(eng) Jewish Culture in Poland 3004-KZP-OG

The aim of the course is to familiarize foreign students with the activity of Jews in Poland and their influence on selected areas of Polish culture. Participants will have the opportunity to learn about key events in Polish-Jewish history and understand why the subject of Jewish culture plays such a significant role in interpreting many historical events and cultural phenomena in Poland. The course will also present the achievements of renowned Jewish artists and public figures, texts concerning Jewish issues, organizations that preserve the memory of Jews and promote Jewish culture, as well as information about the contemporary Jewish community in Poland.
Classes will take the form of a seminar and lecture. The instructor’s presentation will include visual and audiovisual materials accompanied by oral commentary. Each session will include a discussion involving students.
All students will have access to the Campus UW platform, where class presentations, materials, and additional information about current events related to Jewish culture in Poland will be posted.
Course Schedule:
1. Introduction to the Topic of the Course and Its Organization.
2. Judaism: Symbols, Rituals, Traditions.
3. Polish-Jewish Relations from the 13th to the 19th Century.
4. Polish-Jewish Relations in the 20th and 21st Centuries.
5. The Holocaust and Places of Remembrance, Part I.
6. The Holocaust and Places of Remembrance, Part II.
7. Jewish Districts and Cities Associated with Jewish Culture.
8. Artists and Scholars of Jewish Descent.
9. The Image of the Jew in Polish Literature.
10. Culture and History of Jews in Polish Film.
11. Jewish Motifs in Painting and Music.
12. Institutions Promoting Jewish Culture. Preserving Jewish Cultural Heritage.
13. Coursework Presentations.
14. The Life of Polish Jews Today.

Type of course

general courses

Mode

Classroom

Course coordinators

Piotr Kajak
Barbara Łukaszewicz

Learning outcomes

After completing the course, the student will:
− know the most important facts from the history of Polish Jews,
− be able to name the cities and districts where Jews most frequently settled,
− know the most important sites of memory, monuments, and other forms of commemorating historical events involving Jews in Poland,
− understand how relations between Jews and Poles developed and what they looked like,
− be familiar with the most famous Polish-Jewish creators and scholars,
− know how Jewish history and culture are commemorated in contemporary Poland,
− know facts about the lives of contemporary Polish Jews.

Assessment criteria

– Active participation in class.
– Your choice: a coursework essay or a presentation.

Bibliography

Burchard P., Pamiątki i zabytki kultury żydowskiej w Polsce, Warsaw 1990.
Jewish Space in Contemporary Poland, eds. E. Lehrer, M. Meng, K. Migalska, Cracow 1990.
Poland and Polin: New Interpretations in Polish-Jewish Studies, eds. I. Grudzińska-Gross, I. Nawrocki, Frankfurt am Mein 2016.
Poles & Jews: History – Culture – Education, eds. M. Misztal, P. Trojański, Cracow 2011.
Pytasz M., Żydzi w Polsce. In: Kultura polska. Silva rerum, eds. R. Cudak, J. Tambor, Katowice 2002, pp. 243–273.
The Jews in Poland, ed. A. K. Paluch, vol. 1–2, Cracow 1992.
1.000 Years of Jewish Life in Poland: a Timeline: https://www.taubephilanthropies.org/sites/default/files/pdf/2019-11/Timeline_1000years.pdf.
selected texts posted on websites, incl. www.sztetl.org.pl, www.culture.pl, www.time.com, www.facinghistory.org.
excerpts from selected literary texts and films, selected pieces of music and pictures.

Additional information

Information on level of this course, year of study and semester when the course unit is delivered, types and amount of class hours - can be found in course structure diagrams of apropriate study programmes. This course is related to the following study programmes:

Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system:

Description of 3004-KZP-OG in USOSweb