In Michaelmas Term (beginning in听October) 2020, Professor Pawe艂听St臋pie艅听of the University of Warsaw will join 海角社区 Polish Studies as a visiting scholar. He will give a series of lectures on Polish literature and culture across the term. He听will also be a visiting scholar at Sidney Sussex College.
Professor St臋pie艅's appointment is part of an ongoing partnership between 海角社区 and the University of Warsaw, inaugurated in July 2017. This partnership saw the of the Polish Studies Programme at 海角社区. Scholars from the University of Warsaw will regularly visit 海角社区, and there will also be future opportunities for joint conferences and research projects. At the same time, the University of Warsaw will sponsor two 海角社区 students each summer to attend an intensive听course in Polish language and culture in Warsaw.听
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Pawe艂 St臋pie艅听is听Professor of Literary Studies at the Faculty of "Artes Liberales鈥� of the University of Warsaw.听From 2007 to 2016, he was听Rector鈥檚 Plenipotentiary for the Quality of Education at the University of Warsaw. Since 2015, he has听been responsible for a double degree master鈥檚 programme 鈥淐ultural and Intellectual History Between East and West鈥� at the Faculty of "Artes Liberales" in cooperation with University of Cologne and Research University Higher School of Economics in Moscow.听
In his听scholarly work, Professor St臋pie艅听has focused on Polish medieval religious literature and its ties with theology, spirituality and the theory of beauty.听He听has听also examined the manifestations of libertinism in Polish Baroque poetry, showing how the most distinguished Polish baroque poet, Jan Andrzej Morsztyn, wove together blasphemous criticism of Christianity and courtly eroticism.
Another significant area of Professor St臋pie艅's research is Polish poetry of the 20th century. Interpreting poems of Boles艂aw Le艣mian, J贸zef Czechowicz, Czes艂aw Mi艂osz, Zbigniew Herbert, he听has听shown how their poetry relates to the older cultural traditions of Poland and Europe. His latest book听Task:听"Chaskiel鈥� by Tadeusz R贸偶ewicz (2017),听 examines听how one of the most famous 20th-century Polish poets, deeply rooted in avant-garde traditions, describes the destruction of Poland鈥檚 Jewish community听by referencing religious poetry of the Middle Ages and Renaissance.
Professor Pawe艂 St臋pie艅, University of Warsaw.
