The Way Of The Polish Master

I should probably tell you a bit about my studies, as they are the main reason why I'm here (or at least the main excuse for me to be).

My university, Uniwersytet Jagielloński - or Jagiellonian University in English - was founded in the 14th century and is one of the top two (along with the University of Warsaw) universities in Poland. It is something like the 20th oldest school in the world and the 3rd oldest outside of Italy, Britain, Spain, and France. It consists of the original building, the main building, and a scattering of others.

The original building, the Collegium Maius, where Copernicus did his studies, is in the heart of the old town. Nowadays, it's mostly used for ceremonial purposes and as a museum.

The main building, or Collegium Novum, is just around the corner. It's quite pretty at night!

And then there are a bunch of other buildings, offices, and classrooms scattered throughout the city, but largely concentrated in the Old Town. Here's a picture of my class building in the Main Market Square.

My master's program is called Transatlantic Studies. This essentially means US-Europe political and cultural relations. Transatlantic Studies saves you some breath, though. It's a two year program taught in English that is composed mostly of international students. My year has nine people: One Turk, one Indian, one Chinese, three Americans, and three Polish/Americans. Doing my studies this way (coursework in English while otherwise being immersed in a foreign language) is ideal to me, since it lets me fulfill my fantasy of lingual and cultural immersion without adversely affecting my studies. My classes are Monday-Thursday, which gives me extended weekends for travel!!! Related blog posts coming soon.

My classmates (minus Gloria, who's taking the picture):

One interesting bit is that we share our building with the American Studies program, taught in Polish. So here is an Anglophone group that largely consists of Americans studying Poland side-by-side with Poles studying the US. This past Thursday they threw a Thanksgiving potluck and invited our program. They made a valiant attempt at mimicking the American tradition, but were slightly off. The only Thanksgiving-esque dish was a turkey leg. There were many other American (but not very Thanksgivingy) foods like pigs in blankets and silver dollar pancakes. Good effort guys!

I am also taking an introductory Polish language course that the university offers for foreign students. I think my Polish is coming along quite nicely. I highly recommend having a pretty teacher when taking any intensive language class. It definitely incentivizes hard work. Jak masz na imię! Herbata Zielona! Bardzo dobre!

I listed my courses in my first post on this blog. Throughout the next two years, I'll be taking various seminars and lectures, culminating with a thesis. If you come up with any rad thesis ideas, don't be shy to throw them my way!