Polish studies, Polish philology or Polonistics [1] (Polish : filologia polska, or polonistyka) is the field of humanities that researches, documents and disseminates the Polish language and Polish literature in both historic and present-day forms.
The history of Polish studies dates back to the 16th century. The first Polish scholars to study the Polish language were Jan Mączyński and Piotr Stoiński (Pierre Statorius). [2]
Academic activities in Polish Studies include conferences, workshops, and book publications by scholars who work and teach on Polish history, culture, art, and politics. The Polish Studies Association is part of the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies and facilitates "the exchange of academic information regarding Polish history, culture, arts, politics, economics, and contemporary affairs, and seeks to enhance contacts between Polish and Western Affairs." [3]
The Departments of Polish Studies exist in all major universities across Poland, and in many academic institutions across the world. They offer students a range of academic programmes with Bachelor and Masters' degrees in the field. [4]
In the United States, students taking Polish studies majors focus on the nation, current and historical inhabitants of Polish lands, both current and historical, and instruction includes a wide range of and humanities, such as culture, politics, and economics. [5]
Some of the Polish Studies programs at U.S. universities include:
Slavic or Slavonicstudies, also known as Slavistics, is the academic field of area studies concerned with Slavic peoples, languages, literature, history, and culture. Originally, a Slavist or Slavicist was primarily a linguist or philologist researching Slavistics. Increasingly, historians, social scientists, and other humanists who study Slavic cultures and societies have been included in this rubric.
Philosophy, politics and economics, or politics, philosophy and economics (PPE), is an interdisciplinary undergraduate or postgraduate degree which combines study from three disciplines. The first institution to offer degrees in PPE was the University of Oxford in the 1920s. This particular course has produced a significant number of notable graduates such as Aung San Suu Kyi, Burmese politician and State Counsellor of Myanmar, Nobel Peace Prize winner; Princess Haya bint Hussein, daughter of the late King Hussein of Jordan; Christopher Hitchens, the British–American author and journalist; Will Self, British author and journalist; Oscar-winning writer and director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck; Michael Dummett, Gareth Evans, Philippa Foot, Christopher Peacocke, Gilbert Ryle, and Peter Strawson, philosophers; Harold Wilson, Edward Heath, David Cameron, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak, Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom; Hugh Gaitskell, Michael Foot, William Hague and Ed Miliband, former Leaders of the Opposition; former Prime Ministers of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto and Imran Khan; and Malcolm Fraser, Bob Hawke and Tony Abbott, former Prime Ministers of Australia. The course received fresh attention in 2017, when Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai earned a place.
Hankuk University of Foreign Studies is a private research university based in Seoul, in South Korea. The university currently teaches 45 foreign languages. In addition, it contains studies in humanities, law, political science, social sciences, business, medical science, natural sciences, and engineering.
National Chengchi University is a public research university in Taipei. The university is also considered as the earliest public service training facility of the Republic of China. First established in Nanjing in 1927, the university was subsequently relocated to Taipei and resumed full operation in 1954 as the second National re-established University in Taiwan.
Indiana University East is a public university in Richmond, Indiana, a regional campus of Indiana University that serves the eastern Indiana and western Ohio area. Established in 1971 by the Indiana University Board of Trustees, IU East enrolls over 4,000 students on its five-building, 174-acre campus and in online classes. IU East has 60 academic degree programs, offering bachelor's and master's degree programs and certificates in areas of Business and Economics, Education, Humanities and Social Sciences, Natural Science & Mathematics, Informatics, General Studies, Nursing and Health Sciences, and Social Work.
German studies is the field of humanities that researches, documents and disseminates German language and literature in both its historic and present forms. Academic departments of German studies often include classes on German culture, German history, and German politics in addition to the language and literature component. Common German names for the field are Germanistik, Deutsche Philologie, and Deutsche Sprachwissenschaft und Literaturwissenschaft. In English, the terms Germanistics or Germanics are sometimes used, but the subject is more often referred to as German studies, German language and literature, or German philology.
The University of Virginia College of Arts & Sciences is the largest of the University of Virginia's ten schools. Consisting of both a graduate and an undergraduate program, the College comprises the liberal arts and humanities section of the University.
