AMERICAN HUNGARIAN COLLEGIUM

American Hungarian Collegium – why we chose this name?

Let us take a few moments to ponder this question. A collegium established for Americans Hungarians? Yes, but it is more than that. Collegium is a Latin word and refers to what in English we commonly call “dormitory.” The word collegium dates back to the Middle Ages when itinerant/travelling students would visit colleges in far away cities to learn the principal sciences. Septem Artes Liberales, i.e. the “Seven Liberal Arts,” which included grammar, logic, rhetoric, arithmetic, geometry, astrology and music.

Aside from providing housing for students, the collegium was also a setting for community life, where the students would grow and learn together, form life long friendships and experiences. At the same time, the collegium was also an intellectual workshop where they would study, work, research and create together, often times on outstanding levels. An example of this type of environment would be the Eotvos Collegium, which gave us many of the 20th Century’s prominent Hungarian intellectuals. During the 1920 and 30s, collegium was used in a similar sense when applied to the Szegedi Fiatalok Muveszeti Collegiuma where famous poets, authors, sociologists and artists argued/discussed the significant issues of the times and published important works. A network of Hungarian cultural institutes, the Collegium Hungaricum, was established in several European capitals (Paris, Vienna, Berlin and Rome) with the mission of spreading Hungarian culture and providing room/board to scholarship winners.

The American Hungarian Collegium would like to combine these traditions and offer them to the American Hungarian youth. Although there are several American Hungarian universities operating on various levels in North America, as well as a few superior Hungarian Houses, these young adults do not have the opportunity in America to experience and learn about Hungarian culture at a higher level - to study and practice the language, culture, art and sciences, and become acquainted with the life of Hungarian society. It is with this goal that we have established the American Hungarian Collegium, where Hungarian culture can be studied and taught in a community environment. At the same time, we would also like to become the intellectual workshop and meeting place for American Hungarians.