CV
Personal data:
Name: Balázs Venkovits
Date of Birth: September 13, 1983.
Place of Birth: Miskolc, Hungary
Phone Number: +36 52 512 900 / ext. 22152
E-mail: venkovits.balazs@arts.unideb.hu
Education, scholarly titles:
2021: habilitation (dr. habil title)
2014: Ph.D. degree
2007-2010: University of Debrecen, Hungary - American Studies Doctoral Program
Research topic: Perceptions of Mexico in 19th-century Hungarian travel writing; images of
the Americas in travel literature
2002-2007: MA in English (with distinction)
University of Debrecen, Institute of English and American Studies
Concentration: American track, Business English specialization
MA thesis: United States-Hungarian Relations Since 1989
2006 Fall semester: University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, USA
Languages
Hungarian: native
English: advanced
French: basic
Spanish: beginner
Other skills, trainings
2014: Scholarly communication and science management training
2006: certificate in translation and interpretation
Teaching experience:
2022- : associate professor at the North American Department, University of Debrecen
2017- 2022: assistant professor at the North American Department, University of Debrecen
2011-2017: instructor at the North American Department, University of Debrecen
2009-2011: part-time instructor at North American Department, University of Debrecen
2009- : ESL and Business English teacher at the Center for Agricultural and Applied
Economic Sciences, University of Debrecen
2009- : Debrecen Summer School (Hungarian language and culture for international students)
2007-2009: ESL teacher at Diósgyőri Gimnázium, Miskolc, Hungary
2005: English teaching assistant in Leichlingen, Germany
Courses taught:
English Studies BA
Lectures:
- Regional and Multicultural Studies: Introduction to Canada and Australia (BTAN3312OMA)
- Introduction to the World of Business I. (Business English Specialization, BTAN25016BA, BTANL25011BA)
Seminars:
- American Civilization (BTAN13000BA-K2, BTAN2300OMA)
- American Culture and Institutions (BTAN23005BA, BTAN3303OMA)
- Skills Development: Speaking and Listening (BTAN1001OMA, BTAN10002BA)
- Translation Practice (BTAN35007BA-K3)
- Translation (BTAN10005BA, BTAN1004OMA)
- Vocabulary Building (BTAN1100OMA, BTAN11001BA)
- United States History (BTAN28009BA, BTAN3304OMA)
- Invisible Luggage: Hungarian Travel Writers in Mexico and the US (AN(L)33006BA 10)
- More Than Just a Game: Sports and American Culture (AN33010BA 01)
- Debating America (BTAN33010)
- Szakmai Gyakorlat I és II (Translation specialization, BTAN20114BA, BTAN20115BA)
- Introduction to Hungarian Culture 1 és 2. (TTIS_HUNG_CULT1, TTIS_HUNG_CULT2)
- Introduction to Hungarian Language and Culture (BTAN10007BA)
Master's program (American Studies, Teacher-training, Translation)
Strange New Wor(l)ds: Hungarian Immigration to North America (AN3010MA)
Teaching Contemporary American Literature and Culture (BTANL1050MA)
Teaching Contemporary American Culture and Society (BTAN1130MA)
Fordítástechnika (magyar-angol) 1 és 2. (BTFTAN0113, BTFTAN_0114)
PhD:
- Academic Self-Efficacy (BTP2BA_T_9)
- Presentation skills (jointly-taught course)
- Presentation Skills (UD, Faculty of Medicine)
Other lectures:
Migráció - tegnap és ma (BTEMITK012)
Teaching at other institutions:
- English language, ESL, British and American civilization (high school)
Teaching abroad
July 2021: Heidelberg University, Pädagogische Hochschule Heidelberg Institut für Fremdsprachen, Abteilung Englisch (Erasmus+)
2016- Sapientia University, Csíkszereda [Romania]– Translation Skills seminar
2015. Nottingham Trent University, College of Arts and Science, School of Arts &
Humanities, Centre for Travel Writing Studies – Nottingham, UK (Erasmus+)
2005. ESL for children with special needs (Germany)
Institute and other professional tasks:
- 2024- : Director of Center for International Migration Studies, UD
- 2022- : Director of the Institute of English and American Studies
- 2021 - : Director of Canadian Studies Center, UD
- 2019-2022: acting director of IEAS
- 2019 - member of Faculty Council of UD, Faculty of Humanities
- 2018 - deputy director of IEAS for finances, acting director
- production editor of Hungarian Journal of English and American Studies
- president of the institute's grants committee
- member of the EYE committee (test maker)
- organization of DEbate (English-language debate competition for high school students)
Other work experience:
2005- : translator, interpreter
Scholarships, Grants, Awards
2024:Klebelsberg Kuno Scholarship
2022-2026: OTKA grant. Title of project: "In the shadow of the United States: Canada and the transformation of the Hungarian immigration trajectory in the 1920s"
2023: Helena History Press Scholarship
2021: Heidelberg University, Pädagogische Hochschule Heidelberg Institut für Fremdsprachen, Abteilung Englisch (Erasmus+)
2017: "Certificate of apprecation", UD, Faculty of Humanities
2015: Erasmus+ - Nottingham Trent University
2013/14: Ányos Jedlik Fellowship for PhD Candidates (National Excellence Program)
2013: European Society for the Study of English Bursary
2013: John F. Kennedy Research Fellowship. Freie Universität, Berlin, Germany.
