Research

Research

Research
 
The Faculty of Humanities of Eötvös Loránd University is traditionally the most diverse base of humanities-related research in Hungary, and current trends show that it will remain so in the future, too.

The Faculty of Humanities is a centre of researcher excellence that is an important pillar of the research university network currently taking shape in Hungary. The natural depositary of high-quality research is the researcher, who in the case of our faculty is the academic-instructor. Statistics show that the level of qualification of our faculty’s instructors is unparalleled in the Hungarian higher education sector. In 2010, Eötvös Loránd University was awarded the rank of research university with the active participation of the Faculty of Humanities.

Research at the faculty extends to all areas of the humanities.

The prestigious Hungarology programmes constantly receive upgrades thanks to the research of fresh disciplines and, of course, education. The so-called applied cultural studies, sociolinguistics, neurolinguistics, library and information science and other studies pertaining to processing/management, media research, human and cultural management, the research of cultural heritage, translation and interpreting theory, etc. are changing the traditional disciplinary frameworks before our very eyes. .

The classically domestic-oriented field of philology has an important duty to research and integrate into education the various cultures that have lived in the Carpathian Basin over the course of Hungary’s history. Through the continuation of faculty traditions and thanks to European regionalism, this has led to the creation of an increasingly intensive and thriving network of cooperation in the research of the history, linguistics, folklore and literature of the regions beyond Hungary’s borders.

Basic research carried out over the past decades, the valuable international experience and success of our researcher instructors has allowed the faculty to begin teaching regional cultures previously not included in the curriculum, such as Australian, Galician, Indo-Chinese, Irish, Canadian, Catalan, Korean and Ukrainian culture.

The so-called “orchid majors” are a unique part of central European humanities education and are the focus of valuable and domestically and internationally-renowned research centres. The decades-long archaeological excavations carried out in Egypt by the Department of Egyptology draw recognition in international academic forums just as the data gathered through the field work of Mongol Studies researchers or the linguistic-literary-cultural research done by Finno-Ugric Studies experts, which is seen as the preservation of endangered cultural values. The faculty’s language-focused minor programmes play a crucial culture-mediatory role in the dialogue between Hungarian and other cultures.

Excavations carried out at the sites of motorway construction projects have led to the Institute of Archaeological Studies – as the coordinator of archaeological excavations – achieving considerable success in Hungarian, international, academic and lay circles. The outstanding quality of the institute’s excavation methods, the richness of its findings and the method of their exhibition are considered highlights in European archaeology.

The process of Hungary’s accession to the European Union gave a significant boost to the contents and practices taught within the faculty’s translation and interpreting programmes. Today, this is another field that boasts a recognised and respected PhD programme within the Faculty.

The turning point in culture has brought about a significant disciplinary realignment in the humanities. The literary, historical, philosophical and philological research carried out at the Faculty of Humanities comprises the leading research projects in Hungary that apply international research trends. It is no accident that the new approaches to the interpretation of culture in a social context are applied at high levels at the Faculty’s Institute of Art Theory and Media Research, the Institute of Hungarian Literature and Cultural Studies and the Institute of History at all levels of education. The role of inter and multidisciplinary research is also growing, the results of which can be seen in the changing framework of education. The some dozen interdisciplinary Master’s programmes launched by the Faculty show a conformation to the new – European-approved – processes.