Undergraduate Course Descriptions
Spring 2012
POL 211: Polish Society in Historical Perspective
Instructor: Michał Kaczmarczyk
Tuesday/Thursday 9:30 – 10:50
The course addresses crucial features and problems of the Polish society as viewed from the perspective of personal accounts, sociological reports, historical analyses, and works of art. This broad spectrum of sources is intended to be helpful in understanding the complexity of the Polish experience. It is intended to elucidate the changes of culture and social structure in Poland tracing them back to the historical processes of the 18th, 19th and especially 20th century. The course will cut across different experiences and factors which have been shaping the contemporary cultural patterns and values of Polish society. In particular these factors included the role of ethnic, national, and religious minorities, the changing political structures and social movements, and the relationships with other societies and countries. The course will also address the economic activity and professional structure of the Polish society focusing on its changes taking place during the transformation after 1989. Students will be encouraged to consider specific problems concerning most significant social groups like peasants, workers and the intelligentsia. We will also try to explain assimilation processes and collective memory among Polish emmigrants in different parts of the world.
POL 323: Polish Literature in Translation: Dangerous Books
Instructor: Marta Marciniak
Tuesday/Thursday 12:30 – 1:50, 107 Baldy Hall
For a very long time in Poland books were as dangerous as any other political activity that could undermine a dominant political or social system. At different points of Polish history censorship was one of the biggest challenges for writers, poets, and journalists. Paradoxically, under the extremely complex conditions the greatest Polish texts were created by the most uncommon literary minds of the country.
Dangerous Books will look into social, historical, and political circumstances that have shaped different forms of artistic expression in Polish literature. Literary texts written between the period of Polish Romanticism and the present will help us investigate the interdependence between Polish literature and what it means to be a real Pole under different historical circumstances. We will try to answer such questions as: Why is a particular text considered dangerous? Who or/and what may be threatened? Who decides on the perils literature may provoke?
We will read novels, plays, poetry, and essays that have been banned, censored, or considered controversial under different political systems in Poland. We will also explore literary themes that have been of particular interest to Polish authors and compare them with other national literatures of the same periods.
POL 338/HIS 385 Poland in Europe
Instructor: Michał Kaczmarczyk
Thursday 3:00 – 5:40 pm, Cooke Hall 127A
Poland in Europe aims to examine the idea of how political and historical processes taking place in Europe have shaped Poland as a nation-state and, conversely, how Poland as a political entity contributed to the formation of Europe. This course will investigate the evolution of the concept of Europe and its relation to such notions as Eastern, Western, or Central Europe. The question of what it really means for a country to be part of Europe and to be defined as European and what factors decide whether a nation-state may be included in the idea of Europe will rest at the center of our investigation. The students will explore how shifting political borders and concepts like unification and European-ness have influenced the idea of who may belong to the European heritage and who is excluded. They will also attempt to draw the borders of Europe and decide how they are different from the geographical boundaries of the European continent.
The course will focus on the place of Poland in Europe as seen and explored from the internal perspective of Polish authors, artists, political and religious leaders, as well as from the viewpoint of outsiders. Students will look into the question of how the concept of Europe has shaped the historical, social, and national consciousness of Poles and how Poles have contributed to and helped preserve the complex heritage of Europe. They will also investigate how Poland, one of the most ethnically and religiously diverse European countries, turned into a homogenous nation-state in only a few decades of the twentieth century, and how that influenced the Poles’ ties with other Europeans. The course will also examine the place of today’s Poland in Europe and the European Union. The students will analyze the politics of the European Union and attempt to connect the principles of this politics with the foundations of the idea of Europe.
Fall 2011
POL410: Social movements in Eastern Europe
Tuesday/Thursday 12:30 PM - 1:50 PM
Instructor: Michał Kaczmarczyk
Over the second half of the 20th century Eastern Europe has been an arena of distinctive social movements which largely contributed to the postmodern concept of nonviolent universalistic protest. This course addresses several movements which either shaped the contemporary societies in Eastern Europe or continue to inform and challenge its societies. We will focus in particular on the Poland’s Solidarity because sociologists largely differ as to the genesis and outcomes of that movement. While there have been many positive developments in the years of the transition to the market economy in 1990, we have also witnessed a decline of Solidarity and its relegation to a labour union only. Throughout the course, various explanations will be considered, including well-known sociological theories and empirical studies. We will reflect as well on other movements which were attempting to bring down East European totalitarian regimes and on the various modes of transition to a democratic order. The course will also include a discussion about contemporary postmaterialistic movements which have mushroomed in Eastern Europe in order to address more specific issues with a clear reference to universal values: in particular the feminist, environmental, and anti-racist movements.
