AMERICAN STUDIES CENTER
UNIVERSITY OF WARSAW
OŚRODEK STUDIÓW AMERYKAŃSKICH
UNIWERSYTET WARSZAWSKI
COURSE CATALOGUE
BA
2 & 4 & 6 SEMESTER
SPRING 2014
1
LECTURES
2nd semester
W 002
Dr Sylwia Kużma-Markowska
History of the United States II
The central theme of this lecture is the rise of big business and its impact on how Americans
lived, worked, and played. This development also transformed how Americans thought about
the role of government in their society and laid the foundation for America's emergence as a
superpower after World War II. To a lesser extent, the topics of religion, sports, and popular
culture (film, radio, and TV) will also be addressed.
W 005
Prof. David Jones
United States and the World
The course presents an overview of the history of American cinema, some represen-tative
genres, movies and artists. The participants will explore and examine facts as well as theories
of the movies. Part of the course is devoted to interpretation of the most important American
films (like The Birth of the Nation, Citizen Kane, etc.). Stu-dent should be able to apply the
categories used in these class for independent analysis of the movies as social and cultural
phenomena.
W 006
Prof. Bohdan Szklarski
United States Government
This course seeks to introduce students to the American political system, focusing on the
institutions and structures that shape American politics. It will look at the Constitu-tional
frame that creates the political landscape in which American politics takes place. It will also
attempt to address the various forces (political, social, and commer-cial) that compete with
each other to influence what the government does.
W 011
Dr Karolina Krasuska
Cultural Studies Methodology
Following the Cultural Studies pioneer Raymond Williams’ initiative, and its recent
remaking, the course explores key concepts that shape the methodologies in Cul-tural Studies
and, consequently, American Studies today. The lecture familiarizes with such research
perspectives as discourse analysis, critical race studies, ethnic studies, gender and sexuality
studies and postcolonial studies.
W 025
Prof. Ewa Hauser
American Society II
The lecture analyzes the main waves of migration into area of what today is the United States
since the colonial times to the present. Referring to the theories of international migrations, it
explains history of colonial, slave, settlement, labor and political migrations. It offers a review
of social histories and contemporary socio-economic status of major racial and ethnic groups.
It explains how changing attitudes toward race and immigration have been reflected in racial
ideologies, policies toward minorities and immigration law.
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4th semester
W 004
Dr Agnieszka Graff-Osser
American Literature II
This lecture presents developments in U.S. literature following the Civil War, focusing on
aesthetics as well as ideological sources and cultural contexts. We begin with Mark Twain
and the rise of realism, examine naturalism and local color fiction, and look at the work of
Henry James in some detail. After discussing the socially engaged literature of the thirties, we
go on to examine key writers of Modernism, both poetry and prose, with the Harlem
Renaissance discussed in a separate lecture. Major currents and schools in 20th century poetry
are presented, as well as key developments in drama. Postmodernism is examined both as
literary experimentation and a trend in cultural and literary theory. The final weeks are
devoted to the diversity of recent American writing: the literature of various ethnic groups,
key women writers since the 70s, the literary responses to 9/11 etc.
W 008
Prof. David Jones
Business Culture in the United States
We will analyze how different cultural dimensions manifest themselves in individual, group
and organizational behavior, selected economic paradigms, managerial theories and methods
as well as govermental policies. We will also trace back the developments of American
business institutions, the changes in social perceptions f an American businessman and the
evolution of American business culture itself.
W 010
Dr Paweł Frelik
Audiovisual Culture and Media in the United States
The aim of this class is to introduce and explore various social and cultural aspects of
contemporary audiovisual culture in the USA through the lens of historical and contemporary
aesthetics. The transition from a modern to an electronic postmodern culture is a frame of
reference. The lecture will provide an overview of contemporary theories of media and visual
culture; classes will be in the form of lectures and screenings. Readings will include important
works in media studies and contemporary theory in the visual arts.
Student should get to know detailed history of audiovisual culture and categories from
aesthetics which are indispensable to analyzing the visual material.
6th semester
W033
Dr Christopher Korten
Institutions of Culture - Europe and the United States II
This course will continue the theme of transcontinental comparisons begun in the winter
semester. It will look at various “cultural institutions” and their effects on politics and society
in both the United States and Europe from the 19th century to the present. These “institutions”
include stage, film, music, painting and writing.
