldn’t be able to fulfill this.
Julia Varadi
And what would happen then?
Katalin Farkas
I don’t know.
Julia Varadi
Let’s speak in a straightforward manner. It is well known that George Soros is a quite unwanted person in Hungary. That is, he faced serious criticism for the things he established back then, together with his personality. This is why I’m asking if there is any danger in CEU being connected to the name of George Soros and as such, can be the target of criticism. I’ve had a lot of bad experiences recently.
Katalin Farkas
We do not feel any malignancy or hostility towards CEU. On the basis of the feedback we’ve received so far, we feel that CEU is present as a resource and an addition to Hungarian scientific life.
Julia Varadi
What is the role of CEU in Hungarian public education?
Katalin Farkas
I believe that the presence of CEU is significant for Hungarian scientific life. Let me provide a simple example of why it is good that CEU is here. We have a very good library, with the third of its visitors being external. If somebody is a university student in Hungary and brings a recommendation from his or her professor, he or she can use the library for free. For example, I know philosophy well. Among the 35 philosophy journals we subscribe to there are 28 which can only be found at CEU in Hungary—including all university libraries, the libraries of the academy, and all other libraries. The ratio is similar in case of other departments—the journals and books we subscribe to constitute a collection which is exceptional in Hungary in these disciplines—and anyone can use them for free.
Julia Varadi
How important is publication for CEU students?
Katalin Farkas
It is a very important contribution. For example, one of the reasons why the Department of Philosophy was ranked so high is that one of the criteria the ranking measured was the amount of citations to the work of the professors. As far as I know, this was also the reason why the Department of Legal Studies had been ranked highly in a recent survey—because the work of the professors is so often cited.
Julia Varadi
How well is the university known in Europe and in the world?
Katalin Farkas
Eleven times more students apply than we can accept. Most of our students—in fact more than half of them—are from Central and Eastern Europe. In this respect the situation is very similar to the one 20 years ago. Lots of people come here for whom this is the first opportunity to receive a Western-type, high-level, internationally recognized graduate education. This is why they are very enthusiastic and now there are over 9,000 CEU alumni who are all around the world, mostly in Central and Eastern Europe. They work in NGOs; human rights organizations; and governments, including as ambassadors, ministers, and members of the European Parliament. They represent the values of CEU the best way. Having a degree from CEU is a great advantage in these areas.
Julia Varadi
What kind of relation does CEU have with Hungarian universities?
Katalin Farkas
It varies a little by departments but many have good relations with Hungarian universities.
Julia Varadi
How does this manifest itself?
Katalin Farkas
For example, students from different Hungarian universities regularly come to visit our courses at the Department of Philosophy. That is, anyone can come and sit in our courses.
Julia Varadi
Is it the same elsewhere, as well? Can external students visit classes without further ado at Hungarian universities too?
Katalin Farkas
I think it is probably possible to sit in to classes, but we do not give credits or a certificate for it. However, with the permission of the professor, it is possible to visit the classes any time. We also have joint research projects, some with international and some with Hungarian partners. We have many Hungarian partners in this.
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