The Doctoral School of Hungarian Studies, as per tradition, commenced the academic year with a professional opening lecture and a reception on Friday, October 4th, at 1 PM in the Popovici Room of the Faculty of Humanities at Babeș-Bolyai University (BBTE). The keynote speaker of the opening event was Dr. József Gagyi, an emeritus professor at Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania (EMTE) and an alumnus of the doctoral school. Dr. Gagyi, a prolific author of numerous intriguing ethnographic and social history studies, delivered a lecture titled Theft in the Collective Farm: The Social History of a Ritual. Since 2004, he has conducted extensive fieldwork in Csíkfalva using his method of participatory observation, which he usually refers to as a “long conversation.” His goal is to document and understand the socio-historical processes of lifestyle changes, behavioral shifts, and value transformations within the local community. One of his research topics focuses on theft from the collective farm. “This topic came to the forefront of my interest and remains a subject of my research because I observed that it significantly occupies the minds of my interviewees. After listening to, organizing, and analyzing numerous stories, I arrived at the phenomenon of ritualized theft. I concluded that theft, as a morally evaluable social action performed within or in front of the community, has a form that is not considered a crime, is not prohibited, but rather permitted by human communities. This type of theft does not destroy social relations but instead has a community-building effect,” – he characterized this research, which he elaborated upon in detail during the festive opening lecture of the Doctoral School of Hungarian Studies and in a previous highly acclaimed monograph.

Link to the facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/3757379091239508

A photo gallery from the event can be viewed here: https://lett.ubbcluj.ro/tanevnyito-galeria/?lang=hu