Budapest Metropolitan University’s Faculty of Arts and Creative Industries celebrated its 10-year jubilee in 2020. To honor this special occasion, the Art and Design Theory Institute launched its very own publication series. A noteworthy feature of the series is that the authors,  the editor, graphic designer and photographer of many of the pictures featured in the books are all professors of our Institute. 

‘The idea was to publish books on design and arts, as well as books focusing on narrative and theory.’ Explained Dr. Pörczi Zsuzsanna, the initiator and editor of the series, Deputy Head of the Art and Design Theory Institute. ‘Besides conveying course materials and projects of the faculty’s professors, we also wanted to share other materials of exceptional value.' 

The first book of the series, named METU Theory, was 'Neath the factory, a school now’, written by our professor emeritus Dr József Vadas. The second book, ‘Hypnosis of history’ by Ádám Takács, has just recently been published. 

   

The book is available in Hungarian at Írók Boltja (1061 Budapest, Andrássy út 45.) and their webshop. 

The author of the book Ádám Takács is a philosopher and historian, and a professor at Budapest Metropolitan University and at Eötvös Loránd University’s Atelier Department of Interdisciplinary History. 

Subtitled ’Lectures about the relationship between past, knowledge and creation’, the book incorporates materials of Ádám Takács’s course ’Critical thinking and art’, taught at METU’s Faculty of Arts and Creative Industries in Fall 2020. The book builds on the content and discussions of the online classes. Turning spoken words into writing, it creates a unique genre mixing orality and literacy. 

The main goal of the book is to give an understanding of how we can adapt historical perspectives to help us navigate better in our own world. 

The contains valuable and important materials for not only students and professors, but also for those outside the community of the university. Ádám Takács believes that the topics of the chapters cover many elements, making it interesting for high school students, history majors, social science researchers and non-professional readers alike. ‘Some use it as a textbook, for others, it is a literary experience.’ - Ádám shared, based on feedback from his readers. 

The book builds on the content and discussions of the online classes. Turning spoken words into writing, it creates a unique genre mixing orality and literacy. This type of free narrative makes the text more personal and uniquely exact. 

‘It was a difficult process with many questions and dilemmas. How much should we stick to the style of orality? Should we keep parts that are not necessarily ‘book materials’, but evoke the feelings, atmosphere and mood of the interactions between professors and students? The final book recreates the atmosphere of the course in an authentic way, but it is also immaculate as an independent writing and as an academic work.' Shared Dr. Pörczi Zsuzsanna. 

The book speaks to both students and professors, as it contains valuable and important materials for the whole community of the university.  

In Dr. Pörczi Zsuzsanna’s opinion, engaging with past and history is of crucial importance for all who think and create, but unfortunately high school history classes does not always allow enough room for this. 

'Why does history move us? What should we do with it? How should we approach the relationship between past, present and future? These are the real questions of history. While knowledge of historical events and dates are essential, they alone are not enough to really understand history. The past, our own memories, and memories of communities we belong to all appeal to us in a personal way. They also define our present and can have significant effect on how we build our future. We believe that having the right approach to history is a crucial pillar of critical thinking. This is why we invited Ádám Takács, the outstanding lecturer of ELTE to hold a course about this. As an institution with art programs, it is of key importance to us to make our students understand the relationship between history and arts: to what extent it can connect past and present, how it can help us understand times that would otherwise be unreachable.’ 

2021. 09. 03.