Canadian Studies Centre
Canadian Studies have been pursued at Debrecen University since 1984. The Canadian Studies Centre was established in 1986, and until the end 2020, the director has been Dr. Judit Molnár, who is currently adviser. Since January 1, 2021, Dr. Balázs Venkovits is the director of the the Centre. Dr. Péter Szaffkó, Dr. Gabriella Espák, Dr. Zsuzsanna Lénárt-Muszka, Dr. Dorottya Mózes and Dr. Zoltán Simon have been involved in Canadian studies. Teaching activities are manifold focusing on the country’s literature in all genres, its history hand in hand with the different aspects of its multicultural existence. Courses (taught retrospectively)
- Strange New Worlds: Hungarian Immigration to North America (Venkovits
Balázs) - Regional and Multicultural Studies: Introduction to Canada and Australia
(T. Espák Gabriella, Venkovits Balázs, Szaffkó Péter, Nándori Rita) - Narrating the Homeland in Canadian Multicultural Fiction Writing (Dr. Judit Molnár)
- Canadian Multiculturalism in Theory and Practice (Dr. Gabriella Espák)
- Discussions of Canadian History (Dr. Gabriella Espák)
- Introduction to Canadian Studies (Dr. Judit Molnár)
- Landmarks in Canadian Literature I., II. (Dr. Judit Molnár)
- Regionalism and Multiculturalism in Canada (Dr. Judit Molnár)
- Theme and Image in Canadian Poetry (Dr. Judit Molnár)
- Is There a Canadian Culture? (Dr. Judit Molnár)
- Search for Canadian Identity in Canadian Literature (Dr. Judit Molnár, PhD course)
- Other Solitudes: Ethnic Writing in Canada (Dr. Judit Molnár, PhD course)
- Introduction to Contemporary English-Canadian Drama and Theatre (Dr. Péter Szaffkó)
- A History of English-Canadian Drama (Dr. Péter Szaffkó)
- Margaret Atwood's Fiction and Poetry (Dr. Edina Szalay)
- Canadian Women's Literature (Dr. Edina Szalay)
Each academic year around 100 students take courses with Canadian content. For those who specialize in North American studies Introduction to Canadian Studies is mandatory. Courses are offered for students in their 3rd and 4th specialization years and for students enrolled in in the North American Studies MA but if space allows other students are welcome as well. Courses are available at the PhD level, too. So far two doctoral theses have been successfully defended, and a third one is on its way of completion. Around 100 theses have been completed on the M.A. level, and many are in the works.
Guests at the Centre
We have received many scholars and important writers from Canada among them:
- Myrna Kostash (writer; Edmonton),
- Antonio D'Alfonso (writer, publisher; Toronto),
- Rudie Wiebe (writer; Edmonton),
- Gladys Symons (sociologist; Montreal),
- David Solway (writer, poet, literary critic; Montreal),
- Dennis Cooley (poet, literary critic; Edmonton),
- David Arnason (writer; Edmonton),
- Douglas Barbour (poet, literary critic; Edmonton),
- Patricia Keeney (poet; Toronto),
- Roch Carrier (playwright; Montreal),
- David Staines (literary critic; Ottawa),
- Endre Farkas (poet; Montreal),
- Robert Adolph (literary critic; Toronto),
- Michael Devine (theatre director; Acadia),
- Don Rubin (literary critic; Toronto),
- Morris Panych (playwright; Vancouver),
- Kristen Thompson (playwright, actor Toronto-based),
- Robert Fothergill (theatre expert; Toronto),
- Sue Balint (playwright from the Mid-west),
- Sharon Pollock (playwright; Calgary),
- Pablo Urbányi (fiction writer; Ottawa),
- Michael Cook (playwright, Newfoundland),
- Paul Thompson (director, Toronto),
- Booth Savage (actor, Toronto),
- Janet-Lane Greene (director, actress, Toronto),
- Leonard W. Conolly (theatre historian, Trent University, Peterborough, ON).
Partnerships We have built up good connections with Canadian universities among them University of Ottawa, York University, McGill University, University of Alberta. We have been active in the
Central European Association for Canadian Studies and contributed to its journal: Central European Journal of Canadian Studies. Dr. Judit Molnár was on the Executive Council of the Association representing Hungary.
Conferences We organized three conferences: Canada in the European Mind I. (2002), Canada in the European Mind II.(2004) Imaginative Spaces: Canada in the European Mind - Europe in the Canadian Mind III.( The last one was a joint conference with the Central European Association for Canadian Studies). They were all well-attended with participants from different parts of the world. We are planning to continue with this tradition on a biennial basis.
On March 3, 2017, the Centre has organized a symposium to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Canadian Confederation, which was opened by the ambassador of Canada to Hungary, Isabelle Poupart. The participants could hear lectures from various fields of scholarship: law, literature, history, art history. The short movie about the event can be accessed here.
Research Canadianists have published in their respective fields of interests both in national and international academic journals and have participated in a large number of conferences. Their scholarly works appeared both in English and Hungarian including translations of literary works.
Canadian Journals Available at the Centre
- Canadian Literature
- Books in Canada
- Canadian Theatre Review
- Journal of Canadian Studies
- International Journal of Canadian Studies
Library support
- We have received book grants from the International Council for Canadian Studies in Ottawa and also from the Canadian Embassy in Budapest which have certainly enhanced our activities to a large extent.