Ten Years in Images and Documents [antikvár]

CENTRAL EUROPEAN UNIVERSITY a Uniqije Historical Moment Those who conceived the idea of Central European University in 1989 realized that fundamental changes were coming, that a unique historical moment was at hand—for the former communist countries especially but also for the world as a whole. They realized that a new era was beginning: it seemed to them that the twentieth century was over. The individuals present at the discussions at the Inter-University Centre in Dubrovnik in April 1989* also recognized that nationalism and the ideology of ethnic intolerance would be major problems of the future, and they looked to a model from the late Middle Ages and early modern times: European universities par excellence, like those in Bologna and Heidelberg, where students from throughout Europe went to study together in a common language, Latin. In these universities students had a sense of solidarity and belonging, and came to form a "virtual community"— there was a bond of unity among students from different countries. Participants in the early discussions about the future shape of CEU saw this model as a possible tool for overcoming the impending explosion of ethnic intolerance in Central and Eastern Europe. They wanted to train an intellectual elite for the region whose members would have common experiences and understand each other. They wanted to help educate a generation of leaders who had learned how to disagree with the help of intellectual arguments instead of actual fighting. This is how the idea of setting up such a university in Central Europe came about; this was the urgency behind the creation of CEU. Thus, although it emerged as a completely new institution, CEU had profound historical models behind it, especially that of the University of Bologna, with which George Soros and some of the Soros foundations—particularly the Soros Foundation-Hungary— had close connections. Why a University? From the beginning, there were internal debates about the nature of Central European University. Initially, the idea was to start a high-level vocational school to train "privatizers" and "democratizers," people who could immediately translate their knowledge into practical action after finishing their studies. Quite a few of those involved in organizing CEU shared in this idea. However, others argued that in order to give real intellectual authority to future alumni a real university was needed, and a real university also requires knowledge and disciplines that are "luxuries", subjects like classical Greek and philosophy which cannot be translated readily into practical action. A university needs to include such disciplines in order to create a true intellectual community. This notion, to a great extent, carried the day—this is why CEU became a university. Such thinking also lay behind the idea of establishing the Medieval Studies Department, although there were also practical arguments in favor of including medieval studies. It was argued, for example, that the problems of Central and Eastern Europe have a history that goes back to medieval times, and that in order to understand the present, the historical heritage of this moment, one must know its roots, its historical origin. Besides, in a peculiar way intellectuals who were medievalists played a crucial role in the opposition to communism. These included Bronislaw Geremek and Lech Walesa's other important advisor, Karol Modzelewski, as well as Jenő Szűcs of Hungary, who wrote a famous essay about the three historical regions of Europe. Why a "Central European" University? "Central Europe" as it is used in the university's name does not designate a concrete geopolitical and cultural region. CEU does not try to maintain any such tradition. Nor is Central Europe the main area from which the university has tried to recruit students: its original mandate was, and basically remains, primarily to train students from the former communist world. This worid is in fact more Eastern European than Central European. Central Europe, however, is the only part of the world which experienced both fascism and communism during the twentieth century, and it is an important legacy which should be remembered. We •Summer courses und workshops at the I mer-University Centre of Postgraduate Studies in Dubrovnik, In the former Yugo.slavia, provided an ideal forum for informal exchanges between the Russian. Polish, Czech, Hungarian, Austrian, German, Italian, Croatian, Serbian, British and American participants. Ever>' year the opportuniiy to lake part in this open intellectual dialogue, free of protocol or censorship, attracted more and more scholars of international repute lo Dubrovnik.