FALL SEMESTER

*Please note that courses are subject to change.

The History of Poland

This course will acquaint students with the most important problems of Poland’s political and social history, from the country’s beginnings to the Third Partition. Students will gain the factual and conceptual knowledge necessary to grapple with Polish history. An important aim of this lecture is to highlight the evolution of the Polish state and society, along with the development of the national consciousness. A supplement to the image of Poland and its people in the past is provided in the history of Polish culture and its pivotal chapters (the noblemen’s democracy, national uprisings, Solidarnosc). An important role in the teaching process is played by audiovisual materials and other aids: documentary films, fragments of historical films, historical artefacts, slides, and the Internet. The final grade will be determined on the basis of the students’ activity and final recapitulation, which will check the students’ knowledge of Polish history.

Inside Warsaw’s History

Thisis a course on Warsaw’s history aimed at presenting the history of the Polish capital in its architectural background. Each session is devoted to a particular period in the city’s history. Each lecture is combined with visits to important historical sites in Warsaw.

Introduction to the History of Polish Culture and Civilization – Audio-Visual Lectures

This course aims to acquaint students with basic information about Poland, its history, culture, historical monuments, as well as about Polish traditions, festivals and customs. The life and works of great Poles are also outlined. Students have an opportunity to learn about the history of Poland from the time of her Christianization in 966 up to the emergence of today’s democratic Poland in 1989-1990. Classes are devoted to detailed discussions of particularly important events and processes, e.g. the conflict between Poland and the Teutonic Knights, the wars with neighbors in the 17th century, national uprisings in the 19th century, the regaining of independence and the shaping of Polish borders after the First World War, the Katyn massacre, and the Warsaw Uprising. Moreover, separate lectures are devoted to the lives of great and famous Poles, e.g. Nicolaus Copernicus, Frederic Chopin, Adam Mickiewicz and Karol Szymanowski, and to a presentation of their works. Discussions of the most popular Polish festivals and customs, e.g. Christmas, Easter, St. Andrew’s Day, or Palm Sunday, is accompanied by documentary films and excerpts from feature films illustrating how a particular holiday or custom is celebrated. These lectures provide an introduction to the special meetings at the Ethnographic Museum, where students participate in the Museum’s specially organized celebrations of St Andrew’s Day, Christmas and Easter. Presentations of selected Polish cities, e.g. Warsaw, Krakow, Gdansk, Częstochowa and Kazimierz Dolny, and their monuments are also a part of the lecture series introducing foreigners to Polish culture. All the lectures have a non-specialized nature, and each semester closes with a multiple-choice test examination.

16 Years of Transformation in Poland (1990-2006)

This course offers an overview of contemporary events in Poland, in particular the years after 1989, i.e. the period of political and economic transformation. The lecturers are Warsaw University professors who discuss various aspects of, and various angles of, the approach to these transformations: economic, political, historical, sociological, legal, psychological and cultural.

Polish History and Literature on the Silver Screen

This film-oriented course has a different character. The topic of lectures are films based on historical events relating to Poland, or cinematic adaptations of Polish literary works. Many topics are closely connected to those discussed in the lectures in the course entitled “Introduction to the History of Polish Culture and Civilization,” e.g. the Battle of Grunwald, the 17th-century wars with Sweden and Turkey, the Chmielnicki Uprising in Ukraine, the Warsaw Uprising, workers’ protests and the strikes of the 1970s and 80s. Among the films viewed and discussed during classes are: Krzyzacy, Ogniem i mieczem, Pan Wołodyjowski, Zemsta, Pan Tadeusz, Szwadron, Chlopi, Lalka, Ziemia obiecana, Wesele, Przedwiosnie, Brzezina, Panny z Wilka, Dwa księzyce, Samson, Kanal, Kolumbowie, Popol i diament, Krajobraz po bitwie, Przesluchanie, Czlowiek z marmuru, Czlowiek z zelaza. Each event and literary work, as well as their historical context, are presented in the lectures. Students receive from the lecturer a specially prepared written commentary introducing the film (in Polish andEnglish). Each film is shown with English subtitles, therefore this very popular lecture series is invariably appreciated by all students, even those who do not know Polish very well yet. The lecture series closes with a written, multiple-choice examination that gauges knowledge of the contents of the films shown and the material contained in the commentaries.

Focus on the New Poland. Changes of the Last Decade in Polish Film

This workshop involves films showing Poland in the times of systemic transformations. It complements the lectures on “16 Years of Transformation in Poland (1990-2006).” Films presented during these workshops include: Panna Nikt, Farba, Dlug, Amok, Zmruz oczy, Czesc, Tereska, Edi, Zurek, Cud purymowy, Dzien Swira, Pregi, Komornik, Duze zwierze. They belong to the most acclaimed Polish film productions of recent years. The course ends with a written, multiple-choice examination that tests students’ knowledge of the content of films and the material contained in the commentaries handed out before each film.

Polish Culture and Civilization: Polish Festivals – Audio-Visual Lectures

Film-based workshops on Polish festivals whose common motif are Polish holidays and festivals, religious occasions as well as family and state events: Christmas, Easter, Mother’s Day, Corpus Christi, All Saints’ Day, Labor Day, Constitution Day and others. Apart from its didactic aim – to acquaint foreign students with the calendar of Polish festivals – this series attempts to present the changes in the spheres of morality and custom that Polish society has undergone in the last few years. Each holiday presented in the films is discussed by the lecturer beforehand, and described in a brief handout. The course closes with a written multiple-choice test.