Andras Kovacs, professor in the Nationalism Studies Program and director of the Jewish Studies Project at CEU, was awarded the Szechenyi Prize by Hungarian President Janos Ader on March 15. The award honors those who have made an outstanding contribution to academic life.
Kovacs, who is also a member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, received the Szechenyi Prize in recognition of decades of teaching and research in the field of post-war Hungarian Jewish history, as well as the sociology of minorities and minority identities, according to state news agency MTI. Kovacs has spent almost 20 years conducting empirical research regarding prejudice in general and anti-Semitism in particular, developing methods and a theoretical framework that can be used in further research and enable the comparison of research results on these phenomena in the long term.
“The prize is an honor, and I hope that it also carries a message that the social sciences are an important field, even at a time when institutions involved in research in the humanities and social sciences are faced with serious financial difficulties,” Kovacs was reported as saying at the ceremony at the Hungarian Parliament. “Recently, opinions have been voiced that call into question the utility of the social sciences and criticize the amount of financing institutions in this field receive. I hope that under scrutiny, these opinions will succumb, and the scientific community, including both the natural and social sciences, will succeed in convincing decision-makers that those branches of science and scientific institutions whose usefulness cannot be measured by a simple cost-benefit calculation are of essential importance.”
Kovacs was one of 17 academics honored with the Szechenyi Prize this year. The Prize is awarded annually on Hungary’s March 15 national holiday, which commemorates the Revolution of 1848-49 against Habsburg rule.