‘For the preservation of the Hungarian race, its social welfare and successful future, the only path is through outstanding education and research…’[1]
The leadership of the University of Theatre and Film Arts, in harmony with the goals set down in its founding document in the course of the university system’s restructuring, is committed to raising interest in the institution’s students, instructors and researchers by achieving and promoting results, both artistic and scholarly, that showcase the values of universal and natural culture.
With the establishment of the peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary journal Urania, released each semester and made readily available, the time has come for our colleagues to make their artistic and scholastic statements public on their own published platform – as it is done at similar universities. The goal of the journal is to fill a central role in bringing to light research and publications that integrate theatre, film and media studies within the country and internationally.
As we wish to provide a forum for the authors, our paramount goal is to strengthen, in our country’s scholarly community, the existence of a dialogue in scholarly and artistic areas that defines our national culture. Moreover, by these means, we wish to offer our readers alternatives to prejudices and ingrained ideas related to these themes. This aim is also served by the English-language version of Urania, which we release with the intended goal of further strengthening our university’s international relationships and establishing more effective and diverse cooperation with our partners.
When choosing a name (besides the divine Greek muse and the naming of an Enlightenment period journal), our imposing main building, the Urania, which figures in our university’s centuries-old tradition, also played a role. At the end of the nineteenth century, it was home to the Urania Academic Theatre and later the Urania Cinema and Hungarian theatre training.
By publishing scholarly tracts, the journal, in line with the university’s profile and the unique role it serves, will provide a forum for objectively measurable achievements and expectations, thereby supporting our institution in the improvement of its competitiveness, effectiveness and quality.
We recommend our journal to all individuals active in artistic and scholastic fields, students of these fields, and everyone who has an interest in Hungarian theatre, film and media culture.
Zsolt Antal
Editor-in-Chief
FOOTNOTE
[1] Quotation from the text of the deed certificate, according to which the University of Theatre and Film Arts, in compliance with Law LXXII ratified by Parliament in 2020, is to continue its operation as a renewed institution of higher education under the aegis of the University of Theatre and Film Arts Foundation, a trustee foundation of public duty and interest.