Between Tradition and Change: Hunting as Metaphor and Symbol in State Socialist Hungary

Through the historic metaphor of hunting the essay examines the lifestyle of the dominant elites of Hungary between 1945 and 1990 on the basis of archival documents, private records, and oral history interviews. The analysis emphasizes the fact that there were interactions between the old, prewar aristocracy and the new state socialist elites. The co-incidence of lifestyles can be viewed through the lens of social and cultural change: new elements hit against the old, shaping and dissolving old behavioural patterns. The article analyses hunting in the contexts of social differentiation and social grouping. Using semiotics the author shows how, even during the era of state socialism, power and social distinctions were articulated on the level of lifestyles, and transmitted via the social, semiotic function of behaviours, patterns of taste, and forms of interaction. Thus, hunting evolved into a metaphor over time in Hungary: it was not only an indispensable part of the everyday life of the elite, but also became a symbol for belonging to it.     

Correlates of Work-Life Balance for Faculty Across Racial/Ethnic Groups

Very few studies have examined issues of work-life balance among faculty of different racial/ethnic backgrounds. Utilizing data from Harvard University’s Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education project, this study examined predictors of work-life balance for 2953 faculty members from 69 institutions. The final sample consisted of 1059 (36%) Asian American faculty, 512 (17%) African American faculty, 359 (12%) Latina/o faculty, and 1023 (35%) White/Caucasian faculty. There were 1184 (40%) women faculty and 1769 (60%) men faculty. The predictors of worklife balance included faculty characteristics, departmental/institutional characteristics and support, and faculty satisfaction with work. While African American women faculty reported less work-life balance than African American men, the reverse was true for Latina/o faculty. In addition, White faculty who were single with no children were significantly less likely to report having work-life balance than their married counterparts with children. Faculty rank was a significant positive predictor of work-life balance for all faculty. Notably, the findings highlight the importance of department and institutional support for making personal/family obligations and an academic career compatible. Institutional support for making personal/family obligations and an academic career compatible was consistently the strongest positive predictor of perceived work-life balance for all faculty. In addition, satisfaction with time spent on research had positive associations with work-life balance for all faculty, highlighting how faculty from all racial/ethnic backgrounds value being able to spend enough time on their own research.     

Xerox Project: Photocopy Machines as a Metaphor for an “Open Society”

This article shows how various meanings of a new communication technology are born or get transformed when placed in a different political context via a case study of a program organized by the Soros Foundation in 1984 to promote democratic values (the idea of an “open society”) in Hungary. This program, called the Xerox project, helped hundreds of public institutions acquire photocopy machines. Under the suppressive Hungarian regime of the 1980s the appearance of photocopy machines as a new means of copying texts had serious political consequences. By means of historical research and expert interviews, this article analyzes the nature of these consequences and examines how certain meanings and uses of photocopy machines evolved in the latter half of the 1980s.     

Steps towards inclusion in Hungary

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of a rhythmic gymnastics programme on the dynamic balance ability of a group of children with deafness. The sample consisted of 29 children with deafness. The subjects met the same criteria in terms of age, aetiology, hearing level, intelligence, school placement and socioeconomic status, and in this way, they were assigned to two groups of 12 and 17 children, for the control and experimental groups respectively. The experimental group received a 16-week rhythmic gymnastic programme at a frequency of three lessons per week, for 40 minutes, whereas the control group adhered to its regular school routine. The methods of data collection included pre-/post-test measurements of the dynamic balance for all participants of both groups. The dynamic balance ability was measured by means of a balance deck (Lafayette) in duration of 30, 45 and 60 s intervals. The findings of this study provide evidence that the specific rhythmic gymnastic programme facilitates significant improvement in the dynamic balance ability of this sample of children with deafness.     

Caught in the triangle of mobility: social,residential and pupil mobility

This article examines the school choices of families who have recently experienced downward mobility during the economic crisis in Spain. Based on semi-structured interviews we analyse the educational strategies of the families in a Bourdieusian framework, focusing on how they cope with the loss of their perceived social status. Prior to the crisis, these families of working-class origin improved their social position as a result of their success in economic capital accumulation with a humble increase in social and cultural capital. Our research suggests that the concerns of families confronted with downward social mobility are manifested in tensions related to their school choice in terms of their strategies of resistance and negotiation with regards to the ownership, social composition and corresponding perceived quality of the school. School can symbolically represent the last resort, an indispensable investment in one’s own future and that of the next generation.     

Ethological analysis of predator avoidance by the paradise fish (Macropodus opercularis L.): II. Key stimuli in avoidance learning

The possible role of eyespot patterns in predator recognition by paradise fish was examined using a passive avoidance conditioning technique with various dummies or live goldfish. It was found that a low-intensity shock, although clearly uncomfortable, elicited exploratory behavior in the fish and that observable learning did not occur. However, if the paradise fish was shocked in the presence of a live goldfish or various fish dummies, exploration diminished and avoidance learning was detected. This was characterized by a considerable increase in latency to enter the shocked compartment. The most effective dummies were those with two laterally arranged eye-like spots. The possible role of species-specific key stimuli in avoidance learning and organizing defensive behavior of the paradise fish is discussed.     

Key stimuli and the recognition of the physical environment by the paradise fishMacropodus opercularis

Recognition of features of the physical environment by the paradise fish was examined in the course of passive avoidance conditioning, in the presence of a key-stimulus-carrier dummy. During conditioning, the fish were placed into one of two differently arranged shuttle-tanks according to a random schedule. If a fish entered the dark compartment of one of the tanks it was punished by shock or, for some groups, confronted by a predator-like dummy; the other tank was safe and without the dummy. It was found that in the presence of the key stimulus carrier, associative learning was concentrated on the stimulus carrier, and that the less salient features of the physical environment were not associated with the punishment.     

Policy development and educational research: The Hungarian experience

Conclusions The interaction between research and politics is weakly structured in Hungarian higher education. Functions and roles are unclear, persons participating often change or combine different roles. The emergence of modern higher education politics in Hungary catalyzes the differentiation, professionalization and institutionalization of experts, advisers and consultants. National reform commissions provide a good framework to work out these roles. The small size of the country and the limitations of its academic resources, however, make this progress gradual and controversial.     

Policy development and educational research: The Hungarian experience

Heather Eggins (ed) Women as Leaders and Managers in Higher Education Buckingham: SRHE and Open University Press, July 1997. ISBN 0335 19879 1 Price: hb £45.00 pb £16.99 160 pp