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W034
…
Semiotics
The course is an introduction to semiotics. It has three parts. The first part presents the
interrelations between the theory of knowledge and semiotics. It introduces the following
concepts: belief, sentence (with sentence typologies), proposition, inference, deductive
system, meaning and truth, definition (with a typology of definitions), conceptual analysis,
and analyticity. The second part presents the theories of sign and meaning of the Stoics, F. de
Saussure, C. S. Peirce, J. Locke, J. S. Mill, C. W. Morris, G. Frege, and L. Wittgenstein. The
third module is focused on pragmatics. The ideas presented include: communication,
comprehension and its criteria, interpretation, metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche, irony,
realism of representation, code, genre, and intertextuality.
SECTIONS BA
2nd semester
P 002
Mgr Marta Dąbrowska, Mgr Antoni Górny, Mgr Gabriela Jeleńska, Dr Ch. Korten,
Małgorzata Ziółek-Sowińska
Academic Writing II
The course is to prepare students to read, analyze and respond to academic texts and take part
in academic discussions concerning various academic and social is-sues. The aim of the
course is to teach students how to put in writing arguments and opinions derived on the basis
of research.
4th semester
L 002
Dr Agnieszka Graff-Osser, Mgr Antoni Górny, Mgr Gabriela Jeleńska, Dr Grzegorz
Kość, Mgr Agnieszka Kotwasińska, Mgr Marta Usiekniewicz
American Literature II
This course is on the developments in American literature-fiction, poetry, drama-from the end
of the Civil War until the present. It looks at changing literary styles, themes and assumptions
concerning the role of literature. We will look at realism, naturalism and local color fiction,
modernism, the Harlem Renaissance, politically engaged literature of the 30s, the post-war
generation, postmodernism and finally the diverse literatures of contemporary multi-ethnic
America including examples of very recent fiction. Significant attention will be paid to the
evolving cultural context of literature: debates about the meaning of American identity, the
changing role of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality.
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ELECTIVE COURSES
2nd semester (3 ECTS)
A 001 (cluster 3)
Dr Zbigniew Kwiecień
The USA and World War II
The Second World War made the United States a global Superpower-at least until 1948. This
course focuses on those elements of American internal and international situation, which
caused USA to enter the war and enabled it to play a decisive role in the Allied victory. On
the basis of American documents, press materials, and memoirs, typical attitudes of political
and military elites will be discussed.
A 021 (cluster 2)
Dr Sylwia Kuźma-Markowska
History of Women in the United States
This course will study the experiences of women in American history from the colonial era to
the present. In particular, we will consider the evolving ideologies that have defined the role
of women in American society, the realities of women’s lives in the home and at work, the
quest of women to gain full civic and political rights, and the variations race and class have
imposed on these themes.
E 022 (cluster 3)
Prof. Włodzimierz Batóg
History of American Economy
A survey of trends in the American economy; emphasis on factors explaining economic
growth and on the changing distribution of the gains and losses associated with growth.
Objective of this course is to explore United States economy and main developments in this
field from the colonial times to present.
F003 (cluster 3)
Prof. B. Szklarski
The American Presidency
The class will be devoted to the study of the American presidency and its interactions with
political actors in Washington and with the political community outside of the Beltway. We
will focus on the policy making functions of the presidency.
F025 (cluster 3)
Prof. Clifford Bates Jr
Introduction to Politics
This is a general social science level introduction to the study of politics. The course offers a
general introduction to political science. The topics to be introduced to the students include
basic concepts such as power, authority, legitimacy; types of politi-cal systems and
approaches to the study of politics; problems common to all political systems.
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F 033 (cluster 3)
Prof. James Morrison
Elections in the US
This course provides an overview of the American Election System at the National, State, and
Local levels. Beginning with a brief description of the political context and purpose of
elections, the course will examine the formal rules and procedures of the election process.
Other topics will include(1) the question of who can vote and how the franchise has expanded
over time, (2) who votes in practice (voting behavior), (3) how candidates are chosen, (4) how
political campaigns are run, (5) how elections are financed, (6) how political parties
manipulate the voting rules to their advantage, (7) the role of public opinion polling and the
media, (8) other types of elections (school boards, unions, student government), (9)
alternative voting systems, (10) weaknesses in the American voting system and proposals for
reform.
