Curriculum Vitae
EDUCATION
2008 – 2016 PhD Sociology and Social Anthropology
Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology, Central European University, Budapest (CEU)
Dissertation title: “The revolt of the provinces. Anti-gypsyism and right-wing politics in rural Hungary”
Defense: Summa cum laude (23 September 2016)
2006 – 2007 MPhil Social Anthropology
Department of Social Anthropology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge
2001 – 2006 MA Sociology
Department of Sociology, ELTE University, Budapest
2000 – 2006 MA Political Science
Department of Political Science, ELTE University, Budapest
CURRENT POSITION
Jan 2019 – Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, Halle (Saale) – Research Fellow
Within the Department ‘Resilience and Transformation in Eurasia' I am working on my own research project focusing on ‘Illiberal statecraft in Hungary’ and relying on ethnographic methods to investigate the hegemonic strategy of the ruling Fidesz party in rural Hungary.
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
2018 Jan - 2018 June Columbia University (New York)
• As Istvan Deak Visiting Professor I taught two self-designed courses, one entitled “Ethnography of the far-right: a hands-on research seminar”, the other “The European national-populist moment in interdisciplinary perspective”.
2016-2017 Central European University (Budapest)
• As an instructor and tutor of the university’s flagship Roma Graduate Preparation Program I taught a self-designed course entitled “Introduction to Sociology and Social Anthropology”.
2014- Institute for the International Education of Students
• I have been regularly giving lectures on Hungarian society and politics to graduate participants of the IES Abroad European Union program.
NON-ACADEMIC WORK EXPERIENCE
Jan 2016 – Dec 2017 Independent political consultancy
I worked as a self-employed political consultant for Greenpeace Hungary and Greenpeace CEE.
Jan 2012 – Jan 2014 Heinrich Böll Foundation – Coordinator of activities in Hungary
I was responsible for overseeing projects and representing the foundation in Hungary.
Jan 2011 – Dec 2011 Ecopolis Foundation – Coordinator of the Social Justice Program
I was responsible for elaborating the foundation’s work with disadvantaged local communities.
Jan 2008 – Sep 2009 Polgár Foundation for Equal Opportunities – Program Manager
I elaborated and coordinated the Foundation’s participatory development project with Roma communities in the Mezőcsát Micro-region (Borsod County).
Sep 2007 – Sep 2010 Lehet Más a Politika (LMP) political party – Founder, Member of Executive Board
I was elected to the party’s Executive Board. I first acted as International Relations Coordinator and then as Roma Integration Spokesperson and Coordinator.
LANGUAGE SKILLS
Hungarian: mother tongue
English: fully fluent (speaking, reading, writing)
French: fully fluent (speaking, reading, writing)
German: basic (speaking, reading, writing)
SOCIAL COMMITMENTS
Political activism
• Member of the Hungarian green movement since 2002. Founder of the Lehet Más a Politika (LMP) political party.
• Member of the Green European Journal’s editorial board (www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu) between September 2011 and October 2014.
AWARDS
• Best Dissertation Award, Central European University (2017)
• European Scholarship of the German Marshall Fund of the United States (2009)
• Scholarship of the Gates Cambridge Trust for outstanding academic merit and leadership potential (2006)
• Bursary of Excellence of the Republic of Hungary in recognition of outstanding achievement in sociology (2003)