Vancouver Island University’s study abroad program offers an exciting opportunity to students or community members interested in Polish culture.
A new interdisciplinary trip to Wrocław, Poland will be led by English and art history professors in May.
“The field school will provide students or community participants with a wonderful opportunity to learn through hands-on study how literature, art, history and politics shape identity,” said English professor Terri Doughty. “It’s also a chance for participants to experience European life and culture in one of central Europe’s most interesting border zones.”
Doughty and Justin McGrail, an art history professor, host two information sessions for potential participants at the Nanaimo campus on Tuesday (Nov. 29) from 6:30-7:30 p.m. in Bldg. 325, Rm. 211, and Wednesday (Nov. 30) from 12:30-1:30 p.m. in Bldg. 325, Rm. 204. The field school can be taken for course credit or audited.
The primary focus of the trip is the study of cultural contact zones: what happens when borders shift, when cultures collide.
Doughty said Wrocław presents an excellent case study. Over centuries, it and surrounding territory have been subject to various rule: Bohemian, Habsburg, Prussian/German and Polish. Its history in the 20th century was particularly turbulent, its population decimated and transformed by war and forced migrations.
As well as day trips to Auschwitz and Krakow, the field school includes guided tours of Wrocław and of secondary sites, the City Museum of Wrocław, Ethnographic Museum, National Museum, Ostrów Tumski, art galleries, Racławice Panorama, Hala Ludowa, and the Jewish cemetary.
For more information about the trip, please visit www.viu.ca.