POL210: The History of Poland
Tuesday/Thursday 9:30 AM - 10:50 AM
Instructor: Michał Kaczmarczyk
The course will encompass main events and turning points of Polish political and social history. From the very beginning of the Polish statehood, the Polish culture and social structures have been shaped by the influence of the Christian Church. The culture of the nobility which flourished in Poland in the 15th-17th centuries continues to influence the mentality of Poles. At the same time, from what came later to be known as the Polish golden age, emerged the foundations of Polish individualism, traditionalism, and anarchy. In turn, the period of lengthy dependence on the partitioning states in the 19th and 20th centuries provided the ground for romanticism, which on many occasions came back with vengeance in uprising spurts. The strong Polish national identity is deeply rooted in Polish culture, and especially in peasant culture. This course will address both factors enhancing common national consciousness, as well as ethnic and national diversity of Polish society along with changes in social inequalities over centuries.
POL 324: Poland Today
Tuesday/Thursday 11:00 AM - 12:20 AM
Instructor: Marta Marciniak
See flyer for POL 324: Poland Today
The goal of this course is for the students to get to know contemporary Poland, through reading and viewing re-creations and documentaries of its recent history (since 1944) and its current diverse, thriving and continually changing culture. We will be examining original artworks that question the nature of Polishness; we will watch world known, award-winning movies that fictionalize the country’s most recent story. We will read literature and poetry that will help us understand how it felt and what it meant, in specific places in time, to be Polish for various recognized Polish authors. We will attempt to acquire a fair view of the little fatherlands that make up the common mother country of Poland today, including several regional allegiances, the growing and diverse group of immigrants, and the numerous Polish community residing abroad, who are all an important part of the picture. We will also analyze documents of a diplomatic and political nature, in order to comprehend the development of Poland’s relations with the rest of the world, especially the US and the European Union, its main partners and allies since 1989.
By looking at the sources provided by the instructor, as well as additional materials recommended by her, we will try to dissect Poland, understood as a nation, a political entity, an idea, a “Tradition,” a home, an imagined home, a destination and a point of origin as well as of reference. In simpler terms, our goal is to comprehend how Poland has become what it is today, what it is today, and what perspectives it has for the future, as well as its links with other nations and states in economic and cultural terms.
Spring 2010
POL 338/HIS 385 Poland in Europe
Thursday 3:00 - 5:40, 88 Alumni
Instructor: Marta Marciniak
Click here to see the flyer of Poland in Europe
Poland in Europe aims to examine the idea of how political and historical processes taking place in Europe have shaped Poland as a nation-state and, conversely, how Poland as a political entity contributed to the formation of Europe. This course will investigate the evolution of the concept of Europe and its relation to such notions as Eastern, Western, or Central Europe. The question of what it really means for a country to be part of Europe and to be defined as European and what factors decide whether a nation-state may be included in the idea of Europe will rest at the center of our investigation. The students will explore how shifting political borders and concepts like unification and European-ness have influenced the idea of who may belong to the European heritage and who is excluded. They will also attempt to draw the borders of Europe and decide how they are different from the geographical boundaries of the European continent.
The course will focus on the place of Poland in Europe as seen and explored from the internal perspective of Polish authors, artists, political and religious leaders, as well as from the viewpoint of outsiders. Students will look into the question of how the concept of Europe has shaped the historical, social, and national consciousness of Poles and how Poles have contributed to and helped preserve the complex heritage of Europe. They will also investigate how Poland, one of the most ethnically and religiously diverse European countries, turned into a homogenous nation-state in only a few decades of the twentieth century, and how that influenced the Poles’ ties with other Europeans. The course will also examine the place of today’s Poland in Europe and the European Union. The students will analyze the politics of the European Union and attempt to connect the principles of this politics with the foundations of the idea of Europe.
Fall 2010
POL 410:Polish Cinema since 1989: Between the Romantic Myth and the Magic of the Mundane
Tuesday/Thursday 12:30 PM - 1:50 PM
Instructor: Zofia Kolbuszewska, Ph.D.
Visiting Scholar, Catholic University of Lublin, Poland
Click here to see the flyer of POL 410: Polich Cinema since 1989
This course aims to broaden a narrow and selective view of the Polish cinema that is often based on the reputation of a few outstanding Polish film directors whose worldwide celebrated masterpieces have overshadowed the output of other equally gifted Polish filmmakers. It will explore the works of the younger generation whose films were produced in the 1980s and after the political change in Poland in 1989.
In paradoxically drawing on the tradition of the Polish Film School and simultaneously contesting its preoccupation with the Romantic myth of Polish identity, the contemporary Polish cinema explores the processes of Polish identity transformation, reassesses its historical roots and forms of expression against a wider background of contemporary Europe. The course will be devoted to comparing the new perspective on Polish identity that emerges from the films made after 1989 with that offered by the best, if not always universally renowned, Polish directors. The students will become familiar with the Polish films widely acclaimed all over the world and those rarely watched outside Poland. We will examine how complex interlacing of local historical heritage, current social and political circumstances, and the shaping of an individual’s life are observed in these films through the lens of changing gender roles and such forming moments as birth, initiation and death. We will also address the questions of how and why in representing the transition between the Romantic model of Polishness and the sense of rapture with the marvelous potential of the individual’s mundane existence, the Polish cinema employs the aesthetical as a vehicle for ethical reflection.
POL 210: History of Poland
Tuesday/Thursday 9:30 AM - 10:50 AM
Instructor: Zofia Kolbuszewska, Ph.D.