2012/13: University of Debrecen Predoctoral Grant
2010-2011: Fulbright Visiting Student Researcher, Texas Christian University
2009: “Junior Instructor-Researcher Prize” by Universitas Foundation
2006: International Student Exchange Program, University of Vermont
2005: Socrates/Comenius language-teaching assistant (Germany)
2004: AEGEE Summer University (Italy)
Memberships, Positions in Professional Organizations
Member of the Public Body of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences
Canadian Studies Center, University of Debrecen (director)
Hungarian Association for American Studies (member, treasurer (2013-2017))
Center for International Migration Studies (founding member, director 2024- )
American Hungarian Educators Association (member)
Hungarian/European Society for the Study of English (member)
Heidelberg Spring Academy Network (member)
Hungarian Network for Canadian Studies (member)
Central European Association for Canadian Studies (member)
Ongoing international collaborations
"Mapping Hungarian Montreal" - COHDS Concordia University (Montreal), Consulate General of Hungary in Montreal
"János Xantus in Borneo" - Sunway University, Malaysia
Memoranda of Agreements established with: University of Havana (Cuba), Southern Utah University (USA), Sunway University (Malaysia)
Conference organization
“Looking Back and Ahead: Exploring Uniquely Canadian Cultural Narratives”, Debrecen University Symposium; October 24-25, 2024, University of Debrecen.
“Johnson-Reed 100 Years Later”: Critical Reflections on the Global Legacy of US Immigration Quotas, 1924-2024; August 22-23, 2024, University of Debrecen.
(Hi)stories of Migration - Then and Now; October 14, 2022, University of Debrecen.
Conference presentations
May 2024: Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences, HSAC Annual Conference (McGill University, Canada)
Title of presentation: "100 Years of Immigration to Canada: Exploring and Preserving the Hungarian Heritage"
May 2024: V Conferencia de Estudios Sobre Estados Unidos Y Procesos Hemisféricos 2024 (University of Havana, Cuba) - online
Title of presentation: "Hungarians on the Way to the United States: Cuba and Hungary in the Aftermath of the US Immigration Quotas"
May 2024: Maple Leaf and Eagle Conference (University of Helsinki)
Title of Presentation: " 100 Years of Illegal Immigration in North America: Restrictions, Control, and Illegals at the Border"
May 2023: Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences (University of York, Toronto, Canada)
Title of presentation: "Re-Imagining Canada and Hungarians in Canada in the 1920s: Shifting Migration Trajectories, Perceptions, and Labels of Illegality"
April 2023: American Hungarian Educators Association, 47th Annual Conference (Quinnipiac University, Connecticut, USA)
Title of presentation: "Restricted, Undesirable, Illegal: The Inter-American Impact of Quotas on Hungarian Immigration to North America"
November 2022: International Conference on Language, Education and Technology (online, invited keynote speaker), Universitas Muhammadiyah Bangka Belitung, Indonesia
Title of presentation: "Debate in the Curriculum and as a Methodological Framework: An Ancient Tool with Innovative Practice for Skills Development"
October 2022: Central European Association for Canadian Studies Conference, Budapest
Title of presentation: "The Canadian Landscape and Hungarian Immigration"
October 2022: (Hi)stories of Migration, University of Debrecen, International Migration Studies Center
Title of presentation: "From Undesired to Illegal: Hungarian Immigrants Crossing the US-Canada Border in the 1920s"
May 2022: Maple Leaf and Eagle conference, University of Helsinki
Title of presentation: "Immigration to North America in the 1920s: Changing Perceptions of Canada in Hungary”
April 2022: Puskás Julianna emlékkonferencia, DAB Székház, Debrecen
Title of presentation: "Puskás Julianna nyomában, Kanadában: a magyarországi Kanada-kép hatása a magyar kivándorlásra”
April 2022:: American Hungarian Educators Association, 46th Annual Conference (online)
Title of presentation: "Reconstructing a Trasatlantic Business Venture: Pataky Aladár’s So Far Unknown Manuscript from 1927”
January 2022: HUSSE conference, Budapest (online)
Title of presentation: "Immigration and Images of Canada in Hungary during the 1920s”
June 2021: American Hungarian Educators Association, 45th Annual Conference (online)
Title of presentation: "Immigrant Crossroads: Changes in Hungarian Immigration to North America, 1917-1929.”
