Unique since its foundation in 2004, CEU's special programs designed for Roma students have helped almost four hundred students from 20 European countries to access higher education, and enter international academia as well as professional and non-profit sectors worldwide. Alumni include the first Romani attorney in Sweden, Sunita Memetovic; recipient of the Inaugural Global Anti-Racism Champions Award, Victorina Luca; recipient of the Aspen Central Europe Leadership Award, Michal Mizigar; and Visiting Instructor at CEU's Department of Economics and Business, Mihaly Orsos.
To mark the 20th anniversary of its Roma Access Programs, the Romani Studies Program at Central European University is proud to announce its upcoming conference "Challenging the Reproduction of Inequality Through Higher Education: Critical Approaches in Romani Studies and Beyond". The event, organized together with The Roma Program, FXB Center for Health and Human Rights, Harvard University, USA; the Critical Romani Studies, Sodertorn University, Sweden; and CEU's Elkana Center, Austria, aims to facilitate critical discussion on programs promoting the educational access of persons belonging to oppressed groups. The conference will take place on May 16-17, in- person in Vienna and online. Please register at this link.
The Romani Studies Program (RSP) at CEU engages scholars, policy makers, and activists in interdisciplinary knowledge production and debate on Roma identity and movement, including antigypsyism; social justice and policy making; gender politics, and structural inequality. It encompasses two programs, the Roma Graduate Preparation Program (RGPP) and the Advanced Certificate in Romani Studies, and offers courses for CEU MA and PhD students, as well as summer preparatory and summer university courses for graduate students and activist scholars from across the world. The program creates academic space and support for historically discriminated groups, in line with CEU's mission to build an open and democratic society that respects human rights, dignity and social justice.
"In most European countries, Romani students are provided with segregated and low-quality education, which either prevents them from pursuing further studies or leads them to low-prestige, low-quality study options and career choices - which perpetuates their exclusion from social, economic, and political participation," said the program's Chair and Academic Director Angela Kocze, who has assisted hundreds of Roma students in achieving their academic and professional goals. "We firmly believe that education could and should play a crucial role in social mobilization as well as in dismantling structural inequality, marginalization, discrimination, and prejudice. Our programs aim to enable Romani students to fulfill their potential and participate equally in all areas of modern society."
More than 80 percent of RGPP graduates have been accepted to masters' programs worldwide, and more than five percent to PhD programs. Besides academia and research, many RGPP graduates work for supranational organizations, national governments, international Roma organizations, NGOs, or have founded NGOs. Some have gone on to become MPs in their country, such as Lala Fridon, Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Regional Development, Kosovo; and Ismael Cortes, former MP, Spain, and currently a Senior Policy Advisor in the European Parliament.
Watch these 2-minute videos about CEU's Romani Studies Program and Roma Graduate Preparation Program at this link, and about RGPP here.
