History
The Head of the Department of Belarusian Studies at the University of Warsaw invites you to co-found a research center on Belarusian studies in the Department of Belarusian Studies at the Faculty of Applied Linguistics at the University of Warsaw. It is possible to create a research group or to conduct scientific individual work. Requirements: willingness to work as a researcher, commitment to popularize the results of Belarusian studies research, agreement to affiliate with our research center, acquisition (alone or with researchers from our department) of a Polish, European or American grant to finance research work. We invite researchers from different countries, not only from Poland and Belarus. We want to internationalize Belarusian research in our unit, exchange various Western and Eastern experiences and work together for the benefit of Belarusian science and its popularization in the world. Interested persons are invited to send their scientific CV, research project and possible sources of funding to the head of the Department at: rkaleta(at)uw.edu.pl. We look forward to working with you!
The Department of Belarusian Studies is a research and training institution, part of the Department of Applied Linguistics at the University of Warsaw. It was established in 1956 as an independent department by the Ministry for Further Education. As a result of the reorganisation of various faculties, from 1969-1975 the Department functioned as a Zakład before reverting to its previous status as a Katedra. Since 2005 it has been the Department of Belarusian Studies (following Resolution No 307 of the Rector of the University of Warsaw on 16th March 2005.) For over sixty years numerous specialists in Belarusian Studies have graduated from the department. It can also boast respected scientific research work.
Founder, organiser and head of the Department (both when it was a Katedra and Zakład) for a great many years (up until 1971), Professor Antonina Obrębska-Jabłońska (1901-1994) was an eminent specialist in Slavic languages as well as the author of numerous works on Slavic languages and co-editor, together with Mikołaj Biryła, of Podręczny słownik polsko-białoruski (Pocket Polish-Belarusian Dictionary) published by the Wiedza Powszechan Publishing House. It was the only resource book of its kind until 2005. In the course of establishing and developing the Department, the Belarusian State University (Minsk) proved to be of invaluable help: not only did the university donate a large collection of resource books to the new institute but it also sent its employees to Warsaw to offer help with teaching Belarusian, responding to the needs at the time.
A renowned specialist in Belarusian and Polish Studies, Professor Elżbieta Smułkowa (born 1931) succeeded professor Obrębska-Jabłońska as head of the Department between 1971 and 1975. With her research interests connected with the issue of the Polish, Belarusian and Lithuanian linguistic borderlands and her previous career as the first Ambassador of the Republic of Poland in Belarus, Professor Smułkowa is still an active employee at the University of Warsaw, working in the Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies “Artes Liberales” and supporting research in Belarusian Studies in Poland mainly by exploring the topic of the linguistic borderlands.
Throughout the period of 1975–2004, the Department was led by Professor Aleksander Barszczewski (born 1930), a literary historian who conducts research into Polish and Belarusian literary connections as well as the literature of Belarusian emigration. Professor Barszczewski has been working in the department since its establishment, not only supporting its development but also teaching further generations of specialists in Belarusian Studies and fostering relations between the Department and other research and teaching institutes and social organisations. His great achievements in the area of literature (he is the author of several collections of poetry, memoirs, as well as the translator of a great many Belarusian texts, while at the same time being a member of the Association of Polish Writers as well as the Association of Belarusian Writers) have made it possible to establish relations between the Department and various figures in the arts. Professor Barszczewski has provided invaluable support to both employees and students at the Department with his experience and knowledge.
Associate Professor Mikołaj Timoszuk, a well-known and widely admired specialist in Russian Studies who mainly carries out research in lexicology and lexicography in Belarusian and Russian, was the head of the Department of Belarusian Studies from October 2004 till 2009. The author of notable Polish-Russian and Russian-Polish dictionaries, Professor Timoszuk has spurred the development of Belarusian Studies in Poland mainly by investigating linguistic aspects of classical texts in Belarusian. Thanks to his commitment to running the Department, not only did the number of employees double over his five years in charge, but student exchanges with the Belarusian State University were reintroduced. Professor Timoszuk worked at the department until 2017.
From October 2009 till May 2014 the Department of Belarusian Studies was run by Associate Professor Nina Barszczewska, a linguist and researcher dealing with the history of Belarusian, the language of Belarusian emigration, and issues relating to the linguistic borderlands. Following her predecessors, Professor Barszczewska strongly emphasised the importance of developing relations between the Department and other institutions as well as fostering its scientific development.