H 063 (cluster 1 & 2)
Prof. William Glass
Movies and American Society
Popular movies are one of the most important form of American mass culture in the twentieth
century. In this course, we will explore the use of popular movies both as cultural artifacts
(evidence) as well as a way of telling history.
H 064 (cluster 1 & 2)
Dr Grzegorz Kość
Race in American Visual Culture
American society's racial thinking found expression in and was in turn maintained by the
dominant visual regime. Their investment in whiteness drove their seeing and is manifest in
visual arts of every possible kind ranging from paintings and sculpture to photography and
movies.
H 065 (cluster 1)
Mgr Marta Usiekniewicz
Crime/Masculinity in Pop Culture
This course offers a survey of crime genre in American 20th century culture, specifically
literature and film. It will focus on representations of the masculine hero, embodied by the
figure of the detective, and the changes to what is considered normative masculinity. The
course is considered an introduction to discussions of gender in pop culture.
4th semester (6 ECTS)
A 025 (cluster 2)
Prof. William Glass
African-American History
A survey of the experience of African-Americans from colonial times to the present, with
special emphasis on the topics of slavery, racism, black identity, gender, the civil rights
movement, and the contributions of African Americans to the development of American
society and culture.
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C 007 (cluster 1)
Dr Agnieszka Graff-Osser
The American Short Story
The short story is the most characteristic literary form in American literature. This course
examines its formal and thematic development and provides as opportunity to gain insights
into life in American history and society through analysis of specific texts. We will engage in
close reading of about forty stories representative of various epochs and styles, from Melville
and Poe to Munro and Lahiri. An effort is made to help students enjoy texts and understand
how they are “made” as texts. The course will also explore how the stories deal with cultural,
political and social issues, examining their handling of race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality.
D 056 (cluster 1 & 2)
Dr Małgorzata Gajda-Łaszewska
Mass Media History
An introductory course on the history of American mass media. It will focus mainly on
traditional media, both print and electronic, preparing the ground to understand modern media
landscape.
D 069 (cluster 1 & 2)
Dr Karolina Krasuska, Mgr Marta Usiekniewicz, Mgr Paulina Kakareko
The Functions of Food in American Culture and Society
The course is supposed to acquaint the students with the changes that occur in American
society through the functions that food - a core element of everyday life culture – performs
and used to perform there. Such an innovative, yet seemingly well-known perspective,
derived from a new interdisciplinary branch of Cultural Studies – Food Studies, will enable
the students to see some characteristic elements of US culture like fast food, obesity, or
celebrity chefs in a new context.
F 034 (cluster 3)
Prof. Clifford Bates Jr
Introduction to Political Philosophy
This introductory political philosophy course is designed to help you become more critical
political thinker and a more reflective political actor by addressing some of the most
fundamental questions about politics. A good definition for Political Philosophy is found only
after determining what is politics, which is a sticky question to begin with. Politics could be
defined as "the question of how to distribute a scarce amount of resources 'justly.'" Which is,
essentially, the way in which people obtain, keep, and exercise power. Political philosophy,
then, is the study of the theories behind politics. These theories may be used to gain power or
to justify its existence.
H 066 (cluster 1 & 2& 3)
Prof. Bohdan Szklarski
Bruce Springsteen's America
we propose an interdisciplinary and methodologically diverse look at contemporary America
through the prism of Bruce Springsteen's songs and music. He will be our guide across all
social strata and geographical locations. America can be seen as a symbol of modern capitalist
society. In this sense "the Boss's America" is a portrait of the world. his songs not only
describe the world which is disappearing: the world of small towns, urban industrial working
class, ethnic tensions. he also depicts the vitality of America. he also does not shy away from
examining painful moments and tendencies in American history. Unlike that of Forest Gump,
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Springsteen's view is more emotional and more critical. His analysis of contemporary
America defines the cultural identity built by experience of many generations.
H 067 (cluster 2)
Dr Anna Sosnowska-Jordanovska
Jews and Poles in the US
The course is historical and sociological in character. It deals with circumstances and
motivations of the main waves of Polish and Jewish migrations from Central and Eastern
Europe as well as with the migrants' life strategies in the U.S. The main objective of the
course is to compare Jewish and Polish immigrants of the great migration wave at the turn of
the 19th and 20th century, and post-Soviet Jewish and post-communist Polish immigrants at
the turn of the 20th and 21st century. Why did they leave Eastern Europe? What was their
social class background? Where did they fit within the American social structure and job
market? What type of social ties prevailed in the two groups? What kind of communities did
they create in the US? The evidence used to provide answers to these questions will include
sociological, historical and ethnographic studies, documentaries and movies, and primary
sources: letters, memoirs and press articles.
