Beáta Kovács

Beáta Kovács

Beáta Kovács, PhD candidate, Institute of Political Sciences at Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest

 

I am a PhD student at the Doctoral School of Political Sciences at the Eötvös Loránd University (Budapest). I hold a master’s degree in Political Science (2018) and a bachelor’s degree in International Relations, both granted by the same university.

There are two things that fascinate me most about political science. First: how political mind irrational yet rational can be. And second: the challenge of doing research on something which is rationally irrational. As a PhD student, I deal with the fun but also the sad irrationality of political logic. I write my doctoral thesis about the politics of fear, more specifically I study the connection between ideological identity and fear. I would like to argue that the categories of left and right continue to be defining aspects of political identities, and by mapping their emotional structure we can better understand the current relevance of these ideologies. By examining fears related to the refugee crisis and climate change, my research aims to show how political ideology works in our everyday lives and has an influence on our (political) decisions.  

Previously, I conducted research on different topics like migrations-related fears, populist and authoritarian tendencies in local politics, right-wing populism in Hungary, etc. I consider myself a qualitative researcher: in addition to being familiar with qualitative techniques (interviewing and projective techniques), I simply love talking with people and I also love listening to them. Putting these skills into everyday practice, I worked as a customer advisor for nearly 2 years, and I organized Mindfulness sessions voluntarily.  

Outside of work, I am an avid runner and an amateur Tarot-card reader. I am also a big fan of the Greek language and the Greek cuisine.

 

Contact

E-mail: bkovacs1@ualberta.ca
Telephone: 780-492-6390
Address:
University of Alberta
Wirth Institute for Austrian and Central European Studies
300-F
Arts & Convocation Hall
Edmonton, Alberta
Canada T6G 2E6