May 2021: Hungary: Northern Relations; Hungarian Studies Association of Canada, Annual Conference (online)
Title of presentation: "Going North: Images of Canada in Immigration Booster vs. Anti
Emigration Publications in Hungary”
October 2019 Transatlantic Dreams (Halifax, Kanada)
Title of presentation: "The New Mecca of Immigrants”: Immigration Propaganda and Hungarians in Canada during the 1920s”
May 2019: HAAS conference (Debrecen)
Title of presentation: "Travel Writing and Photography: Pál Rosti in the Americas”
February 2019: Rosti 160 Memorial conference (Budapest)
Title of presentation: "Utazási irodalom és fényrajz: Rosti Pál amerikai utazásai nemzetközi összevetésben”
September 2018: 8th Triennial International Conference of the Central European Association for Canadian Studies (Prága)
Title of presentation: "Hungarian Immigration and Images of Canada in Hungary During the 1920s”
November 2017: Transnational Americas: Home(s), Borders and Transgressions (Szeged)
Title of presentation: "Hungarians and Inter-American Migration: Canada and Mexico as Alternative Destinations During New Immigration”
October 2017: Diplomata írók, író diplomaták / Diplomat Writers, Author Diplomats (Debrecen)
Title of presentation: "Jenő Bánó: From Immigrant to Consul General”
April 2017: Hungary and Latin America: Cultural Ties (Budapest (NKE))
Title of presentation: "Migration and the Image(s) of the Americas: The Effects of Travel Writing in Hungary”
MArch 2017: Symposium on the Occasion of Canada's 150th Anniversary of Confederation (Debrecen)
Title of presentation: "Hungarian immigration to Canada: The 1920s”
January 2017: HUSSE conference (Eger)
Title of presentation: "Travel, Migration, Politics: Canada as Seen by Hungarian Immigrants”
May 2016: HAAS conference (Pécs)
Title of presentation: "Closing the Gates: Mexico and Canada as Alternative Destinations for Transatlantic Immigrants”
November 2015: Menekültek, migránsok, új hazát keresők conference Debrecen)
Title of presentation: "Migráció és propaganda: Magyar utazók és kivándorlók Észak-Amerikában a századfordulón”
January 2015: HUSSE conference (Debrecen)
Title of presentation: "'Perhaps the Greatest Village in Europe: Debrecen in 19th-century English Travel Accounts”
June 2014: American Ethnicity and East European Immigration (Cracow, Poland)
Title of presentation: "Travelers and Emigrants: Questions of Identity in Hungarian Emigrant Accounts on the Americas”
May 2014: HAAS 10 conference (Budapest)
Title of presentation: "The Rise and Demise of Maximilian von Habsburg’s Mexican Empire: Inter-American Repercussions and Transatlantic Links”
July 2013: Central Europe and the English Speaking World (Debrecen)
Title of presentation: "Travelling Transformed My Whole Being:' Hungarian Female Travel Writers in North America"
January 2013: 11th Conference of the Hungarian Society for the Study of English (Budapest)
Title of presentation: "Collector, Travel Writer, Plagiarist: Revisiting the Legacy of János Xántus”
November 2012: Falak és Választóvonalak a Történelemben, Társadalomtudományi conference (Nyíregyháza)
Title of presentation: "Ó- és Újvilág határán: Magyar utazók az Atlanti óceánon”
June 2012: Inheriting the Migration Experience (Paris, France)
Title of presentation: "From Individual Experience to Collective Image: The Effects of Travel Writing on Hungarian Immigration to the United States and Mexico”
May 2012: HAAS conference (Eger)
Title of presentation: "Healing and Remembering: The Role of Sports after 9/11”
March 2011: University of Alabama Graduate Student History Conference on Power and Struggle
Title of presentation: "A Different View of the Americas? Hungarian Travelers in Mexico and the United States”
May 2010: AHEA conference (Szeged)
Title of presentation: "Recollections and Photographs of a Journey in the Americas: Travels of Pál Rosti.”
