In 2017-18, the Center for Polish Studies at Daemen College continued to develop collaborative opportunities for students and faculty with several institutions in Poland. Dr. Andrew Kier Wise, Professor of History and Chair of the Center, was a Visiting Professor at the Institute of History at Jagiellonian University, while Dr. Robert Morace, Distinguished Professor of English, taught an American literature course at the University of Warsaw.
These activities build on a rich history of engaging students, faculty, and the community on matters related to Poland and Polonia. Dr. Tomasz Pudłocki of Jagiellonian University was a Visiting Professor of History at Daemen College in Fall 2015 as a Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence. In 2017, Daemen initiated a faculty exchange with the American Studies Center at the University of Warsaw, which sent Dr. Lisa Parshall, Associate Professor of Political Science, to teach a course on American democracy and welcomed Dr. Karolina Krasuska to Daemen.
The Center’s key areas of focus include study abroad and international service learning, teaching and research, faculty exchanges and international collaboration, and public programming and community engagement. The study abroad program in Poland, led by Dr. Wise and Brian Hammer, Assistant Professor of Art History, has included visits to historic sites and museums, lectures from Polish faculty, and a historic preservation project to map and photograph a Jewish cemetery in Przemyśl. The faculty research of Dr. Wise and Dr. Penny Messinger, Associate Professor and Department Chair of History and Political Science, has led to multiple publications, and a new Polish Studies +plus cluster allows students to learn more about Poland through on-campus coursework at Daemen.
Since 2012, the Center has organized over a dozen public lectures and performances, three exhibitions of Polish artwork, and two academic conferences. A Fall 2018 conference will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the rebirth of the Polish state, and Daemen College will once again host a scholar from the University of Warsaw.