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Connecting Modern Thought and Ancient Studies
"I think the visit to the United States infected
me with some optimism and encouraged me to be
more creative and effective in my work,"
said Matyas Havrda, a Czech Fulbright Scholar,
of the year he spent at Claremont Graduate University
in Claremont, California.
It was at Claremont's Institute for Antiquity
and Christianity (IAC) that Havrda conducted his
research on the heterodox background of Christian
philosophy in the early Roman period. The IAC
is well-known as one of the leading centers of
research in heterodox Christianity and offers
scholars a great deal of resources. Of IAC, Havrda
said he "could hardly have imagined better
resource conditions." The well-equipped,
easily accessed libraries allowed his intellectual
curiosity to roam with few boundaries.
Havrda attended most of the events organized
by the IAC during his visit, including two three-day
conferences and a number of public lectures. He
also took advantage of the opportunity to attend
the 2004 Regional Meeting of the Society for Biblical
Literature in Southern California. In addition
to attending these conferences and lectures, Havrda
gave three presentations of his own, traveling
around the United States to cities such as Atlanta
and Chicago. He valued greatly these chances to
receive both comments and criticism from his colleagues,
including many leading experts in the field, on
his views and research.
These interactions ranked among the many pleasant
surprises of Havrda's Fulbright experience. "U.S.
professors seemed to be genuinely interested in
giving me every possibility to express myself,
which was sometimes a little bit scary, and in
their criticism they were careful not to sound
discouraging," said Havrda.
The wealth of material available at the IAC led
Havrda to refocus his research during his stay.
His original intention of writing a full commentary
of Hippolytus' Refutatio proved too ambitious,
but with the expanded resources Havrda was able
to concentrate on a few more focused aspects and
prepare short studies.
Even immersed in ancient literature, Havrda took
note of the quest of U.S. scholars to find contemporary
relevancy for their work. Though that is a perspective
that can be difficult to achieve in purely historical
research, Havrda noted that his exposure to that
focus has led him to take seriously the demand
for relevancy in academic pursuits, the biggest
change to his academic practices to result from
his Fulbright experience.
Havrda keeps in touch with many of his U.S. colleagues,
some of whom have been to visit him in Prague.
He is working to help professors from Claremont
publish Czech translations of their books and
has been offered the opportunity to publish his
own works in the IAC's Occasional Papers series.
Reflecting on his time at Claremont, Havrda noted
that being a Fulbrighter widened his global perspective,
while helping him to see more clearly some qualities
of his native Czech Republic that he had taken
for granted. "The experience is invaluable,
both professionally and personally, and I am sincerely
grateful for it," concludes Havrda.
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exchange is the most significant current project
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nations can learn to live in peace"
--J. William Fulbright |
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