Political Scientist Zsuzsa Csergo to Present Sherman Emerging Scholars Lecture
10/12/2005 12:03:17 PM
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Wilmington, NC – Zsuzsa Csergo, political scientist at The George Washington University, has been named the fourth Sherman Emerging Scholar in the Department of History at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. Dr. Csergo was selected in a national competition for this distinction. (Pronunciation: first name is "Zsew-zsah," where "zs" in both syllables stands for a single sound pronounced like "s" in the word "measure;" last name is “Ch-air-go.” The Hungarian “cs” is pronounced like “ch” in “chime.”)
In the capacity of Sherman Emerging Scholar, Dr. Csergo will deliver a public lecture, "What Europe's New Democracies Can Teach Us: Lessons in Cultural Division and Integration" at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 20 in the Warwick Center Ballroom on the campus of UNCW.
A reception will immediately follow the lecture in the lobby of the Warwick Center. The lecture is free, and the public is encouraged to attend.
Her topic is particularly relevant today because it promises to shed light from recent history on the process of democratization in culturally fragmented societies.
“The extreme difficulties of building democracy in Iraq highlight the urgency of our need to understand what it really takes to move beyond cultural division and achieve higher degrees of political integration in societies that experienced decades of un-democratic rule. It is on this question that the new democracies of post-communist Europe offer the most valuable lessons,” said Csergo.
In addition to the public lecture, Dr. Csergo will visit Wilmington Oct. 19-21, conduct informal seminars with faculty and students, and guest lecture in several classes..
Zsuzsa Csergo is assistant professor of political science and coordinator of the Women's Leadership Program in U.S. and International Politics at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C. She received her Ph.D. in 2000 from The George Washington University. Her dissertation, which was nominated for the American Political Science Association's Almond Award for the best dissertation in the field of comparative politics, was titled, "The Politics of Language and Institutional Legitimacy in Romania and Slovakia." As a graduate student, she studied at the Johns Hopkins University as the recipient of an Advanced Graduate Fellowship from the American Council of Learned Societies/Social Science Research Council. She completed her undergraduate work in Linguistics and Hungarian and Latin Literatures at the "Babes-Bolyai" University in Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
Dr. Csergo has held fellowships and grants from the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, the Institute for the Study of World Politics, the George Hoffman Foundation, and The George Washington University.
Dr. Csergo's research focuses on language diversity and conflict, nationalism, kin-state and diaspora politics, and the enlargement of the European Union. She is the author of “Beyond Ethnic Division: Majority-Minority Debate about the Post-Communist State in Romania and Slovakia” (East European Politics and Societies), “Hungary’s Trans-Sovereign Project: Ten Years After” (East European Studies), “Nationalist Strategies and European Integration” (Perspectives on Politics), “Virtual Nationalism” (Foreign Policy) with James M. Goldgeier, and "Ethnicity, Nationalism and the Expansion of Democracy," forthcoming in Democracy, the Market and Back to Europe: Post-Communist Europe.”
Her recently completed book manuscript, Language, Division, and Integration: Lessons from Post-Communist Romania and Slovakia, is under review at two university presses. In addition to her scholarly interests, Dr. Csergo teaches courses in comparative and international politics and nationalism, and works to educate women students for international leadership roles. Last summer, she began leading summer study trips for students to central Europe, and she is a regular lecturer at the Foreign Service Institute in Arlington, VA.
The Sherman Emerging Scholars Lecture Series is the first endowed lecture series for the UNCW History Department. Announced in April, 2002, the series is named in honor of Derrick and the late Virginia Sherman, who made Wilmington their home after retirement. The endowment was established in honor of the Shermans by their son, Phillip D. Sherman and his wife, Birgitta L. Sherman, and their daughter, Ann Sherman-Skiba and husband Dr. Guenther Skiba.
This lecture series, an annual event during the week marking United Nations Day, is designed to provide a forum for promising new scholars to present their perspectives on current issues in the fields of modern history, politics, and international relations to the university community and to the public.
The History Department is extremely grateful to the Sherman family. Their generosity greatly enhances the department’s ability to carry out its teaching and public service missions.
Individuals seeking additional information may contact Dr. Susan McCaffray, History Department chair at 910/962-3308.
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Zsuzsa Csergo
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