6th semester (3 ECTS)
A 107 (cluster 3)
Dr Zbigniew Kwiecień
The Civil War
This course examines various events leading up to the Civil War and the intellectual and
political causes defining the various sides. It also looks at how the war was fought and how
this shaped the political attitudes of future generations towards this conflict; how it concluded
and what policies followed after the war; how those policies shaped not only the future of
American politics but also how it reshaped American attitudes about race, gender and
economics.
A 119 (cluster 3)
Dr Zbigniew Kwiecień
The Korean War 1950-1953
The Korean conflict of early 1950s was the first military confrontation of regular forces of
the Cold War era. It influenced the policies of both the U.S.A. and Soviet Union up to the
1990s. We will discuss the most important aspects of this local and limited war, which was
not even legally a war: the role of United Nations, danger of nuclear conflict and the
controversies between the civilian and military authorities in the U.S. political system.
A 129 (cluster 2)
Dr Sylwia Kuźma-Markowska
Histories of Reproduction in the United States
The course focuses largely on the period after II World War and covers a range of aspects
pertaining to reproduction, such as birth control, abortion, delivery, infertility, sterilization,
surrogacy, or foster parenthood. Our special focus will be on the discrepancies in the
experiences and discourses of reproduction depending on gender, race, class, and sexual
orientation. We will read histories of men and women who wrote about their experiences with
infertility, abortion, or unwed parenthood. We will also look at some public debates in which
reproduction was the main focus (eugenics, foster motherhood, surrogacy – Baby M case).
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B 102 (cluster 2 & 3)
Dr Marcin Gajek
Freedom and Community. American Conservatism
The aim of the course is to analyze the rise and development of conservative thought in
America. First, the basic concepts of modern political philosophy and their significance for
the founding of the American Republic are discussed. This is followed by the historical
account of the emergence of the two dominant American ideologies of liberalism and
conservatism. The internal evolution and diversity of conservative thought is analyzed in
greater detail. Libertarianism is contrasted with traditionalism, the Old Right with the New
(Christian) Right, and neoconservatism with paleoconservatism. Finally, the idiosyncrasies of
American conservatism are discussed and the attempt is made to identify its specific nature.
B 129 (cluster 1)
Prof. Marek Wilczyński
American Individualism
The course focuses on the shaping and history of the American discourse of individualism,
which developed in opposition, first, to the Puritan orthodoxy in Massachusetts, and second,
to the "tyranny of England" and the political and cultural domination of Europe. Moreover,
the non-white "American selves" will be taken into considerations, exemplified by "A Son of
the Forest," an autobiography of a Pequot Indian William Apess, Frederick Douglass' classic
slave narrative, and "The History of Mary Prince." An outsider's point of view will be
represented by Fanny Trollope's reportage "Domestic Manners of the Americans," an account
of an Englishwoman who visited the United States at about the same time as Alexis de
Tocqueville, but was much less impressed by the features of the American people.
B 132
Dr Grzegorz Kość (cluster 1 & 3)
American Political Body
The purpose of this course is to review the ways in which the human body functioned in
American discourses historically, invariably expressing and sanctioning the political order.
We will review the ways in which various presidential bodies were represented—that of
George Washington, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Delano Roosevelt--for the sake of social
order. We will examine Americans’ republican discourse on food as promoting inner selfdiscipline and restraint which was instrumental for the American society to distribute power
that originally had belonged to the body of the king. We will examine the dynamics of power
involved in discourses describing executions and dancing.
B 140 (cluster 2)
Prof. Stanisław Obirek
Memory as the Theme in American Philosphy and Culture
The problem of memory as a theme in American philosophy and culture will be developed, in
class, in different directions. The aim of the course is to present a critical reflection on
memory. The question is, if memory is only a remembrance of the past, or if it is also a way to
cope with the present. But first of all the concept of memory needs to be redefined. To begin
with Maurice Halbwachs his concepts of collective memory, and religious and individual and
their mutual relationship will be discussed. Thanks to a theory elaborated by Paul Connerton
it will be possible to include in the reflections on memory also strategies of forgetting.
