Institute of Humanities

The Aesthetics of Populism.
Political struggle and the aesthetic experience in Poland post 1989

NCN Project No.: 2019/35/B/HS2/01187

Following the smartphone:
Ethnography of the emergent urban cultures of networked individuals

According to the Office of Electronic Communication, three out of four Poles use smartphones on daily basis. Although these devices may seem to be just more advanced versions of first mobile phones, their technological capabilities and functionalities place them in a category of microcomputers, which can be customized by dedicated apps that significantly transform user behavior. Thanks to GPS capabilities and transportation services apps, such as Uber, smartphones have changed how people function in urban spaces. They provide new possibilities of telecommuting and consumption of entertainment. Applications such as Facebook or Tinder have reshaped the architecture of social and intimate relationships, by changing interpersonal and social dynamics and extending or intensifying social networks. However, despite the scale and sudden character of these transformations, reflections on the subject remain largely in the journalistic sphere and are often tinted with anecdotal data and didactic narration concerning corrosion of human relations and threats of addiction.

History of Popular Culture in Poland
in the first half of the 20th century from the perspective of transmediality

Papyrus scrolls, movable print, color printing, and electronic readers. A phonograph, a gramophone, a tape recorder, a CD player, and an iPod. The ways of recording written texts and music have been changing throughout the ages. Focusing on the first half of the 20th century, researchers from SWPS University examined how the technology available at the time influenced various platforms and formats of popular culture.

Large-scale Live E-sports Events
in Poland and Hong Kong

Nowadays, electronic sports (also known as e-sports) are one of the fastest growing branches of digital entertainment. Professional e-sport competitions draw large audiences, not only in the case of mass e-sport events, but also in relation to live transmissions of e-sport games available on digital streaming platforms. Although South Korea remains the birthplace of e-sports, a rapid and successful development of this discipline has been noted in many other regions of the world. Currently, Poland and Hong Kong are two leading countries with a rapid proliferation of initiatives related to competitive playing of e-sports. Dr. Mateusz Felczak from SWPS University researches the phenomenon of e-sport culture.