Aleksander Brückner Center for Polish Studies

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Aleksander Brückner Center for Polish Studies
Aleksander Brückner Center for Polish Studies
Logo of the Aleksander Brückner Center for Polish Studies
Category: Center for Regional Studies
Carrier: Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg and Friedrich Schiller University Jena
Facility location: Halle (Saale) and Jena
Type of research: Basic research
Subjects: Humanities and social sciences disciplines
Management: Yvonne Kleinmann
Homepage: http://www.aleksander-brueckner-zentrum.org/

The Aleksander Brückner Center for Polish Studies , founded in 2012, is dedicated to interdisciplinary research into Polish statehood, society, language and culture. It is a cooperative project of the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg and the Friedrich Schiller University Jena , which is funded by the Foundation for German-Polish Cooperation , the German-Polish Science Foundation and the German Academic Exchange Service . The Aleksander Brückner Center is in intensive exchange with numerous scientific institutions in Poland as well as with countries that are historically and currently closely connected to Poland. In Halle (Saale) and Jena , the master’s course “Interdisciplinary Polish Studies” imparts linguistic and regional knowledge to students from various fields. The center has an impact on the wider public through its scientific and cultural offerings.

Research priorities

Plural polonity: languages, societies and cultures

The starting point of this research field is the question of what, when and where Poland or Polish was and is. It is the center's concern to think of Poland in the plural. In doing so, the polity is also examined beyond the national borders of Poland in the diaspora and in emigration. On the basis of these considerations, the following interrelated core issues emerge:

  • ethno-religious diversity
  • Multilingualism and language contacts
  • Legal pluralism and legal competition

The approach of thinking of Poland in the plural also requires methodological plurality from the researchers. Therefore, methodological approaches and ways of thinking from different disciplines dealing with Poland are integrated in the research work of the center and researched in interdisciplinary cooperation.

Configurations and reconfigurations of community and society

The research field is based on the fact that the geographical and political areas in which Polish history took place varied many times. Therefore, Polish history cannot simply be told as a national story within more or less stable borders. It has always been the history of linguistically and ethnically non-Polish communities which, regardless of their particular characteristics, were an integral part of Poland. The research field configurations and reconfigurations therefore asks what constitutes or defines Polish society in each individual case. How does it reconfigure itself over and over again as a result of political upheavals, border shifts and migrations? Which smaller alternatives of a social, political, economic, religious and linguistic kind open up? An important field for reflecting on these questions are local and regional communities, the examples of which allow reconfigurations of population, social structure, culture and language to be understood in depth. The focus of interest is on the varying spaces, contexts and orientations of Polish history and culture from the perspective of social interaction. In this context, the reflection and integration of different narrative key categories, such as class, gender, religion or nation, play an important role.

Poland in its European and international interdependencies

The research field is based on the historical and current central position of Poland in Europe and reflects on phenomena such as migration and economic-communicative globalization. This extends the well-established bilateral study of German-Polish relations to include research into the diverse European and international interdependencies of Poland in the past and present. The research is based on overarching issues and tries to integrate different national perspectives. The eastern neighbors of Poland are of particular interest, especially the Ukraine, Lithuania and Belarus, whose intense historical, cultural and linguistic ties with Poland are manifested in many ways to this day. In addition, the focus is on Israel and the Jewish diaspora in the Anglo-American region.

Publications

The Aleksander Brückner Center for Polish Studies has been designing the interdisciplinary book series Poland: Culture - History - Society / Poland: Culture - History - Society by Wallstein Verlag since 2015 , in which scientific texts and analyzes, perspectively also sources, on culture, history and society Poland appear.

Course of study

In 2013, the Aleksander Brückner Center launched the Master's “Interdisciplinary Polish Studies”, a jointly designed range of courses from the Martin Luther University in Halle-Wittenberg and the Friedrich Schiller University in Jena . It is designed as a two-year master’s degree and provides cultural and regional knowledge as well as insights into the research perspectives of various disciplines. In the course of their studies, students get to know interdisciplinary issues and acquire specialist knowledge in a specific discipline . Learning Polish is a constitutive part of the study program. A mixture of compulsory and elective courses enables a personal focus as well as the interdisciplinary, problem-oriented exchange of ideas. A semester of study at a Polish university serves to deepen language and country knowledge. An internship in a social, cultural or scientific institution or in a commercial enterprise offers an initial professional orientation.

Events

The Aleksander Brückner Center conceives events both for a specialist scientific audience and for a broader interested public. Scientific events include regular research colloquia, conferences, workshops and lecture series, and summer schools in the future. In addition to the regular study program, topic-oriented excursions to Poland are also offered to students. The lecture series “What you always wanted (or should) to know about Poland” as well as a Polish film series in Halle and in Jena, which in cooperation with the Polish Institute in Leipzig, the Imre Kertész Kolleg Jena, the arthouse cinema Puschkino in Halle and the cinema in the Schillerhof in Jena.

Members of the center

The group of members of the Aleksander-Brückner-Center consists mainly of scientists who work at the universities of Halle, Jena and Leipzig as well as at research institutions in the region. From the perspective of different disciplines, their research and teaching deal with topics from Polish history and the present. In close cooperation with its members, the Aleksander Brückner Center designs and implements research projects, courses and a public program. The professional diversity of the group of members favors the transdisciplinary and interdisciplinary discussion.

Sponsors and Cooperations

The Aleksander Brückner Center for Polish Studies is funded by the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg , the Friedrich Schiller University Jena , the Foundation for German-Polish Cooperation , the German-Polish Science Foundation and the German Academic Exchange Service . The center maintains numerous contacts with academics as well as internal and non-university research institutions in Poland and in countries that are closely connected to Poland through past and present. At the institutional level, these include:

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Universities of Halle-Wittenberg and Jena set up a center for Polish studies. In: www.uni-halle.de. Retrieved January 15, 2018 .
  2. Success for Polish studies in Halle and Jena: Aleksander Brückner Center receives further funding. In: www.uni-halle.de. Retrieved January 15, 2018 .
  3. ^ Lioba Knipping: Contracts signed for the first German center for Polish studies. In: www.otz.de. Retrieved January 15, 2018 .
  4. Success for Polish studies in Halle and Jena: Aleksander Brückner Center receives further funding. In: www.uni-halle.de. Retrieved January 15, 2018 .
  5. ^ Members of the Aleksander Brückner Center. In: www.aleksander-brueckner-zentrum.org. Retrieved January 15, 2018 .
  6. Klodnicki, Marek: Center for Interdisciplinary Polish Studies • Center for Interdisciplinary Polish Studies • European University Viadrina / EUV. In: www.zip.europa-uni.de. Retrieved January 15, 2018 .
  7. ^ Polish Institute Berlin. In: Polish Institute Berlin. Retrieved January 15, 2018 .