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SWPS University - Main page

Department of Asian Studies

Faculty of Humanities in Warsaw

The Department of Asian Studies at SWPS University (formerly the Center for East Asian Civilization) offers a three-year undergraduate study program Asian Studies: China and East Asia. Apart from teaching, department academics and collaborators are engaged in research and popularization of culture, history, societies, and business practices of China, Korea, Japan and other countries of the region.

Zakład Studiów Azjatyckch Uniwersytet SWPS

Who We are

Our teaching staff includes both academics and practitioners such as diplomats, public servants, and representatives of the business community. Our research topics encompass both historical themes (e.g. the history of Chinese thought, literature, and religion), and contemporary issues (e.g. transformations in Asia, politics, and society). Our main focus is on the Chinese cultural sphere(Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan), the Korean Peninsula, and Japan. We are also interested in India, South-East Asia (including Singapore and Vietnam), and Mongolia.

Scope of research

The main focus of our interests is East Asia. We choose not to use the term “Far East” as we deem it Europocentric. For Asians, this region is not “far”, but rather lies in the very center of the universe. This is what the term "China" in Modern Standard Chinese (Mandarin) refers to: Zhongguo literally means "Middle Kingdom".

Our goal is not only to popularize knowledge about East Asia, but also to show various Asian perspectives: cultural, social, or political. We strive to understand Asia in all its complexity, avoiding cultural clichés and prejudices, and maintaining scientific objectivism.

Knowledge sharing

Our passion for Asia motivates us to share our knowledge about this region, its extraordinary cultural diversity, religions, customs, and languages. Nowadays, East Asia represents not only many thousands of years of uninterrupted history of different civilizations, but also a region of a growing international political, economic, and technological influence. One cannot understand the contemporary world without getting to know China, Korea, and Japan. We devote our academic careers to deepening this understanding.

We organize scientific conferences and seminars focused on topics related to Asia as well as meetings with researchers specializing in the current problems of the region and the Polish-Asian cooperation. We share our knowledge through public lectures and talks, online lectures, webinars, and articles published on SWPS University’s website, in traditional print media, and online. We publish scientific monographs on Asia and collections of articles by various authors. For the past 20 years, we have also been publishing a nationwide scientific journal Azja-Pacyfik: Społeczeństwo – Polityka – Gospodarka (Asia-Pacific: Society – Politics – Economy), which popularizes knowledge about the region.

What We do

The Department of Asian Studies offers a three-year undergraduate practical study program in Cultural Studies.

Review study program (in Polish)

Strategic Cooperation

In 2020, the Polish-Chinese Business Council (PChRB), a non-governmental organization comprising experts and entrepreneurs working in Poland and China, became a strategic partner of the Asian Studies: China and East Asia study program. PChRB supports expansion of Polish companies on the Chinese market. The organization is a member of the EU-China Business Association in Brussels.

Asian Studies Research Club

Throughout the academic year, our students organize numerous meetings and other activities, which help to popularize knowledge about Asia and provide an opportunity for networking. Students from all SWPS University programs, including our students from Asia, participate in the events organized by the Asian Studies Research Club . This is yet another opportunity to gain some first-hand knowledge about Asian cultures and meet fellow students.

Cooperation with the Confucius Institute

In September 2018, we launched an offshoot of the Jagiellonian University’s Confucius Institute at the Department of Asian Studies. Thanks to this cooperation, every year one lecturer from the Confucius Institute Headquarters in Beijing comes to Poland. Additionally, our partner institution from Kraków supports Chinese language classes and the organization of Chinese-themed cultural events at SWPS University.

Oriental Library

Currently, the collection holds nearly 19,000 books and periodicals on all areas of East Asian Studies, including history, political and economic relations, social sciences, art and culture, ethnography, religion, philosophy, Chinese literature, literary studies, and linguistics. There is also a variety of handbooks and materials for learning languages of Asia.
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"Azja-Pacyfik" Journal

The Azja-Pacifik (Asia-Pacific) journal has been in publication since 1998. This is the first professional scientific journal devoted to contemporary political and economic issues of the region, in Poland. The journal is an initiative of Professor Krzysztof Gawlikowski and the President of the Adam Marszałek Publishing House that has been issuing the periodical since its inception. Beginning with issue nr 9/2006, the journal has been published under the auspices of SWPS University.
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Members of the Department of Asian Studies

