The Hun Scruton HUB (The Hungarian Scientific Hub of Scruton’s Heritage) is a research and creative community of Hungarian and international students, teachers, and lecturers. An intellectual workshop dedicated to maintaining and advancing the legacy and heritage of Sir Roger Scruton.
What characterizes the Scruton Hub?
Openness: Anyone can join the Scruton Hub community. Our events and programs are open to all who can identify with the work of our namesake or are interested in our activities.
Research community: To understand Scruton’s legacy, we need scholarly preparedness and background knowledge. At the Hungarian Scruton Hub, we place great emphasis on the importance of research activity, so scientific work along Scruton’s heritage, the publication of writings and analyses, and the organization of seminars are an integral part of what we do. We provide opportunities for Hungarian and international researchers and students to delve into the topic and create academic value.
Creator community: Scruton himself wrote philosophical and literary works, composed music, and, being versed in the visual arts, created on both theoretical and practical levels. “Works of art partly arouse our interest because they depict things, tell stories about things, express ideas and feelings, and deliberately convey meaning:” —as Scruton wrote in his book Beauty. At our cultural and artistic events, we give artists from various fields the chance to present their work, whether through book launches or exhibitions organized in our community spaces.
Our goal
“Conservatism is more an instinct than an idea.” Our main goal is to preserve and represent the tradition-respecting values of Sir Roger Scruton. We are committed to passing on conservative values and ideas to future generations in a welcoming way—primarily through intellectual debates and cultural events in our community spaces.
The Scruton HUB aims to take an active part in international scientific dialogue, with one of our key missions being the creation of original intellectual content. Our activities focus on four main areas:
Do you know Roger Scruton’s ideas? Are you interested in philosophy, theology, aesthetics, or politics? Would you like to be part of a youthful, ambitious intellectual group? Do you want to take part in the life of an active, open, conservative community? Then this is your place!
Through the Scruton Ambassador Program, participants can gain insight into the operation of the Hungarian Scruton HUB, attend its programs on political, social, and cultural topics, join in organizing events, and have the chance to engage more deeply with Scruton’s work (Budapest Scruton Seminar, Oxford: Scruton Memorial Lectures), as well as conduct independent research.
Our aim is to help our ambassadors develop their critical thinking, communication, and analytical skills, and become active contributors to and members of the Scruton community space.
In practice, the Ambassador Program is structured as follows:
Monthly thematic background discussions are organized for ambassadors, giving them opportunities to meet, engage in dialogue, and think together with recognized domestic and international experts.
We occasionally hold dinner discussions, where participants can ask questions of our invited guests in a relaxed, informal setting over dinner.
We also prepare lighter programs focused on community building: in the summer, we visit Scruton Pelso in Révfülöp, where our ambassadors can try out our boat.
We support professional development: if someone is active in academic fields, we provide opportunities for publishing and appearing publicly, and if someone would like to showcase their artistic side, we offer exhibition space.
We regularly organize lectures and conferences on various topics related to Scruton’s intellectual legacy, inviting both Hungarian and international speakers. These provide opportunities and a platform for debate, open dialogue, and networking. Our events focus on culture, public life, politics, philosophy, and the arts. Every year, we hold large-scale international conferences, while monthly events include lectures and debate evenings featuring foreign experts.
In the summer of 2023, we launched the first Budapest Scruton Seminar, where for a week, participating students attended lectures presenting Scruton’s life and work. During this summer school, we covered numerous important topics. Among our speakers were Sophie Scruton, Sir Roger Scruton’s widow; Marek Matraszek, president of CEC Group Central Europe; John O’Sullivan, president of the Danube Institute; Andy Hamilton, philosopher and professor at Durham University; and Prof. Dr. Balázs Mezei, professor at Corvinus University of Budapest. This autumn, we will follow up with a weekend seminar for which we are inviting applications from domestic and international university students and young professionals.
Alongside lectures and conferences, we also offer interactive programs for those interested. Here are a few examples:
Our aim is to have our work recognized at an academic level, which we pursue through various non-accredited courses and scientific publications.
The undergraduate module of our training program offers development opportunities for Hungarian students aged 18–25 enrolled in bachelor’s or master’s programs. As part of this, they can complete a two-semester course to explore Roger Scruton’s diverse work. In the first semester, participants attend lectures introducing Scruton’s thinking and Anglo-Saxon political philosophy. The second semester is organized as a reading seminar that builds extensively on the knowledge from the first. Requirements for applying to the course include student status and openness to philosophy.
In the near future, we plan to launch additional training programs, about which we will share more information on our social media and website.
In addition to our offline events, we strive to engage online audiences as well. To share Scruton’s spirit with as many people as possible, we regularly produce podcasts and shows featuring renowned domestic and international figures—philosophers, artists, researchers, architects, and public intellectuals—exploring different aspects of conservatism. In the near future, we plan to launch additional shows, which will be available on our YouTube and Spotify channels.
On Facebook, Instagram, and X, we aim to educate our audience with creative, informative posts. Through short, accessible content, we present Roger Scruton’s ideas and other areas of conservative philosophy.
We are also preparing to publish collected volumes and share educational articles and studies to reflect on and further develop Scruton’s writings.
