Department of Political Geography, Development and Regional Studies

The Department of Political Geography, Development and Regional Studies is a successor of the Department of Political Geography and Regional Development and the Department of Applied and General Environmental Geography. The general mission of our Department is teaching and investigating various fields of regional, urban and environmental development, historical and political geography as well as ethnic and religious geography, geopolitics, international relations, Balkan, Mediterraean, Iberian, Latin-American and Asian studies, regional cohesion and international politics of the EU. Our intention is to pass knowledge to and develop skills of students (both at Master and Bachelor levels) which make them capable of understanding and analysing problems of regional, urban and environmental development as well as supporting and making decisions regarding this field. Improving practical skills of preparing feasibility studies, concepts, strategies and programs for regional development are also core elements of the Department’s educational activity.

Research activities of the Department cover political geography and geopolitics (theory and concept of geopolitics, comparative geopolitics, geopolitics of Hungary, state building), border studies, Balkan studies (Kosovo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, ethnic homogenization, ethnocratic regimes), regional, urban and environmental development in Hungary (development of disadvantageous microregions, tourism development, education geography of Hungary), ethnic and religious geography in CE and SEE (Islam in SEE and CE, ethnogenesis), Mediterranean, European, Latin-American and Asian (focusing on India and China) studies, theory of international relations, regime changes and many more. For detailed information on research activity see the CVs of the individual colleagues and their list of publications (MTMT).

Involvement in applied research projects is also characteristic for the scholars of the Department. Projects in regional development, tourism development, economic development, human resource and human infrastructure development, rural development are major fields where the colleagues of the Department converted their academic knowledge to practical benefits. Participation in international cooperation is an activity of growing importance of the Department. Projects related to higher education (ERASMUS,TEMPUS, COMENIUS) and projects with practical development objectives (INTERREG, IPA) as well as research oriented ones (FP7, Jean Monnet) can be found among the past experiences.

The Department is the main organizer of the largest and oldest conference on political geography in Hungary with an uninterrupted history covering almost two decades, as well as co-organizer of Mediterranean Symposium. The department publishes three periodicals, an online journal (Mediterrán és Balkán Fórum – Mediterranean and Balkan Forum) for scientific purposes, a both online and offline periodical (Balkán Füzetek – Balkan Papers) and an offline periodical (Keleti Kiskönyvtár – Eastern Library) mainly for educational purposes. It is also coediting the Review of Mediterranean World. International relations are wide, covering universities and research institutions of various countries of the World.