Barbasiewicz, Olga
Bio
Nie
Specialization
cultural researcher specializing in Japanese language and culture, political scientist
Permanent employee
Tak
First and last name
Olga Barbasiewicz
Academic degree or title
Ph.D. / Assistant Professor
City
warszawa
Position
adiunkt
Role in the Faculty
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Role in the Department
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Role in the Institute
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Role in the Research Center
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Discipline
Array
Faculty
Array
Institute
Array
Ph.D. / Assistant Professor Olga Barbasiewiczcultural researcher specializing in Japanese language and culture, political scientist
Hryniewska, Joanna
Bio
Tak
Permanent employee
Tak
Role in the Faculty
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Role in the Department
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Specialization
Sinologist and Turkish studies scholar, specializing in linguistics and onomastics
First and last name
Joanna Hryniewska
Academic degree or title
Ph.D. / Assistant Professor
City
warszawa
Discipline
literary-studies
Position
adiunkt
Faculty
Array
Role in the Institute
[]
Role in the Research Center
[]
Ph.D. / Assistant Professor Joanna HryniewskaSinologist and Turkish studies scholar, specializing in linguistics and onomastics
Kozłowski, Stanisław Czesław
Bio
Nie
Specialization
political scientist, former diplomat
Permanent employee
Nie
First and last name
Stanisław Czesław Kozłowski
Academic degree or title
Ph.D. / Assistant Professor
City
warszawa
Discipline
political-science-and-public-administration
Faculty
Array
Role in the Faculty
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Role in the Department
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Role in the Institute
[]
Role in the Research Center
[]
Ph.D. / Assistant Professor Stanisław Czesław Kozłowskipolitical scientist, former diplomat
Krzosek, Jakub
Bio
Nie
Permanent employee
Tak
Specialization
Korean studies scholar and linguist
First and last name
Jakub Krzosek
Academic degree or title
Ph.D. / Assistant Professor
Role in the Faculty
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Role in the Department
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City
warszawa
Position
adiunkt
Role in the Institute
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Discipline
Array
Faculty
Array
Institute
Institute of Humanities
Role in the Research Center
[]
Ph.D. / Assistant Professor Jakub KrzosekKorean studies scholar and linguist
Lee, Ting-Yu
Bio
Tak
Specialization
sociologist, translator, and entrepreneur, native speaker of Chinese
Permanent employee
Tak
First and last name
Ting-Yu Lee
Academic degree or title
Ph.D. / Assistant Professor
City
warszawa
Discipline
linguistics
Position
adiunkt
Role in the Faculty
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Role in the Department
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Faculty
Array
Role in the Institute
[]
Role in the Research Center
[]
Ph.D. / Assistant Professor Ting-Yu Leesociologist, translator, and entrepreneur, native speaker of Chinese
Rutana, Dominik
Bio
Nie
Permanent employee
Tak
First and last name
Dominik Rutana
Academic degree or title
Ph.D. / Assistant Professor
City
warszawa
Position
adiunkt
Role in the Faculty
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Role in the Department
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Role in the Institute
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Specialization
cultural researcher, specializing in Asian studies
Institute
Institute of Humanities
Discipline
Array
Faculty
Array
Role in the Research Center
[]
Ph.D. / Assistant Professor Dominik Rutanacultural researcher, specializing in Asian studies
Tylkowski, Marek
Bio
Nie
Permanent employee
Tak
Role in the Faculty
{"funkcja-na-wydziale0":{"Funkcja":"","Nazwa w mianowniku":"Faculty of Humanities in Warsaw"}}
Role in the Department
{"funkcja-w-katedrze0":{"Funkcja":"","Nazwa w mianowniku":"Department of East Asian Studies"}}
Role in the Institute
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Specialization
Chinese Studies scholar, historian, lecturer in Chinese
First and last name
Marek Tylkowski
Academic degree or title
Ph.D. / Assistant Professor
City
warszawa
Discipline
culture-and-religion-studies
Position
adiunkt
Faculty
Array
Role in the Research Center
[]
Ph.D. / Assistant Professor Marek TylkowskiChinese Studies scholar, historian, lecturer in Chinese
Wang, Yun
Bio
Nie
Permanent employee
Tak
Role in the Faculty
{"funkcja-na-wydziale0":{"Funkcja":"","\u0141\u0105cznik":"","Nazwa w mianowniku":"Faculty of Humanities in Warsaw"}}
Role in the Department
{"funkcja-w-katedrze0":{"Funkcja":"Coordinator of the Asian Studies: China and East Asia Program","\u0141\u0105cznik":"","Nazwa w mianowniku":"Department of Asian Studies"}}
First and last name
Yun Wang
Academic degree or title
M.A. / Lecturer
City
warszawa
Position
wykladowca
Specialization
lecturer in Chinese as a second language
Discipline
Array
Faculty
Array
Role in the Institute
[]
Role in the Research Center
[]
M.A. / Lecturer Yun Wanglecturer in Chinese as a second language
Yu, Wenting
Bio
Nie
Permanent employee
Tak
First and last name
Wenting Yu
Academic degree or title
M.A. / Lecturer
City
warszawa
Position
wykladowca
Role in the Faculty
{"funkcja-na-wydziale0":{"Funkcja":"","\u0141\u0105cznik":"","Nazwa w mianowniku":"Faculty of Humanities in Warsaw"}}
Role in the Department
{"funkcja-w-katedrze0":{"Funkcja":"Coordinator of Journalism Program","\u0141\u0105cznik":"at the","Nazwa w mianowniku":"Department of Asian Studies"}}
Specialization
lecturer in Chinese
Discipline
Array
Faculty
Array
Role in the Institute
[]
Role in the Research Center
[]
M.A. / Lecturer Wenting Yulecturer in Chinese