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B 141 (cluster 1)
Prof. Stanisław Obirek
Liberation Theology in America
The aim of the course Liberation Theology in America is a critical reflection on the cultural
implication of the political involvement of theologians in public debate. We will start with the
common opinion that it is a Marxists ideology. Exactly this “bad reputation” was the reason
why Vatican violently opposed this type of theological reflection. Also the presence of this
new way of approaching religious tradition in other religions will be taken into consideration
particularly as a postcolonial phenomenon.
C 107 (cluster 1)
The American Short Story
Dr Agnieszka Graff-Osser
The short story is the most characteristic literary form in American literature. This course
examines its formal and thematic development and provides as opportunity to gain insights
into life in American history and society through analysis of specific texts. We will engage in
close reading of about forty stories representative of various epochs and styles, from Melville
and Poe to Munro and Lahiri. An effort is made to help students enjoy texts and understand
how they are “made” as texts. The course will also explore how the stories deal with cultural,
political and social issues, examining their handling of race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality.
C 116 (cluster 1)
Dr Grzegorz Kość
American Modernist Poetry
William Carlos Williams famously proclaimed that T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land was “a great
catastrophe to our letters.” With this controversial claim Williams provides us with a
microcosm of the various tensions and conflicting attitudes which comprise American
modernist poetry. This course examines various poetic contexts, such as: the expatriate scene
in Europe which embraced a more transhistorical approach to poetry, and "the American
grain," or, poets who remained in America and stressed an American idiom (Williams,
Stevens), the Harlem Renaissance (Hughes, Cullen), and the Objectivists (Zukofsky,
Reznikoff, Niedecker). We will discuss the poetics of the diverse versions of American
Modernism, and their political as well as aesthetic implications. Any student interested in how
America developed into an international cultural force would benefit from taking this course.
C 118 (cluster 1)
Prof. Marek Wilczyński
The Literature of Horror: Varieties of the American Gothic
The course focuses on the evolution of the American literary gothic from its beginning at the
turn of the 19th century till the 1930s. The starting point will be ?Somnambulism,? an 1805
tale by Brockden Brown, which reveals the anti-Enlightenment roots of the American gothic,
its historical predicament, and prospects. Selected tales will show various responses to
Brocken Brown?s legacy. Another, post-Hawthornian strain of the American gothic will be
discussed with reference to the female Gothic fiction of the post-Civil War period. A
discussion of the twentieth-century popular Gothic will conclude the overview of the genre.
Relevant theoretical contexts fill be drawn from Freud, Barthes, and Lacan.
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C 151 (cluster 1)
Prof. Marek Wilczyński
Images of Native Americans
The course focuses on representations and self-representations of Native Americans in
American literature of the Early Republic and the Antebellum Period. A wide range of texts,
from William Apess’s “Eulogy on King Philip” and the political appeals of Emerson and
Child, through a number of novels (Brown, Bird, Cooper), poems (Bryant, Freneau,
Longfellow), and travels accounts (Bartram, Irving) reveals a tension between stereotypical
models of the “noble” and “ignoble savage.” On the margin of the literary canon and the
dominant social discourses, some American writers (Bartram, Child, Snelling, Simms)
attempted to come up with more ethnographically oriented descriptions of Indian
communities and cultures, thus originating today’s anthropological approaches.
C 153 (cluster 1)
Dr Paweł Frelik
Popular Genres in the United States
The course will focus on the 20th-century popular genres such as western, detective fiction,
science fiction, fantasy, horror, and thriller and the ways these conventions function in various
media forms: literary, cinematic, and others. Given that most of these genres either originated
or have evolved their most important qualities in the United States, particular attention will
also be paid to the ways in which, despite the appearances of light and uninvolved adventure
stories, these genres have profoundly reflected American social and political transformations
and issues. These include, but are not limited to, politics, ecology, gender and sexuality, and
social problems, which were often presented more explicitly and more sensitively in popular
discourses than in the mainstream cultural production.