The University of Wisconsin Press is a non-profit university press publishing peer-reviewed books and journals. It publishes work by scholars from the global academic community; works of fiction, memoir and poetry under its imprint, Terrace Books; and serves the citizens of Wisconsin by publishing important books about Wisconsin, the Upper Midwest, and the Great Lakes region.
Public humanities is the work of engaging diverse publics in reflecting on heritage, traditions, and history, and the relevance of the humanities to the current conditions of civic and cultural life. Public humanities is often practiced within federal, state, nonprofit and community-based cultural organizations that engage people in conversations, facilitate and present lectures, exhibitions, performances and other programs for the general public on topics such as history, philosophy, popular culture and the arts. Public Humanities also exists within universities, as a collaborative enterprise between communities and faculty, staff, and students.
The MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (SHASS) is one of the five schools of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, US. The school includes 11 academic areas and works alongside six departments, labs, and programs. SHASS grants SB, SM, and PhD degrees. Major fields of study include anthropology, comparative media studies and writing, economics, history, linguistics, literature, music, philosophy, political science, science, technology, and society, and theater arts. Other programs include the Center for International Studies; Knight Science Journalism; Science, Technology, and Society; Security Studies; and HyperStudio.
The University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Letters and Science is the largest college of the University of Wisconsin–Madison. It is located at Madison, Wisconsin.
Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń or NCU is located in Toruń, Poland. It is named after Nicolaus Copernicus, who was born in Toruń in 1473.
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded when Wisconsin achieved statehood in 1848, UW–Madison is the official state university of Wisconsin and the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It was the first public university established in Wisconsin and remains the oldest and largest public university in the state. UW–Madison became a land-grant institution in 1866. The 933-acre (378 ha) main campus, located on the shores of Lake Mendota, includes four National Historic Landmarks. The university also owns and operates the 1,200-acre (486 ha) University of Wisconsin–Madison Arboretum, located 4 miles (6.4 km) south of the main campus, which is also a National Historic Landmark.
Macedonian studies is an academic discipline within Slavic studies that focuses on the comprehensive study of the Macedonian language, literature, history, and culture. As part of Slavic studies, it falls within the subgroup of South Slavic languages and cultures. Apart from North Macedonia, Macedonian Studies is also taught at universities worldwide, including in Albania, Canada, Poland, the United States, and post-Yugoslav countries. A linguist who studies Macedonian as part of the field is called a Macedonist.
The College of Arts and Sciences (A&S) is the liberal arts and sciences unit of the University of Kentucky, located in Lexington, Kentucky. It is primarily divided between the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities, and offers more than thirty degree options for both undergraduate and graduate students.
Nazarbayev University (NU) is an autonomous research university in Astana, Kazakhstan. It was founded by the former President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev in June 2010. It is an English-medium institution, with an international faculty and staff.
The National University of Ostroh Academy is a Ukrainian self-governed (autonomous) research university that was established in 1994 by the Presidential Decree of April 12, 1994. The university considers itself a continuation of the historic Ostroh Academy which was the first East-European higher school.
Taiwan studies, or Taiwanese studies, is a multi-disciplinary academic division of area studies focused on studying Taiwan and the people on/in/of Taiwan both on its own and in comparison with other world areas. Academia Sinica, Taiwan's national level research institute, officially inaugurated its Institute of Taiwan History in 2004 following a long exploratory period beginning in 1986. Taiwan studies departments and centers have been established in numerous universities around the world and key Taiwan studies organizations have been established in North America (NATSA), Europe, and Japan. The first World Congress of Taiwan Studies (WCTS) was hosted by Taiwan's Academia Sinica on April 26–28, 2012, in Taipei, Taiwan.
Susan Zaeske is Professor of Rhetoric and Public Culture in the Department of Communication Arts and Arts and was formerly Associate Dean for Arts and Humanities in the College of Letters & Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Polish Studies Program at the University of Wisconsin–Madison (UW–Madison) is the oldest academic program in existence with the focus on the study and teaching of the Polish language, literature, and culture in the United States. Polish language instruction began in the fall semester of 1936 and has been offered at the University of Wisconsin–Madison ever since. The Polish program is offered by the UW–Madison Department of German, Nordic, and Slavic+. As a result, with the foundation of the Department of Polish at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1936, the teaching of Slavic languages and literatures started.