Eligibility
You must have achieved sophomore status with a grade point average of at least 2.5 to study in Hungary. Preference is given to juniors and seniors when there are more applicants than spots in the program.
Cost
The Fall 2013 program cost is expected to be within $1000 of Calvin tuition and room and board on campus. More specific cost information will be sent with your acceptance letter. The final program cost is based on many factors and is not known exactly until the number of students in the group has been identified. The financial information page covers the details that go into the cost of the program and rough estimates for each. The cost includes:
- Tuition
- Round trip airfare Grand Rapids/Budapest
- Housing (in a KGRU dorm)
- Food allowance
- Program excursions
- Administrative fee
Additional expenses not included in the program fee: passport, residency visa ($100 paid once in Hungary), medical insurance (required), books, some weekend meals, any independent travel and spending money.
Accommodations
You will stay in a dormitory of the Karoli Gaspar Reformed University with a Calvin roommate. You'll have many opportunities here to meet other students, both international and Hungarian.
Courses
The following courses are required:
| Linguistics Through the Lens of History and Society in Eastern Europe |
|
This course will introduce students to the core subfields of linguistics and the area of sociolinguistics. No prerequisites are necessary. In the first half of the course students will work through the core areas of linguistics (phonetics, phonology, morphology, semantics, syntax, and pragmatics) by examining five particular languages, Polish, German, Hungarian, Romanian, and Serbo-croatian. The second half of the course will look at how language use has changed through history in Eastern Europe, especially in Hungary and Romania, how particular languages relate to individual and group identity, and how sociolinguistic issues intersect with questions of culture and politics. |
3 semester hours, fulfills Societal Structures core |
| STHU 312 - Studies in Central European Culture | |
| This course defines the concept of East Central Europe geographically and linguistically, and presents a topical introduction to the political, religious, artistic, musical and scientific aspects of East Central European culture through guest lectures, readings, and excursions to Croatia and Ukraine. | 4 semester hours, fulfills Global and Historical Studies and CCE core |
| STHU 100 - Introduction to the Hungarian Language | |
In this course, students learn vocabulary and basic sentence structures needed to communicate on an elementary level as they live and travel in the city and region. |
2 semester hours, pass/fail, general elective credit |
You must also take two electives, one of which may be the following course:
| STHU 235 - Italian Renaissance Art | |
| A survey of Italian art from the Gothic period to the Late Renaissance, focusing on the artistic production of the main political and cultural centers of Renaissance Italy. The interpretation of the works of art is integrated into the fabric of life in the papal, royal, and ducal courts (Rome, Naples, Milan) and the rich republican cities (Florence, Siena, Venice). **Class size is limited. | 3 semester hours, fulfills The Arts core |
You may take one or both of your elective courses at the following universities. See the Calvin program director for up-to-date course offerings at these institutions. The attached list includes courses that were available during that last few years and may be available in the current year also.
- Corvinus University of Budapest - see their list of English-language course options.
- Budapest University of Technology and Economics
- Karoli Gaspar Reformed University
Excursions:
As part of the program, students will visit such locations as the region of Transylvania in Romania (including the Carpathian Mountains), Krakow, Prague, and Sarajevo.
Since Budapest is a hub for rail travel throughout Hungary and the rest of Central Europe, you'll easily be able to visit major cities like Vienna and Munich, the Tatra Mountains of Slovakia, the Julian Alps in Slovenia, and the Adriatic coast of Croatia.
Apply:
Submit a preliminary application to the the off-campus programs office. Once your eligibility for the program is determined (within 1–2 weeks), you will be sent an application. The final application deadline for this program is March 15, 2013.
Contact
Program Director, Fall 2013
Peggy Goetz, CAS Department
616.526.8561
Past and Future Program Directors
Fall 2009
- Bruce Berglund, History
Fall 2010 -
Michael Page, CAS
Fall 2011 - Jeff Bouman, Service Learning
Fall 2012 - Cheryl Feenstra
Fall 2014 - Jeff Bouman, Service-Learning Center
