Report 2011
Looking back at the past academic year
It has been a busy and successful year: four lectures, a discussion
panel, two fundraising events, an exhibit… The 2010/11 Distinguished
Speakers Lecture Series was inaugurated by Prof. Barbara Romanowicz, the
world’s leading seismologist, who gave us a peek into the Earth’s
interior from crust to core. In November, a discussion panel assembled
distinguished guests, including Henryk and Ludwika Wujec, Zbigniew
Pietrzyk, Zbigniew Karwowski, and moderator, Dr. Arista M. Cirtautas who
talked about Civic Society and Independent Media in Central Europe: 30
Years of the Solidarity Movement in Poland.
The beginning of winter quarter was marked by a lecture by noted
physician and Chopin expert Dr. Steven Lagerberg, accompanied by
musicologist and pianist Fred Kronacher who together presented Chopin –
Mortal Man, Immortal Genius. Changing the mood, in February, we listened
to Prof. Piotr D. Moncarz’s lecture on the energy challenges of
East-Central Europe.
Spring brought us Ryszard Horowitz with Expanding the Imagination, a
lecture and a month-long exhibit of his works at the Odegaard Library.
Two Polish opera singers performed last season at the Seattle Opera:
Aleksandra Kurzak and Malgorzata Walewska. Both divas delighted us not
only with their performances but also with their warmth, accessibility
and humor during our private receptions.
We thank for collaboration and co-sponsoring our events to:
Department of Earth & Space Sciences (ESS), Evans School of Public
Affairs, Jackson School of International Studies/Russian, East European,
Central Asian Studies (REECAS), Odegaard Library, Pacific Northwest
Seismic Network (PNSN), Polish American Chamber of Commerce Pacific
Northwest (PACC PNW), Polish Airlines LOT, MillionZillion Software, Inc,
School of Music, and Slavic Department.
Other 2010/11 academic year successes: For the fifth year, the UWPSEC
hosted a Fulbright Lecturer of Polish Studies who taught three courses:
Representations of the Holocaust in Polish and European Literature;
Polish Culture and Society 1944-1989 in Film and Polish Culture and
Society after the Fall of Communism. Dr. Tomasz Łysak’s visit was
made possible through the ongoing collaboration and financial support of
Poland-US Fulbright Commission, UW PSEC and the UW College of Arts and
Sciences.
Anna Grzankowski received the UW PSEC Student Scholarship to
subsidize her study at the Jagiellonian University in Cracow this
summer.
The UW PSEC Endowment Fund reached $170,000!
We thank you all for your continuous support of the Polish Studies
Endowment Committee’s endeavors and for your presence at our events and
lectures. Our success is your success. Through your active
participation, you are helping us in Bridging Cultures through
Education. Dziękujemy!
Fulbright Lecturer 2011/12
We are pleased to announce that Dr.
Adam Kożuchowski, the adjunct professor at the Institute of History of
the Polish Academy of Sciences will be the UW PSEC Fulbright Lecturer
for the 2011/12 academic year. Dr. Kozuchowski graduated from the
University of Warsaw and the Central European University in Budapest. He
is a former Koerber Fellow of the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna
and the author of Posthumous Life of Austria-Hungary (2009). He
specializes in the history of Central Europe, Russia and Germany in the
19th and 20th centuries, and the history of historiography. We
congratulate Dr. Kozuchowski and eagerly await his arrival in Seattle.
Student Scholarship
We are pleased to announce that Anna
Grzankowski is the 2011 recipient of the UW PSEC Student Scholarship.
Anna is double-majoring in History and Eastern European Language,
Literature and Culture, and among other courses, is currently taking
Polish language classes. Anna is planning to spend the upcoming summer
at the Jagiellonian University in Cracow studying Polish language and
culture. We congratulate Anna and wish her a summer full of learning and
discovery of Poland.