D 108 (cluster 1)
Prof. Urszula Jarecka
Classical Hollywood Cinema as an American Phenomenon
The course begins with the definition of the term "classical Hollywood cinema" and goes on
to examine some theoretical approaches (zero style cinema, Andre Bazin's definition of the
term, Bordwell's theory). The participants will investigate some historical data. Part of the
course will be devoted to close analysis of films (like The Maltese Falcon, Gilda, etc.).
Student should apply the categories used in these class for independent analysis of
Hollywood movies and cultural phenomena.
D 111 (cluster 2)
Dr Małgorzata Gajda-Łaszewska
American Media
The course aims at presentation of American mass media both in historical perspective and
present shape. We will discuss basic issues of regulation, financing, newsgathering,
entertainment and commercialization and see how they conditioned or influenced the shape of
the media, their develpment and change over time. We will try to trace how the Internet boom
played out for/or against the traditional media and what results it eventually had for
citizens/consumer/public in general.
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D 119 (cluster 1 & 2)
Dr Małgorzata Gajda-Łaszewska
Media Cultures. The Social Theories of Mass Communication
The purpose of this course is to examine the role of mass media in modern societies and the
effects their institutions and messages have on individuals and society. We will preview
theories, opinions and research on how media affect the society and are, in turn, affected by it.
D 136 (cluster 1)
Dr Paweł Frelik
American Film: an Introduction
The course is meant as an introduction to American film: its history, its genres, the
Hollywood conventions. We will read a number of texts on American cinema and watch
several movie "classics" as an illustration as well as grounds to discuss such topics as: modes
of film interpretation, film theory, political and social significance of film, the usefulness of
various other fields of knowledge (such as psychoanalysis, history, gender studies, art theory),
to the study of film. The course will also provide the students with some basic tools: film
vocabulary, understanding of film techniques and essentials of film form. Toward the end of
the semester we will consider selected examples of more advanced commentary, which
approaches American film form an interdisciplinary perspective.
D 153 (cluster 1 & 2)
Prof. William Glass
African Americans in Film during the Jim Crow Era
In this course, we will explore the contested images of African Americans in American film
from the earliest movies through those produced in the Civil Rights era. We look at the ways
both white and black film makers created and perpetuated demeaning stereotypes as well as
how those stereotypes were challenged. We will consider the ways in which careers of
African American performers and film makers represented both the limitations and the
possibilities of making a living in movies. Finally, we will analyze how these films represent
a chronicle of African American society and culture during the time in which Jim Crow ruled
and was eventually destroyed.
D 168 (cluster 1)
Prof. Ewa Hauser
Political Film
This course will deal with the political aspects of Hollywood. We will start with a discussion
of the commercial aspect of the movie business: production, distribution and exhibition of
films in America and abroad. Against this we will discuss the politics of film in the aspect of
politics of race, ethnicity, and gender, war time films -- both historical and cinematographic
war time propaganda. We will discuss some of the most popular and influential Hollywood
films representing a variety of genres, from classical cinematographic history of wars to
contemporary political films sensu stricto.
D 170 (cluster 1)
Dr Karolina Krasuska
New Keywords for Cultural Studies
This course builds upon basic Cultural Studies Methodology/ Keywords for Cultural Studies
and explores the current vocabulary that shapes American Studies today. We will
disentangle, and above all, learn how to work effectively with such well-known concepts as,
for example, discourse, colonialism, heteronormativity. We will also turn to the newest
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critical trends and try to find out how affect studies, transgender studies, food studies, and the
"spacial turn" and intersectionality impact American Studies. That is why we will not only
read about these terms, but also immediately try to use them in our own analyses of current
texts and other cultural artifacts. The course can be understood as supplying an "emergency
kit" for cultural analysis and thus for students' further reading and writing.
D 171 (cluster 1)
Prof. Urszula Jarecka
American TV series
The aim of this class is to analyze and interpret various american TV series in socio-cultural
context. The USA media for years has developed certain narrative techniques, visual tools to
keep the interest of the audience and the set of basic topics, characters and problems which
can build the story presented in the form of TV series.
During the semester the overview of the forms of the TV series will be discussed; issues from
popular series as well as the crucial ones to TV evolution will be presented. In the syllabus
only some titles are mentioned, there is a possibility of adding chosen TV productions
according to the interest of the course participants. Readings will include some books and
articles devoted to television as such and to particular TV series.
Student should get to know the general history of American TV series and their meaning to
popular culture.
