Central European University
Founded in 1991, Central European University (Kozep-Europai Egyetem, CEU NY, CEU Private University) is an internationally recognized, private institution of graduate education in social sciences and humanities accredited in the United States, Austria, and Hungary. CEU promotes democracy and open societies through advanced research and research-based teaching and learning. This commitment has fostered a global network of over 15,000 alumni from 146 countries.
Central European University is a graduate institution of advanced research and teaching, dedicated to socially and morally responsible intellectual inquiry. Launching a new undergraduate offer in 2020, CEU’s distinctive educational program builds on the research tradition of the great American universities; on the most valuable Central European intellectual traditions; on the international diversity of its faculty and students; on its commitment to social service; and on its own history of academic and policy achievements in transforming the closed communist inheritance. CEU is committed to promoting the values of open society and self-reflective critical thinking. It aims at excellence in the mastery of established knowledge, courage to pursue the creation of new knowledge in the humanities, the social sciences, law and management, and engagement in promoting applications for each, in particular through their policy implications. CEU is a new model for international education, a centre for study of contemporary economic, social and political challenges, and a source of support for building open and democratic societies that respect human rights and human dignity.
In 2020, CEU established a new Democracy Institute based at its Budapest campus, which strives to enable the renewal and strengthening of democratic and open societies through world-class research, collaboration across academic and professional disciplines, teaching and the free exchange of ideas, and public engagement on a local, regional, and global scale.
The CEU DI recognizes current threats and the ever-changing landscape of democratic transition at the fulcrum between conflicting worldviews. Among the most significant challenges to democracy’s resilience today are those related to environment and sustainability, which require all-of-society responses. CEU DI has therefore established an Environmental Democracy Program with a focus on environmental democracy and rule of law, climate justice, and environment and security.