Back
The professional careers of Ágnes Kapitány and Gábor Kapitány are strongly intertwined. They both obtained a university degree in Hungarian language and literature from the Faculty of Humanities of Eötvös Loránd University, Gábor in 1972 and Ágnes in 1977. In 1973 Gábor also completed a degree in psychology, while Ágnes a specialization in aesthetics and sociology. Later, in 1984, they obtained academic candidate degree in sociology together, and were both awarded the title of honorary doctor of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in 2004. Ágnes, like Gábor, worked at the Research Institute of Culture; first, they were researchers, and then senior research fellows. In 1992, they became senior research fellows, and since 2004 they have been scientific consultants at the Research Institute for Sociology, Hungarian Academy of Sciences.
Meanwhile, they have conducted over 20 research studies and participated in several international research projects on various topics (including the transformations of national identity and the evolution of cultural patterns). Symbols and processes of symbolization represent a shared element in their work, the symbolism of visuality being a recurrent topic of their studies, while they have also been engaged in the exploration of values and value systems. They have analyzed the world views of historical eras from sociological, cultural anthropological and social theoretical perspectives.
Gábor Kapitány and Ágnes Kapitány have both vast experience in teaching that they acquired first at the Faculty of Architecture of Budapest University of Technology, and later the Departments of Psychology and Cultural Anthropology as well as the Doctoral School of Psychology of Eötvös Loránd University. (In 2010, they taught courses at the Doctoral School of the University of Pécs, too.)
At present, both Ágnes and Gábor Kapitány are professors at Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design; Ágnes was associate professor from 2001 to 2004 and university full professor since, while Gábor is a private university tutor. Both are members of the Hungarian Sociological Association, funding members of the Hungarian Cultural Anthropological Association (of which Gábor was Vice-President for 10 years), members of the Hungarian Association for Semiotic Studies (where they are also members of the board), and also of the Working Committee of Semiotics of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and the Hungarian Political Science Association. At different times, each of them participated in the jury of the National Science Foundation (Ágnes between 2001 and 2004, while Gábor from 2010 to the present).
(Written by András Páldi András university student)
List of publications of Ágnes Kapitány
List of publications of Gábor Kapitány
Curriculum Vitae of Ágnes Kapitány
Curriculum Vitae of Gábor Kapitány
To read the interview (available in Hungarian), please request your registration on http://voices.osaarchivum.org/. When registered, you will find all professional history interviews under the menu title “Interview collection in the history of sociology”.