Our Approach
The Faculty of “Artes Liberales” was established to create a space at the University of Warsaw for broad interdisciplinary research and education. A defining feature of the Faculty is the close connection between research and teaching. It combines innovative approaches with the intellectual heritage of classical antiquity while developing research and degree programmes that bring together the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Its research focuses on literary and cultural texts, language as a means of communication and meaning-making, as well as cultural and social practices examined in a variety of historical and geographical contexts.
The Faculty of “Artes Liberales” at the University of Warsaw was established on 1 October 2012 following the transformation of the Institute for Interdisciplinary Research “Artes Liberales”, created by a resolution of the University Senate on 23 January 2008. The Institute succeeded the Centre for Studies on the Classical Tradition in Poland and East-Central Europe at the University of Warsaw, which had been operating since 1991.
From the very beginning, the Faculty’s scholars have combined research in literary and language studies with perspectives drawn from cultural studies, history, and philosophy. They value the freedom to connect academic inquiry with creative work, without being constrained by rigid interpretive schools or historical periods. Their research is driven by cultural contexts and intellectual curiosity, while the methods they use are shaped by the questions they investigate. As a result, they frequently draw on insights from a wide range of disciplines, from biology and religious studies to game studies and climatology.
The Faculty is distinguished by its strong international partnerships and research centres established in collaboration with leading universities in Poland and abroad. Research conducted at the Faculty is problem-oriented and comparative, exploring literature, language, and culture in relation to social, political, and technological change.
The Faculty works closely with international partners on research projects and degree programmes, including initiatives carried out within European university networks. Its research is supported by European funding programmes, enabling projects with an international reach.
Research projects carried out at the Faculty include the study of literature and other cultural texts from both historical and contemporary perspectives, research on language and multilingualism, the relationships between language, identity, and cultural memory, as well as cultural and media practices.
Other important areas of research include cultural and philological studies, particularly Mediterranean and Modern Greek culture, the reception of classical antiquity, migration and borderland studies, animal studies, contemporary children’s and young adult literature in the context of book studies and the publishing industry, and the influence of the natural sciences—especially evolutionary theory and Anthropocene studies—on the development of the novel in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.