F 103 (cluster 3)
Prof. Bohdan Szklarski
The American Presidency
The goal of this class is to demonstrate the complexity of the (post)modern American
Presidency. We shall examine the scope of presidents powers and methods of their utilization
between the imperial and caretaker variance; we will look at the variety of presidential roles
both in domestic and foreign policy. A series of case studies will illustrate how in the complex
entanglements between the public, the Capitol Hill, and the bureaucracy, presidents manage
American politics, how they exercise their prerogatives, and how they handle the enormous
temptation of power abuse. Departing from the structural and historical analyses, we will try
to examine how the personal qualities of the inhabitants of the White House affect their
performance in office and the scope of powers of the institution itself. The Presidency is the
most powerful office in the United States, yet its capacity is never fixed. It always depends on
the context of times and the skills of each office holder
F 110 (cluster 2 & 3)
Dr Sławomir Józefowicz
Affirmative Action and Its Critics
Affirmative action refers to the preferential treatment of some minority groups and women in
certain spheres of social life (e.g. employment, college admissions, public contracts). It is one
of the great issues in the American culture wars and contemporary public debates. Some
people strongly support it as fair compensation for past discrimination, while for others it
amounts to nothing less than reverse discrimination. Both sides invoke grand moral principles
and exchange arguments in the atmosphere of intense hostility and emotional fervor. The first
aim of the course is to analyze the emergence of affirmative action against the background of
the history of racial relations in the United States (mainly its legal aspects) and especially of
the Civil Rights movement. The second aim is to critically compare and evaluate the
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arguments of the defenders and critics of affirmative action as well as to assess the importance
of the whole conflict for the American democracy.
F 132 (cluster 3)
Prof. Bohdan Szklarski
Perceptions of America in Poland
There is no schedule of classes. After a few weeks of discussion of basic literature on
stereotypes and perceptions and exposure to qualitative research methodologies employed in
this project, we are going to move into the field work part of the course. Students will be
assigned practical research tasks which they will execute in teams. Teamwork is going to be a
significant element of the course. After said tasks have been executed we will gather for the
discussion of collected material and write preliminary reports.
G 103 (cluster 3)
Prof. David Jones
American Theories of International Relations
This course will survey different theories of international relations beginning with Classical
Realism, and continuing across Idealism/Liberalism, Structuralism, and the Instructor's
concept of "Ideal Realism" in the "Peace of 1945."
G 111 (cluster 3)
Dr Zbigniew Kwiecień
U.S. and China
The aim of this course is to provide an overview of the most important issues in the bilateral
relations between "China" and the USA across the 19th, 20th and into the 21st century that
some authorities have predicted will become "The Chinese Century" in contrast to "The
American Century" in which all of us were born.
G 118 (cluster 3)
Dr Zbigniew Kwiecień
Problems in the US-Cuban Relations
We will discuss the place and the role of Cuba in the doctrines and practice of American
foreign policy throughout the history of their relations. The special character of these contacts
will be analyzed, starting from the late 18th century up to the state of political and military
confrontation existing between the two nations since 1960's. Memoirs, pamphlets and official
publications, mostly American, will provide the basis for discussion.
G 124 (cluster 3)
Prof. David Jones
United States and EurAsia: Cooperation or Conflict?
We live in an age of NeoRealism and NeoLiberalism where, since 1945, the major powers
have managed to avoid direct conflict with each other. Presumably, this has been because of
their cooperation economically, militarily, politically, and socio-culturally. This course will
expllore details of that cooperation, and projections for its improvement such as within the
Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement and its counterparts between Europe and Asia and
between the Western Hemisphere and Europe. Cooperation has become increasingly visible in
ways such as the People's Republic of China's declaration of its intent to infuse USD 10
Billion as Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into the Central and Eastern European Countries
(CEEC) between 2012 and 2022. The real question, the core question, is what kind of
cooperation will work best, and how deep that cooperation should be.
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H 114 (cluster 2)
Dr Anna Sosnowska-Jordanovska
Eastern European Immigrants in the U.S.
The course is historical and sociological in character. It deals with circumstances and
motivations of the main waves of emigration from Eastern Europe as well as with the
migrants' life strategies in the U.S. The main objective of the course is to compare Jewish and
Polish immigrants of the great migration wave at the turn of the 19th and 20th century, and
post-Soviet Jewish and post-communist Polish immigrants at the turn of the 20th and 21st
century. Why did they leave Eastern Europe? What was their occupational background?
