This interdisciplinary conference The Future of Polish Studies will take place on July 6 and 7, 2023 in Warsaw as a joint initiative of the University of Warsaw and the University of Cambridge.
The aim of the event is to bring together leading experts in multiple disciplines to discuss the state of their fields and directions for innovative development of „Polish Studies” in the broadest possible sense. Particular emphasis will be placed on strategic challenges and opportunities in the study of Poland and its region; fostering effective interdisciplinary research and cooperation; identifying the most significant current research questions and theoretical approaches; cultivating productive engagement with wider audiences and institutions; and determining necessary changes in the study of the broader Central and Eastern European region in the context of Russia’s full-scale war on Ukraine.
July 6
9.15 am – 10.00 am – Registration and coffee
10.00 am – 10.20 am – Opening
10.20 am – 11.00 am – Keynote
Norman Davies (Polish Studies Foundation), The Future of Polish Studies
11.00 am – 11.30 am – Coffee break
11.30 am – 1.00 pm – Panel 1: History and Cultural History
Moderator: Robert Frost (University of Aberdeen)
Jan Gryta (University of Southampton), Between Polish and Global History. In Search of the Demarcation Line
Brian Portee-Szűcs (University of Michigan), Beyond Anticommunism: Studying the PRL in the 21st Century
Ewa Ochman (University of Manchester), Polish Studies and Transnational and Global Histories
1.00 pm – 2.00 pm – Lunch
2.00 pm – 3.30 pm Panel 2: Literature and Language
Moderator: Tamara Trojanowska (University of Toronto)
Schamma Schahadat (University of Tübingen), Polish Studies as Area Studies? Some Reflections on Literary History as Entangled History
Edyta Nowosielska (University of Cambridge), Shaping the Future: Challenges and Perspectives in Polish Language Studies in the UK
Benjamin Paloff (University of Michigan), Polish Literature’s Brief Future: A Prophecy
3.30 pm – 4.00 pm – Coffee break
4.00 pm – 5.30 pm – Panel 3: Public Outreach and Digital Polish Studies
Moderator: Richard Butterwick-Pawlikowski (Polish History Museum; UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies)
Robert Bubczyk (Maria Curie-Skłodowska University, Lublin), E-Polish Studies. A Joint Project of Online Studies Conducted by John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin and Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin
Marek Skulimowski (Kosciuszko Foundation), The Kosciuszko Foundation and Polish Studies Programs in the U.S.
Clarinda Calma (Embassy of the Republic of Poland in London), Reflections on Promoting All Things Polish in the UK
July 7
9.30 am – 11.00 am – Panel 4: Social Sciences
Moderator: Jan Kubik (Rutgers University; UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies)
Adam Daniel Rotfeld (University of Warsaw), The Future of Polish Studies on International Security
Marta Bucholc (University of Warsaw), The Place of Sociology in the Landscape of Polish Studies
Stanley Bill (University of Cambridge), Centring the ‘Periphery’: Poland’s Politics in Comparative Context
11.00 am – 11.30 am – Coffee break
11.30 am – 1.00 pm – Panel 5: Decolonialising Central and East European Studies
Moderator: Joanna Niżyńska (Indiana University)
Rory Finnin (University of Cambridge), Terra Malecognita: Ukraine and the Challenges of Academic Decolonization
Tomasz Zarycki (University of Warsaw), On the Inherently Orientalist Nature of Central and East European Studies
Andrzej Szeptycki (University of Warsaw), Ukrainian Studies: Colonised and Decolonized
1.00 pm – 2.00 pm – Lunch
2.00 pm – 3.30 pm – Concluding Roundtable
Moderator: Stanley Bill (University of Cambridge)
Robert Frost (University of Aberdeen)
Tamara Trojanowska (University of Toronto)
Richard Butterwick-Pawlikowski (Polish History Museum; UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies)
Jan Kubik (Rutgers University; UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies)
Joanna Niżyńska (Indiana University)
Download the programme in PDF → here.
Meeting ID: 949 0999 4720
For organizational reasons, we recommend registering online.
Registering online you consent for the University of Warsaw to process your personal data included in the registration form for the purpose of your registration and participation in the conference entitled “The Future of Polish Studies”. Detailed RODO information is available here.
