“It’s a privilege that I can have an influence on other people’s lives” – interview with Dr Alexandra Nagy-Béni

After finishing high school, Dr Alexandra Nagy-Béni began studying Communication and Media Science, aspiring to become a sports reporter. During her university years, she developed an interest in organizational communication and even worked as a journalist and editor. Along her academic journey, there were always professors and mentors who had a big impact on her and who guided her. She was halfway through her master’s studies when she was informed about the doctoral program. That’s how she started her Phd studies in 2019, during which, already in the first semester she got the chance to try herself out as a lecturer. After her first time teaching, she realized this is her true calling, that’s why she stayed at Corvinus University as a teaching assistant, and as for today, she is currently an assistant professor of Communication and Media Science department. 

She explained in detail that studying communication is essential, as it is a fundamental part of society that connects everything with everything and that keeps it together, enabling us to understand social and political changes. Her research focuses on examining narratives foregrounded through visual and metonymic framing, mostly in news coverage of violence (meaning how the media represents complex events like war, using images). Due to the unfortunate relevance of this topic, researching plays a significant role in her future plans, with the purpose of understanding violent events shaping the future and the discourses around it. 

For her, students are a constant source of inspiration, and she views teaching as a mutual and shared process, since students also provide her with new chances for learning as well. Through working with students, she is, for example, introduced to such social media and communication tendencies and trends which she might not encounter in her daily life. She believes that teaching is a privilege, because it allows one to have an impact on others’ lives. According to her, this career path is both a noble duty and a huge responsibility, because she can directly shape the lives of students. That is why, in her lessons with first-year students, she aims to present the diversity of this field, encouraging them to explore as many opportunities as possible. 

Even if just one student tells me that in some way I was able to contribute to their university studies or their life, I am happy.

She advises students to enjoy their university years, and since not everyone is given the opportunity to pursue higher education, one should strive to make the most of this period of their lives. She said that the university offers many different opportunities worth taking advantage of, because one can never know when a single encounter or experience will have a significant impact on their future. She encourages students to be open to new things, to work hard, and to acquire as much knowledge as possible. 

When asked about the downsides of teaching, she highlighted that in her opinion every career has its difficulties, but she tries to see them as challenges to overcome. She believes that the hardship of education is the constant need for renewal, as educators must adapt to current tendencies, not only in terms of technology but also from the perspective of teaching methodologies. Alexandra Nagy-Béni shared that, over her five years of teaching so far, the most significant change she experienced on her students is related to attention span. Due to the evolving attention management, students, by their own admissions as well, have difficulties concentrating and get easily distracted, therefore she aims to find ways to overcome this challenge.

I am an enthusiastic type, I love my subjects, and I try to showcase this passion in my style of lecturing. In my opinion, a good lecturer resonates with both the subject and the audience, like living together with the complex equation of education, which usually can be felt by students too.

She never finds teaching monotonous and truly believes that “the field of communication and media doesn’t have one subject to which something new couldn’t be added yearly.” She emphasized that it is actually very important to refresh the study material each year, taking into account new research results. She finds that each lesson is different, therefore, she tries to seek novelty in all of them. She loves experimenting with new methods during her lessons, one of these was, for example, using Legos. She told us that when she assigned students the task to present their thesis and their feelings about it with the help of Legos, she received  positive feedback, since students who were about to face significant challenges enjoyed that they were able to view their upcoming milestone from a different perspective. 

Alexandra Nagy-Béni believes that the definition of a “good lecturer” varies subjectively for everyone, but looking back at her studies, she considers preparedness and the use of student-inclusive teaching methods as important characteristics. Instead of frontal teaching,  she prefers the student-centered approach, which is why in her lessons interactiveness, group exercises, and visual representation tasks are key elements. 

Since she only teaches courses in English, she finds it crucially important to create  a safe and welcoming environment, as students from diverse cultural backgrounds also have varying comfort zones. Her goal is to foster honest and transparent communication, even outside the classroom, because of how motivating that can be for students, who therefore can feel comfortable enough to participate in the class.

I strive for them to feel heard and know how valuable that is!

She shared that the facilitation of intercultural communication can also be seen during her lessons, both directly and indirectly. Not only guided team projects take place, but also  topics come up that have different culturally specific embeddings. She thinks that the practice gained from these tasks equips students with important skills that can be used later in their workplaces. On the one hand, they can learn to work together with people they didn’t know before, and on the other hand, they can master how to solve conflicts stemming from different work ethic and/or socialization practices. 

Picture: HÖK

Alexandra Nagy-Béni was named “Lecturer of the semester” in the spring of 2024. She described the awards ceremony as an uplifting experience, where she and her colleagues celebrated each other and their profession, teaching in a breathtaking environment and elevated mood. She felt happy and grateful when they announced she won, however added that even the nomination was an honor, because that means that the students think highly of her.

She believes this recognition shows that the work she puts into constantly refreshing her courses is worth it. This award proves that she is able to establish a connection with her students, who assess her effort to make the lessons more diverse and student-friendly positively. She is always happy about feedback, she appreciated it, for example, when the graduating class of the previous year referred to her as their “academic mom”, as it was her first time accompanying a year group through their whole university path. 

From a professional point of view, one of the most important feedback for me is this, and I am beyond grateful that I have the chance to do what I feel is mine to do and that is close to my heart. I hope that I can continue to say this for a long time.

Written by: Katalin Bogos, cover photo: Evelin  Horváth 

Source: KGO