Where did they fit within the American social structure and job market? What type of social
ties prevailed in the two groups? What kind of communities did they create in the US? The
evidence used to provide answers to these questions will include statistical data, case studies
and primary sources (letters and memoirs).
H 158 (cluster 2)
Dr Tomasz Łysak
Technology and Its Popular Representations
A number of technological inventions changed the way in which people lived and died in
modernity: the abattoir (as seen in the stockyards in Chicago), assembly line production
(Henry Ford's factory in River Rouge) or the gas chamber. In many cases, the United States
paved the way for the introduction of innovations and the American model was emulated in
Europe. The course is going to shed light on the cultural reception of the technological in late
19th century till mid-20th. It will focus on technophilia (Geddes' Futurama), technophobia
(Chaplin's Modern Times or Claire's À nous la liberté), cultural history of innovations (barbed
wire or organ transplants), and the application of technology in warfare.
H 160 (cluster 1)
Mgr Konrad Pustoła
Photography, Art and Politics
Despite that photography was invented in Europe, it was the United States where is gained a
prominent importance. This course examines how a photographic image was used to
construct and shape American identity and its political policy. it was also in America where in
1917 Marcel Duchamp made a fundamental artistic gesture by exhibiting his famous piece
"Fountain" which later photographed by Alfred Stieglitz laid the foundation for the naissance
of modern art. The course will explore the close relationship between art and photography in
context of political and social issues.
H 161 (cluster 2 & 3)
Prof. Winfried Fluck
Transnational American Studies
The founding idea of the field of American Studies is the concept of American
exceptionalism, insisting on the uniqueness and model-character of the American experience.
The founding idea of the field of American Studies is the concept of American
exceptionalism, insisting on the uniqueness and model-character of the American experience.
However, in recent years the claim of exceptionalism has been challenged from inside as well
as outside US-American Studies. Instead, scholars have begun to extend their research
interests beyond the American nation-state in order to focus on the transnational influences,
exchanges, and networks that have decisively shaped American society and culture. The
course will provide an introduction to this new research agenda, its main topics, research
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areas, and research methods. We will read some of the key texts of this new approach in
American Studies but also discuss possible problems and limitations of this new perspective.
H 162 (cluster 2 & 3)
Prof. Winfried Fluck
America Divided: Political, Social, and Cultural Conflicts in Contemporary American
Society and Culture
We will focus on a number of areas in which these divisions have become especially strong
and consequential, such as the debates between liberalism and neo-conservatism, the culture
wars and the role of religion, the media and popular culture, concepts of empire and the war
on terror, and, most recently, a growing social inequality.
The shock of the 1960s and 1970s counterculture and liberation movements triggered a
protracted effort of conservatives to regain the cultural hegemony in US society. One result
was the so-called culture war that has played a key role in debates about American identity in
the last decades. Another consequence was the rise of religious fundamentalism, a third, a
redefinition of American conservatism as neo-conservatism. In this course we will engage
with the historical, the cultural , the social and political dimensions of this process which has
led to a deep division in US society and culture. We will focus on a number of areas in which
these divisions have become especially strong and consequential, such as the debates between
liberalism and neo-conservatism, the culture wars and the role of religion, the media and
popular culture, concepts of empire and the war on terror, and, most recently, a growing social
inequality.
H 168 (cluster 2)
Dr Rebecca Farinas
Classical American Pragmatism
In this course we will look at the philosophies of three early American pragmatists, Charles
Sander’s Peirce, William James, and John Dewey; in respect to social and political changes
from the fin d’seicle to the present. We will also engage briefly with the thoughts of Jane
Addams and William DuBois in light of their social activism. Examples of social shifts that
have been approached through the main axioms of the pragmatic turn in American socialintellectual circles, such as the evolutionary debate of Darwin’s Origin of the Species,
Roosevelt’s New Deal, Dewey’s Laboratory schools, National Endowment for the Art’s
debates on censorship, scientific ethics, etc., will be examined.
H 169 (cluster 1 & 3)
Prof. Roman Szul
Language as a political question. History and the present situation
The subject of lectures is interdisciplinary. It entails elements of linguistics, political science,
sociology, economics, history, geography.
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