Dr Joanna Kawalska
MA, PhD
School of Languages, Arts and Societies
Lecturer
Full contact details
School of Languages, Arts and Societies
Jessop West
1 Upper Hanover Street
Sheffield
S3 7RA
- Profile
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I come from Upper Silesia (Katowice) where I first started my MA studies in Polish literature and language. I graduated in 2005 after defending a dissertation about overinterpretation of the texts based on Umberto Eco’s and Richard Rorty’s theories. In 2006, I finished an MA thesis about Imannuel Kant’s aesthetic theory.
In 2007, thanks to professor Jolanta Tambor, I started the adventure of teaching Polish as a foreign language. After training organized by the Polish Ministry of Higher Education I went for my first (in the role of teacher) summer school of Polish language in Chişinău in Moldova.
In 2007, I moved to Romania and taught Polish at º£½ÇÉçÇø of Bucharest for two years. In 2010, I finished my PhD thesis about crisis of culture between 1918-1939 in Poland/Europe, origins of totalitarianism, banality of evil and conformism. Then I moved to Bratislava, Slovakia, and taught Polish at Komenský’s º£½ÇÉçÇø until 2013. I came to Sheffield in September 2014.
- Qualifications
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- MA Polish Literature and Language (Silesian º£½ÇÉçÇø)
- MA Philosophy (Silesian º£½ÇÉçÇø)
- Specialisation in Teaching Polish as a Foreign Language (Ministry of Higher Education, UMCS Lublin)
- PhD (Silesian º£½ÇÉçÇø)
- Research interests
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Although my PhD thesis was dedicated to literature and cultural theories, because of my everyday teaching duties, I have become more interested in language acquisition and philosophy of language.
I have recently prepared for the students of Polish - a project funded by CEELBAS; I have participated in language teaching workshops at UCL; I have also been supporting teaching Polish as native/heritage language in the and the .
I am interested in the history of World War II and the Jewish history in Poland. In Sheffield’s º£½ÇÉçÇø Library, I have analysed authentic letters from 1944-1947 written by members of the Polish community in the UK. I have also written an article about Polish and Poles at the º£½ÇÉçÇø of Sheffield.
- Teaching activities
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Polish language (in collaboration with Nina Szymor who is teaching grammar) and content courses at all levels
- RUS123/124 Polish Language and Culture for Beginners
- RUS350/351 Intermediate Polish
- RUS383/384 Varieties of Written and Spoken Polish (include RUS210 Polish Heritage Track)
- RUS130/131 Polish for All (evening course)
- RUS123b/124b, 125/126 History of Eastern Europe (Polish stream)
- RUS250/251 Polish Culture
- RUS386 Project in Polish Studies (undergraduate dissertation)
- MA supervision