Iván Szelényi

---

 

Professor Iván Szelényi's distinctive quality as a teacher is his stature as a major social theorist and a prominent Hungarian dissident. His teaching draws on his vast range of knowledge and command of social theory, which allow him to explain the most complex subjects with ease, and his life experiences, which give him immeasurable compassion and understanding for his students and the human condition.

Szelényi’s contributions to the graduate training of students in the sociology department are exceptional. He regularly teaches a number of the most essential core courses with great effectiveness; he consistently offers special topic courses requested by graduate students designed to meet their emerging needs and interests. He directly mentors large numbers of graduate students through the difficult processes of becoming scholars, full-fledged colleagues and professional sociologists. He truly believes teaching is a two-way communication and that he can learn from his students, allowing the participants in his graduate seminars to set the agenda for the discussion and to talk about the issues which they consider most troubling or relevant.

While Szelényi’s devotion and success in graduate teaching are absolutely exceptional, he is also an amazingly active and effective undergraduate instructor. His undergraduate teaching is marked by his stature as an intellectual and his commitment to conveying the power of ideas to students, whatever their level. He brings dense, demanding texts alive for students and awakens in them a genuine longing for intellectual pursuits. He is a truly brilliant scholar who has such a firm grasp on complex theories that he can make them accessible to undergraduates without diluting their substance. His life experience in his native Hungary, as well as in England, Australia, Austria and the United States bring a global perspective to the materials that make theories come alive.

Szelényi’s impact on his undergraduate students is apparent in a variety of ways, not the least of which is the decision by many to become sociologists. They come to view sociology not as a series of abstract concepts but as a force with the power to change.

When Szelényi was the chair of the sociology department, he went to great lengths to improve the quality of instruction, revamping the “Introductory Sociology” course, increasing the number of regular faculty teaching other sociology courses required for the undergraduate major, expanding the offerings of the honors discussion sections and making sure good teaching was rewarded by the department. Iván Szelényi is a teacher in the noblest sense of the word.