AHEA Member Spotlight

Member Spotlight

AHEA is a scholarly organization connecting a diverse set of educators, researchers, professionals, independent scholars and academics who come from many walks of life. Each month we highlight the academic and professional career of a different AHEA member.

This month’s featured member is Éva Lovra,University of Debrecen

Please tell us a little bit about your career arc, especially what led to you presenting on the University of Pittsburgh Nationality Rooms at the 2024 AHEA Conference.

I have been a university lecturer at the University of Debrecen since 2018, and I still work here. I conduct research and teach primarily on topics related to cities and urban morphology. In the spring semester of 2023, I was a visiting professor at the University of Pittsburgh as a Fulbright Scholar. My course was titled "Comparative Urban and Architectural Heritage in Central Europe," and it took place in the Cathedral of Learning. As part of the Fulbright scholarship, I also conducted research, and Kati R. Csoman, director of the Nationality Rooms & Intercultural Exchange Programs, asked me to give a presentation in April 2023 (“From Interior Design to National Identity: Insights from the Yugoslav, Hungarian, and Austrian Rooms”), so I spent quite a time in the University of Pittsburgh archives. This presentation served as the catalyst for my further research. The wealth of material and new insights uncovered during my research allowed me to present novel perspectives on the ideological, architectural, and interior design underpinnings of the heritage rooms at the 2024 AHEA conference.

How did you find out about AHEA, and what brought you to join?

The Hungarian Fulbright program considers it very important that Fulbright scholars maintain active connections with the American-Hungarian academic community. AHEA is an organization that unites American-Hungarian educators, a community of those who have been connected to the United States at some point in their careers. I was particularly drawn to AHEA because of its focus on fostering connections between American and Hungarian scholars and its commitment to promoting intercultural understanding. I was unable to attend the 2023 conference, so I was eager to present my work (my research and the monograph completed during my Fulbright scholarship) in 2024. The conference brought me closer to the AHEA community, of which I am a member.

What impact has your involvement with AHEA made on your career and/or your work?

My studies, research, and teaching work are broad, ranging from engineering to the humanities to the arts. In the AHEA community, I found these intersections, and by participating in the conference, I received feedback on my work. In 2024, I was the

recipient of the AHEA Research Presentation Award, which was a great honor.

Tell us, please, what you’re working on right now.

In addition to other research and work, I am currently working on two scholarship-funded research projects. The Hungarian Academy of Sciences has supported my research titled "Green Spaces in the Cities of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy: Their Development and Impact on Contemporary Cities." My primary research area is the cities of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, and I have already published a monograph on this topic, and the new research is an extension of it. The other scholarship-funded research is supported by the Hungarian Academy of Arts, the research period lasts until 2027, and I am examining the century-long Hungarian architectural identity in Vojvodina (Serbia). The research focuses on Vojvodina Hungarian (related) architecture, architects, and the built environment, and the result will be a monograph and a traveling exhibition by 2027.