Csonka-Takács, Eszter, PhD

Education

1986–1991	Eötvös József Collegium, Budapest
1988–1993	Eötvös Loránd University of Budapest, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Hungarian language and literature, library and information sciences and ethnography; MA in Hungarian language and literature and ethnography
1995–2006	Eötvös Loránd University of Budapest, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Department of Ethnography, Doctoral Program in Comparative Ethnographic Studies; PhD candidate
2006	PhD in ethnography (summa cum laude)

Employment

1990–1993	librarian, Library of the Institute for Literary Studies of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences
1991–1992	teaching assistant, Eötvös Loránd University of Budapest, Department of Ethnography
1994–1997	research assistant, Institute of Ethnography of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences
1997–1999	librarian, Vocational Secondary and Training School for Building and Ornament Art
1998–1999	Hungarian Academy of Sciences–RSYLFF scholarship recipient, Institute of Ethnography of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences
1999–2001	assistant to system administrator, Institute of Ethnography of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences
1999–2004	research fellow, European Folklore Institute
2004–2009	deputy director, European Folklore Institute
2009–	director, Intangible Cultural Heritage Department, Hungarian Open Air Museum

Scholarships

1994–1997	Hungarian Academy of Sciences Scholarship for Young Researchers
1998–1999	Hungarian Academy of Sciences–RSYLFF Sasakawa Scholarship
2008	Eötvös Scholarship by the Hungarian State
2013–2105	János Bolyai Researcher Scholarship of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences

Membership

• Hungarian Ethnographical Society, Folklore Section, secretary of Folklore Section (2006-2012)
• Association for a European Folklore Center
• János Kriza Ethnographical Society (Kolozsvár)
• Hungarian National Commission for UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Committee of Experts – President (2012 -)
• Cultural Heritage Committee of the Hungaricum Commission – Vice- president (2013-)
• UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage – Expert (2014-)

Scholarly activities

Collaboration in research programs and projects

1996–2005	Index of Religious Motifs project sponsored by the Hungarian Scientific Research Fund
1997–2001	Database of Taboo Texts project sponsored by the Hungarian Scientific Research Fund
2000–	Encyclopaedia of Hungarian Folk Culture, Akadémiai Kiadó and Walter de Gruyter (editor and author)
2005–2009	Folk belief and folk religion at the modern age, OTKA
2009–2014	Folk religion, folk belief, religious folklore, 16th-21st centuries, OTKA
2011–2014	Etnfolok – Preservation and enhancement of folk cultural heritage in Central Europe funded by the EU Structural Funds through the Central Europe Programme
2012–2016	19th-20th century tradition and modernization in Transylvania’s changing ethnographic picture. Continuing basic research into building complex from Transylvania, OTKA

Conference papers on topics of folk belief and intangible cultural heritage in Hungarian language

Coference organization

1995	Soul, Death and the Afterworld (Institute of Ethnography of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences)
1997	Fate, Sacrifice and Divination (Budapest, Institute of Ethnography of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences)
1999	Demons–Spirits–Witches (Budapest, Institute of Ethnography of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences)
2001	7th SIEF Conference (Budapest, Institute of Ethnography of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences) Benediction and Malediction, Miracle and Witchcraft (Budapest, Institute of Ethnography of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences)
2004	Contemporary Folk Art–Equal Rights to Creativity (Budapest, European Folklore Institute)
2007	International Conference on Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (Pécs, Ministry of Education and Culture, European Folklore Institute, Cultural Center of Pécs)
2014	10 years of Intangible Cultural Heritage (Hungarian National Comission for UNESCO, Hungarian Open Air Museum – Intangible Cultural Heritage Department, Budapest University of Communication and Business)

Exhibition organization

2004	Contemporary Folk Art–Equal Rights to Creativity (Finnish-Hungarian Exhibition at the Zichy Castle in Budapest, Óbuda, European Folklore Institute and ITE Contemporary Folk Art Museum)
2013-2014	Capturing the Intangible - Tenth Anniversary of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (Hungarian Open Air Museum, Hungarian Museum of Ethnography)

Fieldwork

1995	Moldva – rituals of birth, death and funeral, Easter rituals
2005–	Gyimes – rituals of the turning points of human life

Bibliography

Studie in English

2010	The Convention the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in Service of our Living and Surviving Tradition – Task and Opportunities in Hungary. In Mihály Hoppál (ed.): Sustainable Heritage. Symposium on European Intangible Cultural Heritage. Budapest: European Folklore Institute, 45–50.

Editions in publications English language

2001	Eszter Csonka-Takács and Mihály Hoppál (eds.): Ethnology in Hungary: Institutional Background. Budapest: European Folklore Institute.
2002	Eszter Csonka-Takács and Mihály Hoppál (eds.): Eros in Folkore. Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó–European Folklore Institute (Bibliotheca Traditionis Europeae 3) [managing editor of] Heroes or Bandits. Outlaw Traditions in the Carpathian Region. Ed. V. Gasparikova and N. Putilov. Budapest: European Folklore Institute [In Russian, introduction and afterword in English]. [managing editor of] Authenticity Whose Tradition? Ed. László Felföldi and Theresa J. Buckland. Budapest: European Folklore Institute.
2005	Demons, Spirits, Witches 1. Communicating with the Spirits. Ed. Gábor Klaniczay and Éva Pócs in collaboration with Eszter Csonka-Takács. Budapest: CEU Press.
2006	Demons, Spirits, Witches 2. Ed. Gábor Klaniczay and Éva Pócs in collaboration with Eszter Csonka-Takács. Budapest: CEU Press. [publishing coordinator of] Bartók and Arab Folk Music. CD-ROM. Ed. Kárpáti János, Vikárius László and Pávai István. Budapest: Magyar UNESCO Bizottság–European Folklore Institute–MTA Zenetudományi Intézet.
2007	Barna Gábor–Csonka-Takács Eszter–Varga Sándor (eds.): Dance: Tradition and Transmission. Festschrift for László Felföldi. Szeged: Néprajz és Kulturális Antropológia Tanszék.
2008	Demons, Spirits, Witches 3. Ed. Gábor Klaniczay and Éva Pócs in collaboration with Eszter Csonka-Takács. Budapest: CEU Press. [editor] Ways of Safeguarding the Intangible Cultural Heritage. A pécsi nemzetközi konferencia előadásaiból, 2007. szeptember 17–20. Budapest: Európai Folklór Intézet.
2000–2008	Hungarian Heritage, ed. Mihály Hoppál and Eszter Csonka-Takács, vol. 1–9. Budapest: European Folklore Institute.
2011	Eszter Csonka-Takács – Viktória Havay /eds./ The Táncház Method: A Hungarian Model for the Transmission of Intangible Cultural Heritage. Inscription on the UNESCO Register of Best Safeguarding Practices of Intangible Cultural Heritage. Szentendre: Szabadtéri Néprajzi Múzeum.
2012-	A falu – a vidékfejlesztők lapja (szerkesztőbizottsági tag)
2014	"The flame must be kept alive." Candidature of Hungary to the Intergovernmental for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage 2014–2018. DVD Video.