Today, CEU will graduate its first ever class of students from the four-year Undergraduate Studies Program. As the cohort completed their degrees, CEU spoke with three of the soon-to-be graduates about how time abroad shaped their academic experiences.
Expanding Perspectives Toward a Future Path
Lili Kátai is completing her four-year BA degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics at CEU, with a specialization in philosophy. During the third year of her studies, Kátai, who is from Budapest, Hungary, chose to study abroad for five months in the United States at the University of Chicago, a participating institution in CEU’s student exchange program.
“The University of Chicago is a huge university. The size meant that there were departments for even quite niche topics to explore and it was important for me to broaden my perspectives and study specific things,” she said. Kátai added: “I was always really interested in art history, art theory and literature, so I took many of these classes in Chicago and really enjoyed them.”
She said that taking the courses shifted her perspective about her future. In realizing she wanted to pursue a path involving art history and humanities, Kátai has since pursued continuing studies in a related master’s program and has been accepted to both CEU’s Museum Studies MA program and to Vienna’s University of Applied Arts for the fall of 2024.
At CEU, undergraduate students in both the three and four-year bachelor’s programs have the chance to go abroad. For those in the four-year program pursuing the bachelor’s degree accredited in both Austria and the United States, there is more flexibility regarding the time of year and duration of the exchange.
Kátai’s bachelor’s thesis focused on the philosophy of art criticism and standards of taste. For her capstone project, Katai created a podcast with the support of CEU’s Media Hub, for which she interviewed a practicing art critic on questions related to her research. When asked about her study abroad experience beyond the academics, Kátai mentioned that she lived with friends and traveled around the U.S. during breaks, visiting California and New York. She also said she enjoyed the American campus environment: “There was this beautiful chapel in the middle of the campus. And sometimes I went there to play the piano. That was a lovely highlight.”
Following a Subject Area Abroad
Marianna Wicha is completing her BA from CEU’s Culture, Politics and Society program. She double majored in sociology and social anthropology, and visual theory and practice, with a minor in philosophy. For her study abroad, she chose Bard College Berlin, attracted specifically by the art and theater courses and the opportunity to spend a year in the culturally vibrant German city.
“The opportunity to study theater was very important for me. The university had a directing class and performance studies class, and the professors were practitioners in Germany as well, so it felt connected to the arts scene,” said Wicha. She added: “Taking courses in theater arts, visual politics and sociology helped with my next steps because I have now been accepted to do a masters in dramaturgy in Berlin at the Ernst Busch Hochschule fur Schauspielkunst. I will be going there next year.”
Outside of her coursework, Wicha participated in activist performance projects in Berlin. She joined a feminist theater group called Madalena Berlin, participating in a street performance on International Women's Day. She also did a flash mob-style performance with the non-partisan movement, Extinction Rebellion, which aimed to draw attention to the diminishment of biodiversity.
![](/sites/undergraduate.ceu.edu/files/resize/remote/38d651d60679272300a2b16945d3ed49-1024x768.jpeg "Wicha's theater directing class short play, "The Family Dinner", at Bard College Berlin's Open Studios evening. Photo courtesy of Wicha.")
For her thesis, Wicha did a case study on the performing arts program of the Brunnenpassage, a social art space in Ottakring. Her capstone project was a theater workshop which she and fellow student Vera Riesz hosted at Kulturhaus Brotfabrik. Her advice to those considering study abroad during their undergraduate studies at CEU is: “If you feel like there are interesting courses somewhere else that you can really benefit from, I think it's worth it. But you must be prepared that it's challenging as well to leave CEU and go to a new place.”
Building Networks and Friendships
For Subham Manandhar, who is from Nepal, CEU’s Culture, Politics and Society program led him to specialize in cultural and historical studies, as well as visual studies and practice. His thesis, advised by Khadija Zinnenburg Carroll, and his capstone project centered on the process of repatriation and the practice of culture related to Nepal’s stolen artifacts.
“I feel like studying abroad was useful for me because I got an idea of what I could do in the future. I had one perspective from CEU, and then when I went to Bard College (New York), it introduced different ideas about what I could do in life and what kind of fields I could go into,” said Manandhar, who received a scholarship for mobility through the Open Society University Network (OSUN).
Mandandhar credits OSUN for initially introducing him to students, faculty and staff from Bard. Prior to his study abroad, he attended the network’s Get Engaged Conference in Kyrgyzstan. “The people I met through OSUN became close and important for me even before I went to Bard. At the conference, I met people who were students at the college, faculty, and some people who worked in the civic engagement and OSUN offices. The Bard students I met in Kyrgyzstan became like a family, sharing meals and regularly hanging out.”
Manandhar also said that one of the things he was able to do at Bard was balance social life and take part in creative projects. “I helped to organize a project at Bard called ‘Falling in Love With a Stranger’. We got funding from the civic engagement office, and it was about getting people who don't know each other to talk on a deeper and more meaningful level.” He also traveled to cities including Denver and Chicago during his time in the U.S. and was able to go regularly to New York City due to its proximity to Bard.
In the immediate term, Manandhar hopes to remain in Vienna to pursue an internship or a position related to cultural heritage conservation, and then eventually return to his home country of Nepal. When asked about his most memorable highlights, he said: “I made good friends from my time abroad, friends that have stuck. Recently they came to Vienna, and I feel like these friendships are going to be lifelong, and that’s really special.”