Students | Romani Studies Program

Advanced Certificate in Romani Studies Program Current Students:

Róbert Kovács, MA in Historical Studies (2-year program)

Born in Budapest, Hungary, I think of myself as Central European. I have completed my Bachelor’s degree at CEU, majoring in History and Nationalism Studies. I am interested in political thought, nationalism, and memory studies, and am currently working on the intellectual history of nationalism, regionalism, and kin-state politics in 1990s Hungary.

I am truly grateful to the Romani Studies community for creating a wonderful education platform to discover the often-sidelined and silenced history, culture and politics of Europe’s largest ethnic minority group. My goal is to actively apply the knowledge I gain in this environment throughout my future career.

Melissa Prošić, MA in International Public Affairs (2-year program)

Melissa is a Bosnian-American graduate student at CEU currently pursuing her Master’s degree in International Public Affairs. Before joining CEU, she obtained her Bachelor’s degree in International Relations from Webster Vienna Private University. Her current research focuses on how institutional frameworks, ethnic power-sharing, and external political influences shape national identity formation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and how these dynamics affect minority inclusion, particularly for Roma and Jewish communities. Melissa’s broader interests lie in humanitarianism, post-conflict reconstruction, and the politics of peace. She aims to contribute to future work within international organisations focusing on human rights, minority protection, and inclusive policymaking.

Tina Horvath, MA in Philosophy 1-year program
I am a Romani graduate student specializing in the intersections of philosophy and Romani Studies. My work is grounded in the philosophy of action, epistemology, and social and political philosophy, with particular focus on how epistemic marginalization and dehumanization shape the lived experiences of Romani people. I am currently completing a master’s degree in philosophy alongside an advanced certificate in Romani Studies, where I am exploring, generally speaking, how dominant epistemic frameworks often undermine Non-Western/Romani ways of knowing. My research aims to cast light on the structural mechanisms that silence marginalized communities and to challenge normative assumptions about knowledge. As such, I seek to advance our understanding of a full account of (moral) agency and ‘progress’.

Helena Djablikova, Human Rights Studies 1-year program (MA)

Helena is from Czechia and just recently joined CEU. She has a background in education: with a bachelor’s degree in French Philology and a master's degree in Teaching French, she has been working as a language teacher (French, English, and Czech) for the past 6 years.

Helena is interested in both historical human rights (mainly the fight for civil and political rights in Czechoslovakia in the late 1970s) and current human rights issues. Professionally, her goal is to work on more inclusive educational policies and on equal study opportunities for all.

Sara Franciska Szilagyi, Critical Gender Studies 2-year-program (MA)

Sára comes from Hungary. She is a first-year student in the Critical Gender Studies program at CEU.

Before starting her MA program at CEU, Sára completed an undergraduate degree in Psychology, and a master's in Developmental and Clinical Children's Psychology.

Sára currently works at an NGO that connects volunteers with children from disadvantaged backgrounds through mentoring. Her academic interests lie in intersectional feminist research.

Noelia Barbero, Sociology and Social Anthropology 2-year-program (MA)

Noelia comes Argentina, where she studied Social Anthropology at the University of Buenos Aires. She later moved to Italy and completed a BA in Global Humanities at Sapienza University of Rome, with a dissertation on the intersections between LGBT and Roma activism.

She currently works at a movement lawyering Dutch NGO, bringing anti-oppressive feminist practices to HR. She is interested in politically committed research, international solidarity, the intersections of sexuality and ethnicity, representation politics, and the power of artivism. Her MA research will look into the usage of art-based resistance in the Balkans by LGBT+ Roma.

Hanna Horányi, Nationalism Studies (2-year program)

Hanna is from Budapest, Hungary. She is currently pursuing a 2-year MA in Nationalism Studies. Her thesis focuses on the racialised application of Hungary's 2025 Act on the Protection of Local Self-Identity.

Outside her studies, Hanna is interested in literature and journalism. She is an Editorial Fellow at Hungarian Literature Online and her writings have been featured in magazines and news sites both in Hungary and abroad.