Collaborators

Ksawery Burski, former Ambassador of the Republic of Poland to Indonesia and China
sinologist, specializing in Chinese culture
Krzysztof Szumski, former Ambassador of the Republic of Poland to Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, and China
diplomat, expert in Asian relations and culture
Professor Maria Krzysztof Byrski
indologist, former Ambassador of the Republic of Poland to India
Professor Janusz Danecki
professor of humanities, specializing in Arabic and Islamic studies, linguist, literary studies scholar, and a researcher at the Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies at the University of Warsaw
Professor Góralczyk
sinologist, political scientist, diplomat, media commentator, author of numerous publications on Asia, former Ambassador of the Republic of Poland to Thailand
Józef Pawłowski, Ph.D. / Assoicate Professor at the University of Warsaw
sinologist specializing in the issues of contemporary China, Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Oriental Studies at the University of Warsaw
Bartosz Wojciechowski, Ph.D. / Assistant Professor at the Jagiellonian University
Japanese studies scholar and linguist
Anna Diniejko, Ph.D.
Korean studies scholar
Katarzyna Golik, Ph.D. / Assistant Professor at the Institute of Political Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences
orientalist and economist
Karolina Mazurowska, Ph.D. / Assistant Professor at SWPS University
cross-cultural psychologist, business trainer
Paweł Kowalski, Ph.D. / Assistant Professor at SWPS University
lawyer
Zbigniew Niesiobędzki, Ph.D.
economist, President of the Polish-Chinese Business Council
Małgorzata Religa, Ph.D.
sinologist, translator of Chinese literature, Head of the Department of Chinese Studies, Faculty of Oriental Studies, at the University of Warsaw.
Arkadiusz Tarnowski, Ph.D.
economist and political scientist, expert in Japanese and South Korean relations and culture
Jakub Taylor, Ph.D.
Korean studies scholar and historian
Magdalena Tomaszewska-Bolałek, Ph.D.
oriental studies scholar, specializing in the history of cuisine from different parts of the world, anthropology of food, neurogastronomy, food design, diplomacy, and culinary tourism
Joanna Wasilewska, Ph.D.
art historian interested in cross-cultural influences between Europe and Asia, including the history of travel and mutual inspirations in art and fashion, as well as the traditions of Asian theatre, in particular Chinese puppet theatre. Director of the Asia and Pacific Museum in Warsaw
Ewa Chwilczyńska, M.A.
Korean studies scholar, creative industries manager
Bartosz Komasa, M.A.
expert in economic cooperation with China, cross-cultural sills coach
Beata Kołodziej, M.A.
sinologist, lecturer in Chinese
Yurika Moriyama, M.A.
lecturer in Japanese
Edyta Nowicka, M.A.
Japanese studies scholar, business advisor
Hwayeon Park, M.A.
lecturer in Korean
Jacek Świercz, M.A.
sinologist and Vietnamese studies schoalr, expert in the modern history of Cambodia
Agnieszka Walulik, M.A.
sinologist and literary translator

History of the Department

Until 2018, the Department of Asian Studies operated as the Center for East Asian Civilization (CCAW). The Center was formally established in the spring of 2003, although SWPS University had begun offering courses related to East Asia, mainly China, as early as 1998. In the following years, additional courses on different East-Asian cultures were gradually introduced. Originally, the courses were mostly attended by students of cross-cultural psychology, but with time, students from other programs took an opportunity to learn about East Asia, during extracurricular classes. Since 2012, the Department has been offering a full program of undergraduate studies. The Asian Studies program has been developed by Professor Krzysztof Gawlikowski, a former long-standing Head of the Department.

About Professor Krzysztof Gawlikowski (1940-2021)

Profesor Krzysztof Gawlikoski

Krzysztof Gawlikowski was born in 1940. He was fascinated with Asia since childhood and his early interests became his life-long passion.

Krzysztof Gawlikowski graduated from the University of Warsaw with a degree in psychology. He went to China for the very first time in 1964. Two years later, the outbreak of the Chinese Cultural Revolution forced him to return to Poland. For many years he was Researcher at the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN). When the martial law was imposed in Poland in December 1981, Professor Gawlikowski was abroad, and he continued living in Italy until 1995. After returning to Poland, he devoted all his efforts to the popularization of Asian cultures and history. In 1997, he founded Towarzystwo Azji i Pacyfiku (the Asia and Pacific Society) and a year later, he published the first issue of the journal “Azja-Pacyfik” (Asia-Pacific).