From May 2014 the Department of Belarusian Studies was run by Dr Katarzyna Drozd, a specialist in literary studies interested in contemporary Belarusian literature and culture. Dr Drozd commenced a drive to promote the Department’s activities among other universities and schools. Dr Radosław Kaleta was the Deputy Head of the Department (12.2014–09.2016).
From September 2016 to September 2018, the Department of Belarusian Studies was again headed by Associate Professor Nina Barszczewska. After she retired in 2018, Dr Volha Tratsiak, a linguist and specialist in toponymy and the linguistic borderlands, took over as head of the Department from October 2018 to September 2019. Linguist Dr Anna Rędzioch-Korkuz was the Deputy Head of the Department for that period. Since October 2019, the Department has been headed by Associate Professor Radosław Kaleta, a linguist and language teaching specialist.
For thirty-five years the Department of Belarusian Studies at the University of Warsaw was the only research and teaching unit of its kind outside Belarus. This proved very helpful for Poles wishing to open Polish language departments at the state universities in Brest, Grodno and Minsk. The Department of Belarusian Studies has for years been collaborating with the following Belarusian academic and research institutions: the Belarusian State University in Minsk, the State University in Gomel, Polotsk and Vitebsk, the International Association of Belarusian Studies (Minsk), the Association of Belarusian Folklore Studies (Minsk) and the Minsk Institute for Educational Development. Additionally, the department has maintained close relations with the Belarusian Institute of Arts and Sciences in New York and the Francis Skaryna Belarusian Library in London. On the initiative of the then acting Deputy Head of Belarusian Studies, Professor Radosław Kaleta, contacts were established with the Institute of Eastern European Studies at Charles University in Prague. On the initiative of the Department of Belarusian Studies, a bilateral agreement was signed as part of the Erasmus programme (entering into force 2016/2017), which allows students and academic staff to receive a travel scholarship. On May 27, 2019, the University of Warsaw signed a bilateral agreement with Grodno State University enabling trips for students and staff. The collaboration with the university in Grodno was initiated by Dr Volha Tratsiak.
The employees at the Department have developed widespread research interests which include studying Eastern Slavic dialects in the Białystok region, lexicography of the Polish-Belarusian borderland, bilingual lexicography, microtoponymy of the north-east region of Poland, Belarusian folklore in the Białystok region, contemporary Belarusian and its history, Belarusian literature in Poland, the Belarusian Diaspora and the role and importance of the language in the life of the nation, the literature of Belarusian emigration, contemporary literature in Belarusian and its history, translation studies, and methods of teaching Belarusian. As a result, the department boasts numerous published works, including books, dictionaries, articles published both in Polish and international journals, student books and other educational materials. The Laboratory of Belarusian Language Teaching (Pracownia Glottodydaktyki Białorutenistycznej) has been operating within the Department since December 1, 2015.
For years a number of internationally recognised researchers have been studying at, and collaborating with, the department. Three specialists in Belarusian Studies have graduated from the department with a full professorship title. It has also educated four associate professors, nine PhD graduates and four hundred MA degree students, many of whom have found success working in schools, cultural institutions, associations, the media, and other institutions connected with Belarus.
Employees of the department participate actively in the scientific life of Poland and abroad, taking part in conferences and congresses (for specialists in Slavic and Belarusian Studies) as well as publishing papers in journals and collective books in Poland and elsewhere. The Department of Belarusian Studies created the International Conference Droga ku wzajemności (The Road to Being Reciprocal) which has been organised since 1993. Materials presented during the conference are later published in the journal Acta Albaruthenica. The Department is also responsible for drafting and modifying study programmes, course curricula, educational materials and student books (for all educational levels, including higher education); it also carries out a number of lexicography and publishing projects. In the 2014/2015 academic year, to meet the needs of students and the job market, a new study programme specialising in Belarusian Philology with Russian and English was launched. In 2019 it transformed into Belarusian Philology with English. A number of doctoral dissertations in the area of linguistics and literary studies supervised by the professors working in the department have been defended so far. There are yet more to come, which means we will have new employees and the Department will continue to develop.
Thanks to the cordial atmosphere created over the years, the positive attitude of the lecturers and the creativity of our students (sometimes unexpected), relations between the lecturers and graduates-to-be are extremely harmonious. Students of Belarusian Studies often initiate important cultural or scientific events with the help of the teaching staff, who are always willing to offer their support. Working as members of the Albaruthenica Interfaculty Science Society, established in 2000, or as members of the student union, young students of Belarusian not only get to collaborate with leading non-governmental Polish organisations that support Belarus or individually organise scientific trips to Belarus, but also work towards promoting Belarusian studies by, for instance, organising conferences for undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate students.