During her two-day trip to Debrecen, Caroline Charette, Canada’s ambassador to Hungary, also visited the university. She first consulted with the institution’s management, then gave a lecture to the students of the Anglo-American Institute of the Faculty of Humanities, and also got to know the work of the Canadian Studies Research Center.
After a walk in the patinated Main Building of the University of Debrecen, the ambassador met with Elek Bartha, vice chancellor of education.
During the meeting, Caroline Charett primarily got to know the institution’s educational and training offerings but also paid special attention to the scientific and research work going on here, as well as international relations.
In Hungarian higher education, the University of Debrecen has the largest foreign student community, almost 7,300 students from more than 130 countries, including 70 Canadians, continue their studies at our institution. This is precisely why it is important to strengthen international relations, an important part of which is the current ambassador’s visit
– Vice Chancellor of Education Elek Bartha told the hirek.unideb.hu portal.
Caroline Charette came to the University of Debrecen on Wednesday at the invitation of the Anglo-American Institute of the Faculty of Humanities. The special topicality of the visit is that February 15 is also the birthday of Canada’s maple leaf flag.
Since 2019, I have been fulfilling my duties as an ambassador, and I feel it is important to get to know the country, the functioning of Hungarian society, and education, including higher education, in addition to Budapest. The pandemic prevented this for a long time, the ambassador said. Caroline Charette pointed out: getting to know each other is of course two-sided, as the many Hungarians who currently live in Canada contribute greatly to strengthening relations.
The central theme of the ambassador’s presentation, in addition to the presentation of Canada’s values and multiculturalism, also covered the country’s geography, history and what daily life is like in the country.
We are very happy about the visit and the presentation, as our students were able to hear first-hand about the main Canadian values, while also getting to know the life of a diplomat during a more informal conversation. In the meantime, we were also able to provide insight into Canada-related activities taking place in our country, which can contribute to further meetings and even to the foundation of joint education and research programs
– said Balázs Venkovits.
After the presentation, the presentation of the latest thematic special issue of the institute’s Hungarian Journal of English and American Studies (HJEAS) Scopus-indexed journal, which devotes a special chapter to the immigration of Central and Eastern Europeans to Canada, was held. The authors of the publication include Canadian, French, American, Slovenian and Hungarian researchers.
The ambassador visited Debrecen for the first time, was received by Deputy Mayor Lajos Barcsa and met Károly Fekete, the bishop of the Tiszántúli Reformed church district. The visit ended with a visit to the Alliance Francaise de Debrecen Cultural Association, the Reformed College and the Déri Museum.
unideb.hu
