Levente Szentkirályi

Did you study abroad as a student? What was your international experience like?

During the 2005 spring semester, rounding out a lengthy undergraduate program, I studied at Central European University in Budapest, Hungary.  As an undergraduate I had the unique opportunity to take graduate-level courses in Philosophy and Political Science, which gave me valuable insight into my future doctoral studies and academic career.  However, beyond this formative academic experience, my studies in Budapest were personally very meaningful to me, as it was my first visit to the country and city from which both of my parents immigrated.  Walking the historic city streets, meeting distant relatives, and immersing myself in the local culture reinforced my appreciation of my Hungarian heritage, improved my Hungarian language skills (which was the first language I ever learned), and created lasting relationships and memories that have since shaped my life.

Why should CU students study the ethics of armed conflict abroad?

This global seminar is a unique, interdisciplinary course that is not offered elsewhere at CU, which blends the social-scientific study of diverse dynamics of armed conflict—such as the causes and effects of war, the relevance of military alliances, how and why revolutions are fought, why some rebel groups receive assistance from the international community, and the defensibility of the democratic peace theory—with the ethical study of just war theory, political obligation, and democratic governance.  Among the normative questions this class will explore are the following.  What is the justification and scope of rights of individual and collective self-defense?  Is there a defensible interpretation of and justification for the distinction between intended v. foreseen but unintended harm (i.e., collateral damage)?  When is an apparently preemptive use of force actually defensive in character?  When is preventive war morally permissible?  What is the nature of political obligation, and when is armed revolution against a standing government morally permissible?  When is armed revolution against a standing government morally obligatory?  When is military intervention by a third-party state in support of a rebel group the defies a standing government morally justified?

Taught in Budapest, against the backdrop of Hungary’s long history of armed conflict—not the least of which includes its revolutionary war against the Austrian Empire (1848), the onset of WWI and the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (1918), Hungary’s alliance with the Axis powers in WWII and extensive allied bombing campaigns of its capital of Budapest, and Hungary’s failed rebellion against the Soviet Union (1956)—this class offers students the unique opportunity to visit numerous historical sites that bear out the normative and empirical lessons they learn in the classroom about the diverse dynamics of armed conflict and the enduring struggle for freedom.

Why is Hungary such an excellent location for your Global Seminar?

Hungary has uniquely experienced absolute and constitutional monarchical rule, dictatorial rule, and liberal democratic rule—transitions that were spurred by several interstate wars (including World Wars I and II), civil wars, and violent revolutions.  Remnants of these historical transitions have been preserved in Budapest, not the least of which include the famous 1848 Lánc híd (chain bridge) that first spanned the Danube River to connect the western hills of Buda with the eastern plains of Pest, whose construction was completed as Hungary slipped into a revolutionary war against the Austrian Empire, as well as the royal palace that survived the Allied bombings of WWII and still sits atop of the hills of the western banks of the Danube, overlooking the austere Gothic-style Parliament building on the Pest side of the city where the 1956 Freedom Fight ignited, as Soviet soldiers fired from the rooftops into an unarmed crowd of protesters who demanded democratic representation.

To study political obligation, democratic theory, and peace and war in the abstract, even when exploring hallmark case studies of contemporary conflicts and struggles for freedom, cannot compare to the battery of distant memories, latent emotions, and historical events that exploring the streets of Budapest will evoke for students.  From the Szabadság-szobor (Liberty Statue), which was erected in 1947 to mark Hungary’s liberation by Allied forces, to the House of Terror Museum on the infamous Andrássy street—the site where the Hungarian Secret Police (ÁVH) detained, interrogated, tortured, and executed Hungarian dissidents during the Soviet era—to the bullet holes preserved in the buildings in Kossuth Lajos tér (Kossuth Lajos Square) in memory of the state-perpetrated violence against unarmed civilians that sparked the 1956 Freedom Fight, to the Szabadság híd (Freedom Bridge), which was so named to remind Hungarians of their principled albeit failed revolution against the heavy-handed Soviet regime, it is my hope that the abstract ethical theories and principles that ground this class will more meaningfully resonate with students; that they will realize that freedom from oppression and self-determination are at the core of our shared human experience; and that students will come to better appreciate the liberal democratic freedoms that we all too often take for granted Stateside.

What is your favorite Hungarian food?

Hungarian food is commonly rich in starches and meats, is somewhat heavy (and so quite filling), and is prepared relatively plainly.  However, the mixture of spices in traditional Hungarian paprikás csirke (chicken paprika), which is slowly cooked in a tomato-based sauce with onions and red and green peppers, and which is served on a bed of petite, light dumplings, makes for a memorable meal.

What aspect of this program do you look forward to the most?

By far, my strongest motivation to teach this class is to explore a period in Hungary’s military history that my late father was a part of and which subsequently shaped many aspects of my life: namely, the 1956 revolution against the oppressive Soviet regime, in which my father briefly and unexpectedly became one of the many freedom-fighters who sought to institute a new regime of democratic governance—marked by greater liberties, opportunities, transparency, and representation.  It was a movement at whose core were young idealists, frustrated with the status quo and prepared to sacrifice for a better future, an idea I’m certain many of my students will be able to appreciate.

In this vein, it is the course’s section on self-defense, revolutions, and humanitarian intervention that I look forward to the most, and taking students to the top of Gellért Hegy (mountain (more like a big hill)) on the west banks of the Danube, to image the 180,000 Hungarians who peacefully marched on the Parliament Building to demand reform; and then taking students to the square outside of the Parliament Building where many bullet holes are preserved, reminding Hungarians of the unprovoked violence with which the Soviets and the Hungarian Secret Police responded to the peaceful protect—firing down into the unarmed crowd from the rooftops above, which ignited Hungary’s short-lived revolution.  I fear we in the United States have grown complacent with our battery of rights and well-worn institutions that aim to preserve democracy, and this section of the class is intended to have students reflect on and better appreciate the stability, autonomy, peace, and opportunity that our liberal democracy affords us.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

As a teaching faculty member at CU Boulder, I am committed to what we call “student-centered learning,” which means that I try to design courses and individual class sessions (and course assignments) that accommodate the diverse needs and expectations of my students—drawing on their own life experiences, on the body of knowledge they have gained in their respective majors, and on contemporary, real-world examples that they can relate to, in order to make abstract course material more relevant to students and to make any given course I teach salient to my students’ academic studies and broader professional and personal ambitions.  This is to say that I will work hard to make this class a relevant and memorable experience in my students’ undergraduate careers.

Last Updated August 2022