Professor Gawlikowski had been involved with SWPS University since its inception. Gradually, he was introducing classes on the Asia-Pacific region to the curriculum. In 2003, he established the Center for East Asian Civilization (currently the Department of Asian Studies), which launched its own undergraduate “Asian Studies: China and East Asia” program in 2012. The interdisciplinary and innovative character of this study program was the result of Professor Gawlikowski’s long-standing ambitions of educating experts who would specialize in the current and practical knowledge on the culture, society, politics, and the economy of the whole Asian region.

Professor Gawlikowski was a rare example of an academic with very broad scientific interests and high cultural sensitivity. He moved with ease between both, the historical and the current aspects of sinology, political science, sociology and cross-cultural psychology. One of his greatest professional achievements is co-authorship of the monumental publication Science and Civilisation in China (Cambridge 1994), edited by Joseph Needham, where Professor Gawlikowski wrote about his favorite research topic: Chinese strategic thought of the Warring States Period, in particular Sunzi’s The Art of War (Sunzi bingfa).

Professor Gawlikowski was a fountain of knowledge not only about China, but also about many other countries of Asia, in particular Myanmar, which had enticed him when he was still a student. Professor Gawlikowski strongly believed that the Eurocentric view of the world must be rejected, and that it was necessary to educate Poles in both, the foundations of Asian civilizations, and the current issues of the region. Professor Gawlikowski was actively engaged in numerous Asia-focused publishing and educational initiatives, also beyond SWPS University. He was a tireless educator, a charismatic speaker, and a well-loved academic teacher. He remained professionally active until the last days of his life. We have lost a true ambassador of Asian civilizations in Poland.

Oriental Languages Center

In the academic year 2002/2003, for the very first time SWPS University offered its students courses in two oriental languages, Chinese and Burmese, including an introduction to the culture and mentality of these countries, as befitted the social sciences profile of the University. The teaching program was also significantly extended to include courses on the foundations of the East Asian civilization and the societies of the region, comparative studies of the Confucian-Buddhist and the Western civilizations, classical Chinese social and political schools of thought, and the history of East Asia, including the transitions taking place in the 20th century. In the academic year 2005/2006, the Department launched classes on East Asian political systems and international relations. The program focused on a variety of practical competencies indispensable in cooperation with Asians, such as respect for tradition, the specific culture of negotiation, and ways of building lasting relationships.

From 2005 to 2009, CCAW run a Chinese Language School as part of SWPS University’s Language School. The Chinese Language School offered a three-year program, including selected topics about China and the region. The School was open to the general public and students of SWPS University.

Conferences and Symposia

In 2006, the Center began organizing conferences, seminars, and debates on contemporary issues of China, Japan and other countries of the East-Asia Region. The events organized to date have attracted researchers and analysts from various research centers in Poland, while speakers have included renowned specialists from Poland and other countries. Since 2007, the “Asia-Pacific: Society-Politics-Economy” journal, established in 1998, has been published under the auspices of SWPS University.

Launch of the full-time Study Program

In 2012, under the scientific supervision of CCAW, SWPS University launched a three-year full-time undergraduate program called Asian Studies: China and East Asia. First graduates obtained their diplomas in 2015.

Since 2014, CCAW has been organizing a series of educational events called “Asian Debates”, at the Warsaw Public Library, on Koszykowa Street. The events are part of a series titled International Debates, offered by the library.

In 2020, the founder of the Department of Asian Studies, Professor Krzysztof Gawlikowski, handed over the leadership of the Department to Associate Professor Marcin Jacoby.

Our videos

ChinaTalk is a series of interviews with leading global experts on China and East Asia, produced jointly by the Polish Chinese Business Council (PCBC) and SWPS University. Interviews are hosted by PCBC President, Mr. Zbigniew Niesiobędzki, and Professor Marcin Jacoby, Head of the Department of Asian Studies at SWPS University. ChinaTalk brings you the latest knowledge on the economy, social issues, management, and politics of China and East Asia. Our guest interpret the current developments and trends in the Chinese economy, and predict global, regional and bilateral outcomes of political decisions. Chinese relations with the European Union, and Poland in particular, constitute an important context of these discussions. The expert insights provide valuable input for business practitioners, analysts, as well as researchers and students interested in macroeconomics and global trade.

Listen our podcasts on YouTube or Soundcloud.

Go to the complete playlist
 

Contact us

Department of Asian Studies

Cantact details

SWPS University
Faculty of Humanities in Warsaw
Chodakowska 19/31
03-815 Warsaw
Poland



Head of the Department
Marcin Jacoby
Ph.D. / Associate Professor