
The University of New Mexico
NEWS RELEASE
Contact: Carolyn Gonzales 505-277-5920,
cgonzal@unm.edu
Feb. 17, 2006
UNM Trains Hungarian Mediators
Not long after the Iron Curtain came down, Hungarians started arriving at the University of New Mexico. One at a time, they came as visiting research scholars to spend a semester studying alternative dispute resolution, mediation and arbitration.
“Conflict is a component of the work place,” said Zsof í a Drjenguszky, a doctoral student in sociology from Budapest. Drjenguszky is enrolled in human resources in the public sector taught by Zane Reeves, professor in public administration. She is also taking an introductory course on alternative dispute resolution and a class in theory of conflict, both taught by School of Law Professor Scott Hughes.
“I am also taking an intensive mediation training over two weekends. We work with real mediators in small groups. Although the training is controlled, it gives us real world experience,” Drjenguszky said. Her semester also includes tagging along with Reeves to observe arbitration in the courts.
The program got its start when Julius Rézler, a professor emeritus from Loyola University, relocated to Albuquerque and to UNM. Rézler, an economist, sociologist and labor arbitration specialist, became Reeves' colleague.
“He became my mentor and encouraged me to become an arbitrator. It was his dream to train arbitrators at UNM to go back and introduce the art of dispute resolution in Hungary,” Reeves said.
Rézler, who died in 2001, established the Julius Rézler Foundation in 1995 to introduce and develop dispute resolution and arbitration techniques in Hungary and Central Europe.
The foundation currently offers four different types of scholarships for Hungarian post-graduate students and young researchers. Since 1995, 22 scholarships in Hungary and 16 scholarships to UNM have been granted.
Of the students, Reeves said, “They are outstanding, eager and delightful students. It is amazing to see how well they do when they go back.”
And they do quite well. Some former Rézler students organized the Julius Rézler Mediation Institution in Hungary.
“The purpose of this organization is to use the knowledge in Hungary that we gained in the USA. So, we do mediation, we train and we conduct research in the field of conflicts and conflict resolution. Our specialty is that the members have the highest qualifications on ADR (alternative dispute resolution) in Hungary and most of the people are working on Ph.D. in this topic,” said Eszter Balogh, who came to UNM in 2003 and now teaches conflict resolution at Corvinus University.
Many of the visiting researchers have been law students. Hughes became acquainted with the program when one of the Hungarian students showed up in his legal writing course about five years ago. “ADR was her real interest, not legal writing. I fell in love with the students and with what they wanted to do,” he said.
He added that his American students “adopt” the Hungarian students. “They take them home, invite them places. They bring a broader worldview to New Mexico. Our entire program is enriched by having these students here,” he said.
Maria Kulisity, now a junior judge at the Capital Labor Court of Hungary and labor and employment law instructor, attended UNM in 2004. She said, “When I was in Albuquerque , I researched the connection and interaction between the judicial system and alternative dispute resolution. I gained lots of experience and knowledge, more that I can even imagine. Nowadays in Hungary we are building an alternative dispute resolution system because in the past for a long time we didn't have any,” she said.
She added that the Hungarians are also building an alternative dispute resolution system connected with the courts in response to a European Union directive.
Steve Borbas, university planner, is the students' unofficial Hungarian “dad” in Albuquerque . Borbas sets up living arrangements for the students with his next-door neighbor, shuttles the students to and from campus and arranges cultural outings. “They come over to do their laundry or just chat,” he said, adding that Hungarian conversation helps him stay in touch with his own heritage.
“Every time when I think of New Mexico, I realize that it was one of my happiest periods of my life and often I miss it very much. I can say on behalf of the other scholars, too, that we all loved and enjoyed the time in Albuquerque and got lots of professional and personal experience. Somehow we all work with alternative dispute resolution and the UNM program gave us the start and the determination for this,” said Kulisity.
Edward Teller, co-developer of the atom bomb in Los Alamos, was Hungarian. New Mexico now hosts Hungarians with more peaceable goals.
The University of New Mexico is the state's largest university, serving more than 32,000 students. UNM is home to the state's only schools of law, medicine, pharmacy and architecture and operates New Mexico's only academic health center. UNM is noted for comprehensive undergraduate programs and research that benefits the state and the nation.
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