Early this week I travelled to Debrecen (in Northeastern Hungary) to present at a conference at the University of Debrecen. The conference went well, I met great scholars and received immensely helpful feedback on my research. My trip began at the Nyugati Pályaudvar (Western Train Station) in Budapest. It is a striking structure build by Gustave Eiffel …
This week’s post is about the digital humanities work—using computers to assist with the research process—I am doing here in Hungary. Since that can be rather technical, I thought I would provide the direct connection up front and then for those interested a description of the technical part follows. Thanks for reading! -PCL Summary: A …
Continue reading You, Me, & AI: Opportunities for collaboration
One of the most common complaints I have heard about historians is that they do not simply “tell what happened” they bring their own interpretations to the past. In some ways that is correct, yet it is rooted in a fundamental misunderstanding about the past. In prior posts I described the role of memory and …
One of the first readings I assign to students is this article1 by Jason Steinhauer because it allows students to engage with the core aspects of the historian’s craft, particularly the difference between memory, myth, history, and the past. In last week’s post, I talked about Thanksgiving, its mythology, and the purpose of that myth. So, …
Continue reading How do we remember? Memory, myth, and Memento Park
Happy Thanksgiving! My apologies for the hiatus, my work here picked up sharply but now I hope to return to the usual weekly posts. -Patrick Due to the timing of the 1956 Revolution, the Hungarian refugee crisis started at the beginning of the American “holiday season”—Thanksgiving through Christmas. This timing proved fortuitous as the refugees …
Earlier this week my language tutor asked me this question: “Milyen politikus volt Nagy Imre?” (What kind of politician was Imre Nagy?). The answer is complicated and not just because my Hungarian is not at the level needed to answer that question. Aside from being a good question for me to practice with, it is …
Note: This post is later than expected partly because my schedule was unusually busy last week but also because the post I started to write was too long and winding. I will come back to that topic, but in the interim I thought I would offer this brief glimpse into how historian’s work. -PCL Yesterday …
Continue reading The historian’s life: tales of intersecting sources
Last week I visited the Zene Háza (Music House) in Budapest’s City Park and while there I stumbled on a minor site that I wanted to find, a statue of George Washington. I am interest in this statue for a couple of reasons including that it is purported to be the only statue of Washington …
On Monday, I met up with friend to visit the Dohanyi utca Synagogue and Holocaust Museum. The synagogue is the largest in Europe and features several unusual design elements that reflect the unique theology of the congregation. The lovely building was initially completed in 1859 and features a large pipe organ and multi-level seating with …
One of my favorite moments when teaching history is when a student realizes the way a specific event in the past directly affects them. The American Historical Association is fond of the phrase “Everything has a History.” Yet this disconnect between past and present is rather foreign to Hungarian culture, a notable example of this …
Continue reading The Treaty of Trianon (1920) & the Memorial of National Unity (2020)
Patrick C. Leech 