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Last fall, Dr. Barbara Franz traveled to Budapest, Hungary, via a Fulbright Scholar Award, her third honor from the prestigious organization. Previously, she earned two Fulbright Specialist awards, which brought her to Lithuania and South Africa. 

As a Fulbright Scholar, Franz sought to understand the root causes of right-wing youth extremism, a topic she has explored during the past several years. 

“There have been extensive efforts, not just from the fringes of society but from the Hungarian government, to turn young people toward extremist ideologies,” says Franz, a professor of political science. 

The country, under the leadership of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, has steadily become an autocracy as he has successfully undermined the courts, media and institutions of higher education, she says. Last year, the European Parliament released a  stating that “Hungary can no longer be considered a full democracy.”

Finding subjects for her research was difficult at first as Budapest is the liberal capital of the otherwise conservative country. Franz was able to identify some Hungarian youth extremists and verify their statements through the work of Hungarian academic colleagues. She recently wrote a paper about her findings and submitted it for publication. Among the motivations for their extremist ideologies, Franz found that an individual’s place of origin and use of social media were driving forces. 

“Many right-wing young people in much of Central and Western Europe are really much more interested in Russia than they were in the U.S., which was very surprising to me, especially because of the Ukrainian war, which is right on the border of Hungary,” she says.

Another notable finding was the subjects’ interest in transgender individuals. Hungary recently passed a law banning transgender individuals from legally changing their gender. 

“The transgender debate that is taking place in many states in the U.S. is a big issue for some Hungarian youth extremists, which is interesting because laws do not recognize transgender people in Hungary. This focus on transgender issues is clearly the product of social media influence.”

In addition to her research, Franz taught two courses at her host institution, Eötvös Loránd University, known as ELTE. The university is one of the few remaining independent schools in the country, Franz says. The two new classes, “ European Security and Foreign Policy” for undergraduates and “Immigration and Right-Wing Extremism” for graduates, sparked lively discussions among the students, many of whom were international students. For the undergraduate students, Franz exposed them to a learning style that was new to them. 

“At Rider, we know that students may not necessarily understand the material if they are not doing hands-on reading, group work and presentations,” she says. “I had the ELTE students, who were used to classes that consisted solely of lectures, do all of these. I met many brilliant students and am still writing letters of recommendation for some of them.”