Department of Journalism and Media Studies

Education Concept - Our Difference

We share our combined practical experience and theoretical research-based knowledge with our students, who become specialists in social communication, public relations, marketing, branding, journalism, and social and political commentary. We ensure that our students complete internships and participate in practical projects that help them to develop professional journalistic portfolios. Our graduates go on to successful careers in the leading television and radio stations, press media, renowned marketing agencies, and public relation departments of international corporations.

Our teaching philosophy is characterized by:

• Focus on the Present. The knowledge and practical skills we teach, equip our students with critical thinking skills, methods, research tools, knowledge of normative systems that allow them to not only understand the contemporary world in all its complexity, and comprehend dynamic changes, but also diagnose these complexities and transformations, forecast the direction of changes, and gain agency by active participation.
• Interdisciplinary Approach. Our study programs are based on the body of knowledge derived from several disciplines and various research strategies and practices, which allow scholars to describe and analyze complex contemporary phenomena.
• Toolboxes of researchers and practitioners. The majority of our lecturers who teach journalism are practitioners with extensive work experience in the media. They share their theoretical and practical knowledge with students. The program ensures that our graduates gain practical experience, which provides them with an advantage on the job market. During classes students learn how to use both traditional and innovative methods and tools.
• Networking. During the course of study, students have an opportunity to meet not only their academic teachers, but also many professionals from the creative sector, representatives of public and private institutions, and community activists from Poland and around the world.
• Empathy. In our teaching, we believe in mutual feedback, empathetic approach, building strong bonds based on trust, and engagement.
• Experience. The curriculum of our journalism and social communication program includes an extensive scheme of mandatory internships, spread evenly across all years of study. The goal of the practicum, which every semester is carried out in collaboration with a different entity, e.g., media institutions, marketing companies, NGOs, and municipalities, is to immerse students in real working environments where they can gain practical experience sought after by employers.
• Courage. Our journalism program teaches not only tools of the trade that professionals in the area of social communication use on daily bases. We also teach journalistic ethics and values. We explain that pursuit of truth is often difficult and requires courage. We show them the complexity of exposing propaganda, disinformation, and fake news.
• Agility. Our programs are designed to help our students gain team and project management skills and react to a rapidly changing media environment.

Scope of research

Apart from research and teaching, our staff is also involved in initiatives benefiting communities and the society, and collaborates with business partners. Our projects aim to meet the needs of the contemporary world.

Research focus and projects

We draw on various research traditions and are inspired by different areas of research, such as media studies, political and administrative sciences, social communication, cultural studies and history.
Go to the webpage of the Institute of Social Sciences

Central European Digital Media Observatory (CEDMO)

The main goal of the project is to increase awareness of fake news and to counteract the ubiquitous disinformation in Central Europe. The project is intended to help media, public institutions, businesses, and non-profit organizations to deal with fake news. Katarzyna Bąkiewicz, Ph.D. represents SWPS University on the international CEDMO team. She has already carried out a quantitative study “Awareness of disinformation among Polish news journalists” and published a study report. She developed an overall concept of the project and scripts. She also produced the first season of a podcast “Konteksty” (Contexts).
Learn more about the CEDMO project  

Student Research Clubs

Active participation in student research clubs teaches students how to apply newly acquired, theoretical knowledge, in practice, enables exchange of ideas, expands interests, and brings together individuals who are interested in culture and media studies. SWPS University supports students in pursuing their interests. Our student research clubs include:

• New Journalism Research Club
• [Cultural Frame] Student Research Club

Research collaborations

We contribute to projects carried out by inter-university teams specializing in media research. For example, Professor Marek Kochan and Małgorzata Bulaszewska, Ph.D are members of the Media Studies Committee of the Polish Academy of Learning (PAU), which provides a platform for exchange of ideas and knowledge between media researchers working at universities across Poland. Prof. Kochan is also a member of interdisciplinary Discourse Analysis Workshops, which have been exploring a variety of topics concerning public communication for the past several years.

Katarzyna Bąkowicz, Ph.D. has established a task force for Ethical and Responsible Communication, which operates as part of the United Nations Global Compact Network Poland (UNGCNP). The task force has published the first European Ethical and Responsible Business Communication Standard. As an assessor for the European Fact-Checking Standards Network, Katarzyna monitors the quality of fact-checking services provided by organizations in Europe. Furthermore, she is a member of international organizations, such as the European Media Management Association, and a member of the Program Council of Poland’s Advertising Council.

Dr. Katarzyna Bąkowicz, together with Professor Evelina Kristanova, are members of the Polish Communication Association (PCA) where they work on various issues and challenges concerning the media industry in Poland.

Interdisciplinary research projects

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, Monka 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]. Dr. Weychert collaborates with the Center for Comparative Research on Memory Cultures, sits on the Board of the Polish Section of the International Association of Art Critics (AICA), where she is the Chair of the Audit Committee. Monika is also a curator at the A19 Gallery, located in one of the Warsaw’s subway stations.

Conferences

We also actively participate in the top media-related conferences in Poland, such as the annual conference Współczesne Media (Contemporary Media) in Lublin, Studia i Perspektywy Medioznawcze (Media Studies and Perspectives) in Wrocław, and Ogólnopolska Konferencja Metodologiczna Medioznawców (National Methodological Conference of Media Researchers) in Warsaw. Additionally, we take part in meetings of the Polish Association of Cultural Studies, the Polish Society for Film and Media Studies, 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 are active members of the Andrzej Woyciechowski Award Journalism Forum of Radio ZET, a Polish commercial radio station. The Forum provides a platform for meetings of experienced journalists, media experts and researchers with students of journalism, and facilitates 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 by the means of new media as well as opportunities and threats resulting from the development of new technologies. Dr. Marcin Zaborski is the Chair of the Program Committee of the Radio ZET Journalism Forum.

Knowledge Sharing

We are committed to the social mission of our department, therefore we are engaged in popularization of knowledge concerning the world and the media. We are present in traditional and social media, including dailies (such as Gazeta Wyborcza and local dailies), weekly opinion magazines (e.g., Polityka, Newsweek, Tygodnik Powszechny, and Wprost), professional publications (e.g., Press), as well as radio and television programs and online platforms.

As part of a strategic program “Inicjatywa doskonałości – uczelnia badawcza” (Excellence Initiative – Research University), Dr. Monika Weychert 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 summarizing the project and popularizing different Art and Science schools “Nostalgia za człowiekiem” [Nostalgic about humanity] (October-November 2022).

Professor Evelina Kristanova was a member of the editorial boards of Nasza Przeszłość (Our Past) and Humanities and Social Sciences. From 2009 to 2012 she was the Secretary of the Editorial Office of Acta Universitatis Lodziensis. Folia Librorum, a peer-reviewed, open access journal devoted to academic information and the theory and practice of library science and bibliology.