Challenging the Reproduction of Inequality Through Higher Education: Critical Approaches in Romani Studies and Beyond -- Celebrating 20 Years of Roma Access Programs at CEU
In honor of CEU’s 20th Anniversary of Roma Access Programs, CEU’s Romani Studies Program hosted an international hybrid conference entitled Challenging the Reproduction of Inequality Through Higher Education: Critical Approaches in Romani Studies and Beyond on 16 – 17 May 2024.
Partnering with long time collaborators the Yehuda Elkana Center for Teaching, Learning, and Higher Education Research at CEU; the Roma Program at the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights, Harvard University; and the Critical Romani Studies Department at Sodertorn University, this event was able to reflect on the historical significance of CEU’s access program, while equally addressing concerns that face access programs today, and explore potential scenarios about what the future holds in regards to providing educational access to persons belonging to oppressed groups.
Eva Fodor, Pro-Rector for Teaching and Learning, and Former Academic Director of the Roma Access Program, and Angela Kocze, the Chair of Romani Studies and Academic Director of the Roma Graduate Preparation Program, welcomed an audience of current Roma Graduate Preparation students, Advanced Certificate in Romani Studies master’s and PhD students, CEU Roma Access alumni students, as well as academic panelists in the event, members of local partner organizations, and other CEU faculty and students.
In her opening address False Promises and the Racial Glass Ceiling: Can educational support programs challenge the reproduction of inequality in Higher Education? keynote speaker Judit Durst (Senior Researcher, Centre for Social Sciences, Hungarian Academy of Sciences and Research Fellow, University College London) set the tone for an introspective look at higher education and asked participants to look closely at the interconnections between past, present and future, terms of the roots of injustice and how to repair it.
In addition to all the other participants, approximately 50 CEU Roma Access alumni from across Europe joined the celebration on-line and in-person. In a special roundtable discussion, entitled The Professional and Personal Impacts of the Roma Graduate Preparation Program, 5 alumni shared their success stories: Ismael Cortes, an Associate Professor at the UNESCO Chair of Philosophy for Peace, Universitat Jaume, Spain, Judit Ignácz, a Human Rights Advocate, Trainer and Founder of Ame Panzh Hungary, Sunita Memetovic, a high ranking lawyer in Sweden, Anna Daroczi, a Voluntary Service Coordinator at Phiren Amenca, Hungary, Mikulas Lakatos, a Chief State Counsellor, Office of the Plenipotentionary of the Government of the Slovak Republic for Roma Communities, Slovakia) all had diverse backgrounds, stories and interests but had one message to share: Access Programs make a difference. One panelist, Fridon Lala, was unfortunately unable to attend, as he was momentarily voting as a Member of Parliament in Kosovo.
But their former teachers also had a word to say, too. In the panel entitled The Pedagogy of Access to Higher Education, seven tutors and instructors from the Roma Graduate Preparation Program shared their experiences teaching as well as the deep well of insights about education and social and personal identity and responsibility that being part of this program allowed them access to.
Meanwhile, fourteen scholars presented their papers in response to the theme. Their papers spoke to antigypsyism in Higher Education, segregation, social barriers, glass ceilings, academic ownership, social mobility, activism, the power of self-positioning, scholarly dialogue, and Roma academics in Higher Education.
The conference also included an exhibition opening in the CEU Glass Hall, Years of CEU’s Roma Access Programs, a total of 22 academic posters representing a small sampling of the research done by Roma Graduate Preparation Program alumni and what they have contributed to knowledge production by and about Roma. This exhibition is still running in the Glass Hall until 22 June 2024. https://events.ceu.edu/2024-05-16/20-years-ceus-roma-access-programs.
Closing remarks were by Margareta Matache, the Director, Roma Program, FXB Center for Health and Human Rights, Harvard University.
Unique since its foundation in 2004, CEU’s special programs designed for Roma students have helped almost four hundred students from 20 European countries to access higher education, and enter international academia as well as professional and non-profit sectors worldwide. More than 80 percent of RGPP graduates have been accepted to masters’ programs worldwide, and more than five percent to PhD programs. Besides academia and research, many RGPP graduates work for supranational organizations, national governments, international Roma organizations, NGOs, or have founded NGOs.
“At a time when open society values are under attack, universities must systematically reach out to excluded racialized groups and help to foster the belief in democratic ideals and goals such as the concept of solidarity”, says Angela Kocze. “Over the last two decades RGPP has taken a leading role in this transformation through setting an example of educational equity for racialized groups while democratizing and decolonizing university curriculum.”
Check out the Event Promo Video Here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IBoLGlwWoY
Watch the recorded conference here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3_tGHVk3yDHAi62k7DS2fq8A3RHAWE55&si=aQsr-dD0u6Hgh8bK
Selected papers from the conference will be published in Critical Romani Studies journal.
Learn more:
Read the Abstracts and Biographies, the Agenda, and the view the Photos .