The Department of Sociology and Social Antrhopology cordially invites you to a conversation about the book Comrade Baron by Jaap Scholten
Welcome: John Shattuck, President and Rector, CEU
Discussants: Jaap Scholten, SOCL 2009, CEU and Vlad Naumescu, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology
Jaap Scholten and his former professor at CEU, Vlad Naumescu, discuss Scholten’s book on the Transylvanian aristocracy and the ways in which scholarly research can impact broader audiences by means of different media.
Dutch author Jaap Scholten had already published acclaimed novels and short stories when he became a student at the Department of Social Anthropology, CEU, in 2008/2009, and began researching Transylvanian aristocracy. Under the supervision of professors Ayse Caglar and Vlad Naumescu, he wrote the thesis From Ballroom to Basement: The Internal Exile of the Hungarian Aristocracy in Transylvania, based on intensive fieldwork in Transylvania. Scholten interviewed three generations of Transylvanian aristocratic families, including the Apor, Bánffy, Bethlen, Haller, Kálnoky, Mikes, and Teleki families amongst others. After finishing his thesis, he made the documentary film, Oostwaarts! on the subject, for VPRO, Dutch television, and wrote a book for a general audience: Kameraad Baron. This month leading Hungarian publishing house, Corvina, is publishing an English edition of the bestselling and prize-winning work: Comrade Baron.