A thematic day of the orientation week of the Budapest Fellowship Program (BFP) was held last week at the Ludovika Campus, co-organized by The Hungary Initiatives Foundation (HIF) and the Mathias Corvinus Collegium (MCC). Ludovika - University of Public Service is a key partner of the program.
The main mission of the BFP is to build a network of American researchers and professionals whose members understand the strategic importance of Central Europe and will build a bridge between the region and the United States in the future. In the program, Arizona-based global security expert Ryan Brockhaus will conduct research on U.S.-Hungarian military cooperation at Ludovika, and Virginia-Texas historian Stephen Sholl will live on the Ludovika Campus. On the thematic day, Klára Breuer welcomed the participants, including Anna Smith-Lacey, Executive Director of HIF, and Zeöld Zsombor, Program Director of the Budapest Fellowship Program, in addition to the scholarship holders. The international director of Ludovika gave a brief presentation on the history of the institution, its role in Hungarian higher education and public life, and the infrastructural developments that have taken place in recent years. Participants were then able to listen to several lectures on Hungarian history, with special reference to the events of the early twentieth century and Hungarian-American relations. The visiting scholars also took part in a campus tour to learn about Ludovika's historical traditions as well as its main facilities. As mentioned during the event, the American guests will also learn Hungarian during their stay in Hungary and they hope that they will be able to practice their acquired knowledge in the Ludovika community.