The Eberly College of Arts and Sciences at West Virginia University will presentUnder the Influence: Hungarian/Gypsy Music and the European Traditionat 4 p.m. Friday, Sept. 19, in 118 Oglebay Hall.

Gyorgy Szonyi, director of the Central European International Studies Center at Szeged University in Szeged, Hungary, will use a multimedia approach to discuss a music tradition specific to Hungary through its Roma, or gypsy, influences and its impact on European culture.

While in Morgantown, he will also talk about WVU s exchange program with Szeged University.

The event, which is free and open to the public, is co-sponsored by the Slavic and East European Studies Program and the Department of History . Refreshments will be served.

Szonyis lecture will not only benefit students interested in Central European history and culture, but students studying musicology will profit from it as well,said Robert Blobaum , Eberly Professor of History at WVU .

Szonyi has taught in the English Department at the University of Szeged since 1977 and is currently a professor at Central European University, Budapest, as well. He has also taught at the University of Warsaw, Poland, and been a Fulbright visiting lecturer at Elon (N.C.) University and the University of Kansas.

Szonyi earned a masters degree in English and Hungarian literature in 1977 from Jzsef Attila University, followed by postgraduate studies in Polish philology at Etvs Lrnd University, Budapest.

He obtained his first doctoral degree from the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in 1993 and became tenured in English Renaissance and baroque studies at the ELTE University in 2000. In 2004, he obtained his second doctoral degree from the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.

More about Szonyi on the Net: http://www.staff.u-szeged.hu/~geszonyi/

For more information about Szonyis presentation, contact Blobaum at ” Robert.Blobaum@mail.wvu.edu rel=nofollow> Robert.Blobaum@mail.wvu.edu or 304-293-2421 ext. 5241.