May 2009: Forms and Evolution of Travel Literature in Different Literary Traditions (Bialowieza, Poland)
Title of presentation: "Images of the North and South: The Americas in Writing and Photos in 19th-century Hungary”
January 2009: HUSSE conference (Pécs)
Title of presentation: "In the Shadow of the United States: The Image of Latin America in Hungarian Travel Literature.”
March 2008: Central Europe and the English-Speaking World (Oradea, Romania)
Title of presentation: "Letters from a Revolutionary: Károly László in North America.”
Other presentations in Hungary and abroad:
December 2023: "Hungarians in Montréal: Past/Present/Future" Montreál, Magyar Főkonzulátus Tudósklub
November 2023: "Szellemek, léghajók és illegális magyar bevándorlók", Science Café, Debrecen
February 27, 2023: „Illegális magyar bevándorlók az amerikai-kanadai határon az 1920-as években” (Hatvani István Szakkollégium)
November 8, 2022 „Hogyan dolgozzunk fel egy ismeretlen kéziratot? Egy útleírás és a benne foglalt transzatlanti üzleti tervek margójára.” (Hatvani István Szakkollégium)
September 15, 2022: „Co-creation in Family-Centered Developmental Care:
Enhancing Communication to Improve Outcomes”, Co-creation and Services of General Interest in the Field of Health and Well-Being, European Economic and Social Committee and the University of Debrecen
April 13, 2021: „Bevándorlásösztönzés és kivándorlásszabályozás:
magyar bevándorlás Kanadába az 1920-as években” (Hatvani István Szakkollégium)
December 13, 2019: Amerikai foci és Coca-Cola mikulás? Év végi ünnepek és szokások Amerikában (DE Szenior Egyetem)
June 22, 2019: „Forradalmárok, utazók, kivándorlók - Magyarok Amerikában", Debreceni Református Kollégium Múzeuma, Múzeumok Éjszakája.
April 2016: „Forradalmárok, kivándorlók, utazók: Így utaztunk Amerikába hajdanán,” Science Café, Debrecen, Libri/Fórum
February 2016: „Több mint csak egy játék: Amerikai sport(és)kultúra”, Nagyerdei Víztorony és Amerikai Kuckó, Debrecen
September 2015: „History, Travel, and Identity: Hungarian Travelogues as Historical Sources on the Americas”, Szegedi Tudományegyetem, meghívott előadó, TDK
April 2015: “Caught Between East and West: Hungarian Travelers in the Americas”
Nottingham Trent University, English Research Seminar
January 2015: “The Most-Watched TV Event in US History: Television, American Football, and the Super Bowl” Amerikai Kuckó, Debrecen
September 2013: „Magyar kivándorlók Mexikóban.” Kutatók Éjszakája, Debrecen.
February 2013: „Magyar kalandok az aztékok földjén, 1849-1910” Plébániai Szabadegyetem, Debrecen.
April 2012: “My Fulbright Experience.” Fulbright Bizottság, Budapest.
October 2011: „A Double Take on Texas.” American Corner, Debrecen.
November 2010: Texas Christian University, History Department, Research Workshop: “A Different View of the Americas: Hungarians Visiting and Writing about the United States and Mexico, 1850-1900.”
March 2009: “Green Hills, Silver Waters and Maple Syrup: The Vermont Experience.” American Corner, Debrecen.
Exhibitions organized:
"Magyarok Kanadában/Hungarians in Canada" - Debreceni Egyetem, Kutatók Éjszakája, 2023. szeptember
„Magyar bevándorlás Kanadába/Hungarian immigration to Canada” – Debreceni Egyetem, Kutatók Éjszakája, 2022. szeptember
„Forradalmárok, utazók, kivándorlók - Magyarok Amerikában", Debreceni Református Kollégium Múzeuma, 2019.