Visiting Scholar, Catholic University of Lublin, Poland
The history of Poland is full of dramatic changes: splendid victories and tragic defeats. At its height, Poland's empire made it one of the largest and most powerful European states in the 15th and 16th centuries. In the depths of its national catastrophes, it lost its independence in late 18th century, suffered partition lasting for 123 years, and waged relentless, often bloody struggles with oppressors. The aim of the course is to introduce students to the main issues and controversies of Poland's history. We will identify the most important turning points and formative periods, beginning with adoption of Christianity in 966 and the establishment of Polish statehood under the Piast dynasty. The major developments of both the Piast (996-1370) and Jagiellonian (1385-1572) eras will be discussed as well as the characteristic features of the highly original Noble Republic (1569-1795) and the reasons of the loss of independence. We will also look closely at the era of partitions and struggles for independence (1795-1918), the mid-war period of the Second Republic (1918-1939), the main events of WWII affecting Poland (1939-1945), the formation and evolution of the People's Republic (1945-1989), the Solidarity revolution of 1980-1981, the role of Pope John Paul II, the martial law period and the eventual demise of the communist system in l989.
POL 324: Poland Today
Tuesday/Thursday 11:00 AM - 12:20 AM
Instructor: Marta Marciniak
See flyer for POL 324: Poland Today
The goal of this course is for the students to get to know contemporary Poland, through reading and viewing re-creations and documentaries of its recent history (since 1944) and its current diverse, thriving and continually changing culture. We will be examining original artworks that question the nature of Polishness; we will watch world known, award-winning movies that fictionalize the country’s most recent story. We will read literature and poetry that will help us understand how it felt and what it meant, in specific places in time, to be Polish for various recognized Polish authors. We will attempt to acquire a fair view of the little fatherlands that make up the common mother country of Poland today, including several regional allegiances, the growing and diverse group of immigrants, and the numerous Polish community residing abroad, who are all an important part of the picture. We will also analyze documents of a diplomatic and political nature, in order to comprehend the development of Poland’s relations with the rest of the world, especially the US and the European Union, its main partners and allies since 1989.
By looking at the sources provided by the instructor, as well as additional materials recommended by her, we will try to dissect Poland, understood as a nation, a political entity, an idea, a “Tradition,” a home, an imagined home, a destination and a point of origin as well as of reference. In simpler terms, our goal is to comprehend how Poland has become what it is today, what it is today, and what perspectives it has for the future, as well as its links with other nations and states in economic and cultural terms.
Spring 2009
POL 323/HIS 331/ENG 281 Dangerous Books: Polish Literature in Translation
Wednesday 1:00 - 3:40, 102 Clemens
Instructor: Marta Cieslak
Click here to see the flyer of Dangerous Books
For a very long time books were in Poland as dangerous as any other political activity that could undermine a dominant political or social system. At different points of Polish history censorship was one of the biggest challenges for writers, poets, and journalists. Paradoxically, under the extremely complex conditions the greatest Polish texts were created by the most uncommon literary minds of the country.
Dangerous Books will look into social, historical, and political circumstances that have shaped different forms of artistic expression in Polish literature. Literary texts written between the period of Polish Romanticism and the present will help us investigate the interdependence between Polish literature and what it means to be a real Pole under different historical circumstances. We will try to answer such questions as: Why is a particular text considered dangerous? Who or/and what may be threatened? Who decides on the perils literature may provoke?
We will read novels, plays, poetry, and essays that have been banned, censored, or considered controversial under different political systems in Poland. We will also explore literary themes that have been of particular interest to Polish authors and compare them with other national literatures of the same periods.
POL 338/HIS 385 Poland in Europe
Thursday 3:00 - 5:40, 88 Alumni
Instructor: Marta Cieslak
Click here to see the flyer of Poland in Europe
Poland in Europe aims to examine the idea of how political and historical processes taking place in Europe has shaped Poland as a nation-state and, conversely, how Poland as a political entity contributed to the formation of Europe. This course will investigate the evolution of the concept of Europe and its relation to such notions as Eastern, Western, or Central Europe. The question of what it really means for a country to be part of Europe and to be defined as European and what factors decide whether a nation-state may be included in the idea of Europe will rest at the center of our investigation. The students will explore how shifting geographical borders as well as changing political and social concepts have influenced the idea of who may belong to the European heritage and who is excluded. They will also attempt to draw the borders of Europe and decide how they are different from the geographical boundaries of the European continent.
The course will focus on the place of Poland in Europe as seen and explored from the internal perspective of Polish authors as well as from the viewpoint of outsiders. The students will look into the question of how the concept of Europe has shaped the historical, social, and national consciousness of Poles and how Poles have contributed to the complex heritage of Europe. They will also investigate how Poland, one of the most ethnically and religiously diverse European countries, which was building its multicultural heritage for centuries, turned into a homogenous nation-state in only a few decades of the twentieth century. The course will also examine the place of today’s Poland in Europe and the European Union. The students will analyze the politics of the European Union and attempt to connect the principles of this politics with the foundations of the idea of Europe.