This programme prepares future professionals to address one of the defining challenges of our time: how diverse societies can live together fairly, peacefully, and productively. Rooted in the study of Central and Eastern Europe, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean, it combines academic excellence with hands-on relevance for careers across public service, civil society, media, education, and international organisations.

Our approach is deliberately interdisciplinary. Drawing on political science, law, sociology, anthropology, history, and social policy, students learn to interpret complex social realities and translate them into meaningful strategies. By graduation, they are equipped not only to understand the causes of discrimination, conflict, and inequality, but also to design solutions, mediate tensions, and build more inclusive communities.

The programme is intentionally broad in scope. While many of our graduates continue on to doctoral studies and academic careers, just as many take their knowledge into professional arenas: shaping policy, leading NGOs, driving integration projects, or innovating in media and education. What unites them is a mindset—critical, adaptable, globally oriented—that allows them to navigate today’s fast-changing world of diversity and identity with confidence.

This is a programme for those who want to think deeply, but also act decisively. For those who want to understand difference not as a problem to be managed, but as an opportunity to strengthen societies. And for those ready to become the kind of professionals whose expertise is increasingly in demand: leaders who can bridge divides, foster cooperation, and make a tangible impact in the communities and institutions they serve.

Strengths of the programme

The modern principle of multiculturalism, protection of minority rights, equal opportunities, anti-discrimination, and new challenges of intercultural integration of modern societies request more and more academics who intend to carry out research, or teach about ethnic diversity and inter-ethnic relations. In post-industrial welfare societies there is a growing need for policy makers or expert advisors in issues and conflicts between regions, nations, ethnic groups, minorities, and majorities in Hungary or various parts of Europe. There is a considerable need for these types of professionals today, and this demand in the future will even increase as the historical legacy of Eastern and Central Europe, the renaissance of the national spirit, the intense immigration, and frequent ethnic and minority conflicts make the task of managing and reducing ethnic tensions more and more important. We expect that our graduates can find jobs in the different public or private agencies like in public (governmental) organizations and the minority self-governments, in public education, in research institutes, in the media, in civil organizations and NGOs, and in all such programmes and projects that aims to promote the successful social and cultural integration of minorities into the dominant society.

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Territorial focus

We would like to place special emphasis on the issue of dealing with minority issues and diversity in the region with regard to the integration process of Central and Eastern European countries, the Balkans and the Mediterranean region into the international community. The serious ethnic conflicts of the region, the demand for countries to meet European norms in the area of minority issues, the increase in migration and the simultaneous growth of xenophobia all contribute to a pressing need in Central and Eastern Europe and in the Balkans for highly trained professionals who have the insight and expertise to identify the main social and psychological reasons behind tensions and discrimination, and who are also equipped with the skills and techniques to handle and moderate these conflicts. Therefore,  a key objective of the Programme is to provide the expertise necessary for this within Europe. However, much of the research analysis and scientific methods, as well as the ‘Central European and Balkan experience’, are also relevant for those who study ethnic/race/majority-minority relations elsewhere in the world. Having international students on the Programme means that various viewpoints can evolve and therefore a specific balance of the student body is promoted.

Aims

• To provide a systematic study of inter-ethnic relations, minority problems and processes in post-communist societies with a comparative perspective;
• To examine the background to major trends in the economy, politics, society, social policy, social geography, and social psychology of the countries in the region;
• To train future policy makers or expert advisors on issues and conflicts between regions, nations, ethnic groups, minorities, and majorities in various parts of Europe;
• To train future scholars who intend to carry out research on or teach in Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkan region;
• To create an international community of students who speak English and predominantly come from countries where there are significant problems relating to ethnic and minority relations;
• To introduce students to basic skills which are necessary not only to understand but to intervene in inter-group conflicts likely to occur in ethnic communities, urban neighbourhoods, industrial workplaces, political organisations, trade unions, mass media, etc;
• To place students on various internships according to their skills and specialisations where they can experience real-life minority situations (e.g. editorial boards of minority mass agencies, prisons, voluntary and self-help groups, local and public administrations dealing with minority issues and policies, ethnic and minority government organisations, research institutes, non-governmental organisations);
• To encourage students to participate in research work (e.g. comparative research on national identity in neighbouring countries, analysis of the attitude of policemen towards Roma who are arrested, etc.)
• To provide practical experience to accompany the theoretical framework introduced in the classroom.

Research opportunities

The programme offers unique research opportunities for students. Besides teaching activities, the Faculty has long been active in the organisation of research that addresses minority and identity issues, ethnic relations and diversity in Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans, migration processes, and the problems of discrimination, xenophobia and social exclusion, all with the aim of including results in the context of European-level research. Research on these issues in Central and Eastern Europe or in the Balkan region is still fragmented and characterised by a lack of communication and information exchange. One of our main objectives is to promote the development of regional databases and a network of scholars, researchers and institutions. The rationale behind these efforts is not only to analyse conflicts, tensions and discrimination from an academic point of view, but also to contribute to the monitoring of conflicts, to provide the necessary expertise and knowledge in conflict resolution, to disseminate know-how, and to facilitate discourse and intensify cross-national communication. Another important objective is to translate research results into policy and practice. Most of our projects have a policy orientation. Furthermore, research proposals are developed to provide an impulse for both future research and teaching.

Career opportunities

Our alumni build careers in government and minority self-governments, NGOs and civil society organisations, and international agencies working on migration, integration, and community development. Others move into education, research, or media, where they shape public understanding and contribute to policy and practice.
Typical roles include project manager, policy advisor, researcher, and field coordinator—positions that require both deep knowledge and the ability to act effectively in multicultural environments.