Faculty of Arts & Science 2012-2013 Calendar

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Hungarian

Given by the Centre for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies

Hungarian is spoken by ten and a half million inhabitants of present-day Hungary, about three million people in the neighbouring countries, and perhaps as many as an additional two million around the world. These figures make Hungarian, which is related to Finnish, Estonian, and Lappish, but virtually no other language in Europe, by far the largest minority language in the great Indo-European language territory.

Despite the isolation that might have been imposed by the uniqueness of their language, Hungarians have been engaged with, and participants in, greater European affairs since their arrival in the Carpathian basin more than a thousand years ago.  Hungarians have made signal contributions in the fields of arts, science, and mathematics, winning Nobel prizes in Chemistry (4), Medicine (3), Physics (3), Economics, and Literature.  In the music world the names Bártok, Kodály, Lehár, Liszt, Széll, Ormandy, Schiff, and many others are internationally famous.  Leo Szilárd, Edward Teller, Paul Erdõs, and John von Neumann are famous figures in theoretical physics and mathematics. Joseph Biró developed the ball-point pen and to this day the British call a ball-point pen, a biro.  Hungarians have also become famous in sports, particularly soccer, boxing, and fencing, and in the world of cinema.  And who has not played with the Rubik’s cube?

Hungarian studies at the University of Toronto focus on the language, literature, and culture of Hungary and on the international role of Hungary and Hungarians - particularly on Hungarian immigration to Canada.  For many of the courses no prior knowledge of the Hungarian language is necessary, making them easily accessible also to students in other programs.

Program Coordinator:
Professor Robert Austin, robert.austin@utoronto.ca

Hungarian Programs

Enrolment in the Hungarian program requires the completion of 4.0 courses.

Enrolment in this program requires the completion of 4.0 courses.

(6 full courses or their equivalent including two FCEs in Hungarian language study)

First Year:
HUN100Y1
Higher Years:
1. HUN200Y1, HUN310Y1, HUN320Y1
2. Two courses from: HIS241H1, HIS251Y1, HIS389H1 (Hungarian History), HIS453H1; HUN355H1, HUN345H1, HUN355H1, HUN356H1, HUN440Y1, HUN450H1, HUN455H1; INI381H1

Enrolment in this program requires the completion of 4.0 courses.

(4 full courses or their equivalent, including at least one at the 300+ level)

Four courses from: HUN100Y1, HUN200Y1, HUN310Y1, HUN320Y1, HUN335H1, HUN345H1, HUN351H1, HUN440Y1, HUN450H1, HUN455H1; HIS241H1, HIS251Y1, HIS389H1 (Hungarian History), HIS453H1; INI381H1

 The Hungarian program participates in the Faculty of Arts and Science’s Language Citation initiative. Students may achieve this Citation in Hungarian.

Language study is a demanding and intellectually rewarding educational experience. Our students learn to communicate both orally and in writing in other languages and are thus able to experience other parts of the world in more intimate ways. Their access to other cultures opens doors for further study and employment. Students in our department also have the opportunity to read a vast array of world-renowned authors in the original languages, as well as works – normally not available in English – in other areas of study, for example, cinema studies, drama, folklore, history, intellectual history, philosophy, mathematics, and political science.

The Language Citation recognizes a significant level of achievement in language study. For course selection students should consult the Undergraduate Coordinator as early as possible since not every language course is offered each year. Students who begin language study at the Intermediate level should consult the Undergraduate Coordinator for approval of advanced literature and culture courses that may satisfy the requirements for the Language Citation.

The Language Citation in Hungarian is available to students who complete HUN200Y1 and HUN310Y1 with a grade of at least B-.

Students should note that, as explained in this Calendar, the Language Citation is not equivalent to an academic program and that enrolment in a program is not necessary in order to earn the recognition bestowed by the Citation.

Hungarian Courses

The 199Y1 and 199H1 seminars are designed to provide the opportunity to work closely with an instructor in a class of no more than twenty-four students. These interactive seminars are intended to stimulate the students’ curiosity and provide an opportunity to get to know a member of the professorial staff in a seminar environment during the first year of study. Details here.

 The Department reserves the right to assign students to courses appropriate to their level of competence in Hungarian.

The Department reserves the right to assign students to courses appropriate to their level of competence in Hungarian.The basic features and logic of the language. Development of conversational skills and the reading of easy texts. Open only to students with little or no knowledge of Hungarian.

Review of descriptive grammar; studies in syntax; vocabulary building; intensive oral practice; composition; reading and translation.

A synchronic and diachronic survey of the Hungarian language. Conceptualized summary of grammar, syntax, and stylistics; studies in the genesis and historical stages of the language. Brief consideration of living dialects, the basics of poetics; selected problems in translation and language teaching. Readings in Hungarian.

A chronological study of the development of Hungarian literature since the 12th century; emphasis both on outstanding writers and on significant movements or themes. Transformations of ideas and changes in language and style. No knowledge of Hungarian required.

This course will provide an examination of the history of Hungarian Immigration to and settlement in North America. The course will examine the "push" and "pull" factors, the socio-economic factors involved, their patterns of migration and the organizational development of the communities they founded in North America.  The course will compare and contrast the reception the immigrants and later refugees received in the United States and Canada and examine how they adapted to their new homelands.

Explore the cultural traditions, historical processes, myths, and figures that have shaped and redefined Hungarian civilization and national identity. Theoretical and practical classes on ethno-genesis, anthropology, and folklore. Readings in English (also available in Hungarian).

Explore Hungary’s rapidly changing place in Europe. Focus on political, sociological, and historical understandings of nationalism and identity as they manifest themselves in literature, history, and culture. Knowledge of Hungarian not required.

On the 50th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, this course investigates the cultural and literary history of Hungary in the past five decades: how art and literature existed in a totalitarian regime, how they changed in the years of goulash communism and later, and how they manifest political, sociological, and historical understandings of national and European identity and the place of Hungary within a dynamic Europe. Knowledge of Hungarian not required.

Continuity and change in form and content studied from the perspective of the native literary and social tradition and in relation to the evolution of modern European fiction; analogies with other genres and arts; survey of criticism. No knowledge of Hungarian required.

Hungarian theatre prior to the 19th century; birth of the national drama (Katona, Madch); populism and cosmopolitanism; post-war tendencies (Hubay, Orkny, St). Hungarian drama in the European context; the theatre as a social institution. No knowledge of Hungarian required.

Focus on literature, art, mass media, and popular culture in post-1990 Hungary with special emphasis on the past ties to European culture and the impact of European integration. Readings in English (also available in Hungarian).

Translation course concentrating on Hungarian prose translation.

Translation course concentrating on Hungarian prose translation.