Student Research Clubs
Student Research Clubs bring together students who are interested in cultural and media studies Participation in the clubs provides students with an excellent opportunity to learn how to apply their newly acquired theoretical knowledge in practice. The research clubs also facilitate exchange of ideas and provide a platform for broadening one’s interests. Our students pursue their interests and test their ideas in the following clubs:
Awards for Best Theses
Since 2022, we have been awarding students who have written the best undergraduate and graduate theses in the discipline of cultural studies. This recognition is conducive to the promotion of innovative research in the filed of contemporary culture. We encourage thesis advisors and reviewers to submit their nominations atThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Conferences and Meetings
Since 2009, we have been involved in various projects carried out by an inter-university research center established in collaboration with the Academy of Fine Arts – the Institute of Research on Public Space (IBPP) (formerly the Center for Research on Public Space). Together, we have conducted many interdisciplinary research projects and published numerous articles. For example, Monika Weychert, Ph.D. delivered lectures and organized conferences, symposia and meetings under the auspices of IBPP. She also co-edited a monograph about the founder of IBPP, Professor Mirosław Duchowski “Duch metra” (The Spirit of the Warsaw Metro) [2021].
We also contribute to inter-university research on media. Professor Marek Kochan is a member of the Media Studies Committee of the Polish Academy of Learning (PAU), which provides a platform for exchange of ideas and knowledge sharing between media researchers who work at universities across Poland. Professor Kochan also participates in interdisciplinary Discourse Analysis Workshops that have been exploring a variety of topics concerning public communication for the past several years.
Additionally, we actively participate in top conferences concerned with media studies in Poland, such as the annual conference Współczesne Media (Contemporary Media) in Lublin, Studia i Perspektyw Medioznawcze (Media Studies and Perspectives) in Wrocław, and Ogólnopolska Konferencja Metodologiczna Medioznawców (National Methodological Conference of Media Researchers) in Warsaw, as well as meetings of the Polish Sociological Association (PTS) and the Polish Communication Association (PCA). The conferences result in publications concerning media and public communication.
Radio ZET’s Journalism Forum
Our lecturers and students actively co-create the Journalism Forum founded by Radio ZET, a Polish commercial radio station. The Forum is part of the annual Andrzej Woyciechowski Awards Gala. The award recognizes journalists who break stereotypes and dare to read between the lines and look beyond the obvious. The Forum provides a platform for meetings of experienced journalists, media experts and researchers with students of journalism, and for discussions about challenges that media face nowadays. The conversations focus on reliability, trust, objectivism, and responsibility, which are expected from the journalistic profession. They also touch on conscious participation in communication via the new media as well as opportunities and threats resulting from the development of new technologies. One of our academics, Marcin Zaborski, Ph.D., represents SWPS University at the Program Committee of the Andrzej Woyciechowski Award.
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Our Publications
We publish in key scientific journals devoted to culture and religion studies and media and social communication studies, including Polish publications such as: Teksty drugie, Przegląd kulturoznawczy, Kultura współczesna, Czas kultury, Kwartalnik filmowy, Pamiętnik teatralny, Rocznik Historii Prasy Polskiej, Zeszyty Prasoznawcze, Konteksty. Polska Sztuka Ludowa, Politeja. Pismo Wydziału Studiów Międzynarodowych i Politycznych Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego, Studia Medioznawcze, Studia Slavica, Poradnik Językowy, Kultura Media Teologia, Studia Politologiczne, Studia Migracyjne – Przegląd Polonijny, Estetyka i Krytyka, Prace Kulturoznawcze, Elementy. Sztuka i design, Narracje o Zagładzie, Kultura i Społeczeństwo, Athenaeum, Polskie Studia Politologiczne, and international journals, such as: Arts, Memory Studies, Game Studies, Critical Studies in Television, Images. The International Journal of European Film, Performing Arts and Audiovisual Communication, European Journal of Cultural Studies, and Critical Romani Studies. We also contribute chapters to books that are published by prestigious publishing houses listed on the ministerial list II, such as Bloombsbury, MIT Press, and Routledge.
OSWPS University Press: Since 2022, a journal focused on visual culture studies Widok. Teorie i praktyki kultury wizualnej has been affiliated with SWPS University.
Knowledge Sharing
A belief in the social mission of our department translates to our commitment to popularization of knowledge about cultural studies. We are present in traditional and social media, including dailies (such as the national daily Gazeta Wyboracza and local dailies), weekly opinion magazines (e.g., Polityka, Newsweek, Tygodnik Powszechny, and Wprost) as well as radio and television programs and online platforms.
Our numerous initiatives also carry a huge educational potential. For example, the report on the notion of “sisterhood” developed by Sandra Frydrysiak, Ph.D. and Marta Majchrzak, provided a foundation for activism concerning women’s rights. The report suggests that practicing “sisterhood”, understood as women’s solidarity, helps to reveal systemic nature of women’s issues, which are often treated as taboo subjects by the society.
As part of the strategic program “Inicjatywa doskonałości – uczelnia badawcza” (Excellence Initiative – Research University), Monika Weychert, Ph.D. participated in an international research and artistic project carried out by the Pedagogical University of Krakow. Together with Rafał Kosewski, she was a curator of an exhibition “Nostalgia za człowiekiem” (Nostalgic about humanity), which summarized the project and aimed to popularize different Art and Science approaches (October-November 2022).
We should also mention the collaboration of Karol Jachymek, Ph.D. with numerous cultural and education intuitions, such as the National Film Archive – Audiovisual Institute, the Center for Citizenship Education,
Filmoteka Szkolna – a resource of selected films from the national archive addressed to teachers and students, the School with Class Foundation, and the New Horizons Association, which aim to popularize knowledge concerning adolescent (pop)culture, digital media, and communication practices common among members of the Generations Z and Alpha. For this purpose, Dr. Karol Jachymek, develops scripts for lessons and lectures, e-learning courses and runs workshops for teachers, educators and parents on these topics.