Second-year of study B.A. proseminars (2BA PROSEM) for winter term 2025–2026 (Full-time programmes)

What is this list?

This is a list of proseminars we intend to launch in the winter term (October–February) in some of our full-time B.A. programmes whose second year of study is the academic year 2025–2026. This list is intended for:

1. Students at the Faculty of English who are about to enter the second year of their full-time B.A. programme: this is your reference point before your enrolment into proseminars;
2. Candidates for our full-time programmes: this list gives you a snapshot of what proseminars were on offer for the study cycle that started a year earlier, that is in 2024.

Which proseminar is for whom?

The programmes in the list and their abbrieviations are:

• English Philology (Filologia angielska) — FA
• English-Celtic Philology (Filologia angielsko-celtycka) — FAC
• English Studies: Literature and Culture — ESLC

The programmes in English and Chinese Studies (Filologia angielsko-chińska) and Dutch Studies (Studia niderlandystyczne) are not covered by this list. ESCL students are offered the choice of three proseminars from a list of six—these are provided in pairs: the choice of one proseminar in each pair precludes the selection of the other at the same time.

Note: the programme in English Linguistics: Theories, Interfaces, Technologies (ELTIT) will only have 2BA proseminars in the summer term—there are no 2BA proseminars for ELTIT in the winter term.

How to navigate the list?

The list is sorted first by the target programmes (FA and FAC precede ESCL), then by name of the teacher (for FA and FAC) or by seminar pairs (for ESLC). The format of each entry is the following: title of the proseminar, the name of the teacher, information on which programme(s) the proseminar is for, and the description of the proseminar.

Proseminars for FA and FAC

Getting to know ethnic flavors and their contributions to U.S. culture through music and performing arts

Prof. Stan L. Breckenridge, Ph.D.

It is well-known the U.S. is a country full of many cultures and ethnic traditions that have greatly contributed to the fabric of American society. One particular contribution of note is the performing arts, and more specifically music. As a result of these “ethnic flavors”, and thus different music tastes, along with a competitive desire for excellence, they have become an integral part in the music scene in America, which is greatly admired worldwide for its performance traditions. Of particular interest is the high level of vocal performance as heard in styles (and their variations) such as blues, country, hip-hop, jazz, rhythm and blues, rock, soul, zydeco, as well as marketing categories such as ambient, adult contemporary, dance, Latin, pop, and more. This seminar focuses on getting to know the many stylistic tendencies used by numerous singers by listening to and, to some degree, by participation. Moreover, such learning will reveal, through the lens of vocal music, yet another way to explore the intricacies of American society.

Hybridity in Contemporary Anglophone Literatures

prof. dr hab. Dagmara Drewniak

“Hybridity is a sign of (…) productivity” claims the famous theoretician of culture Homi K. Bhabha. Therefore, this proseminar will be devoted to the discussion of multifarious manifestations of hybridity and otherness in the British, US, Canadian and other Anglophone literatures. The study of contemporary literary texts and theory (on the basis of carefully selected texts e.g. by John Barth, Salman Rushdie, Zadie Smith and Michael Ondaatje to name only a few) is aimed at giving students interested in the field of literary and cultural studies a possibility to supplement and broaden their knowledge. A range of topics is going to be taken into consideration and reflected in the selected texts and in-class discussions, among them: hybridization, otherness, multiculturalism, and feminism. The majority of in-class discussions will be based on a thorough reading of a selection of texts, mainly short stories. Thus, critical reading of all assigned texts is obligatory and credits will be given on the basis of students’ active participation, attendance and presentations, as well as the results of the final test.

Bibliography

• Ashcroft, Bill, Gareth Griffiths and Helen Tiffin. 2000. Post-Colonial Studies: The Key Concepts. London – New York: Routledge.

Dialectology of North American English

prof. UAM dr hab. Ronald Kim

This class examines the major forms of variation in present-day North American English (NAE), including phonological, morphological, and lexical variables; the historical evolution of NAE dialects, including variation and dialect diversity in earlier NAE records; and the relation of NAE dialects to those of the British Isles and the rest of the English-speaking world.  We will survey the range of methods that have been used in the study NAE, from old-fashioned lexical inquiries, to the questionnaires of Hans Kurath, to the pioneering sociolinguistic fieldwork of William Labov and his colleagues in the 1960s, to the 1990s Telephone Survey and resulting Atlas of North American English, to the proliferation of online resources in the 21^st century.

Other topics to be discussed include the relation between traditional dialect geography and modern dialectology in the North American context; the history, features, and influence of African American English; and the intersection of geography with other variables, including social class, age, gender, and ethnicity and race.  Finally, we will discuss the question of “General American”, and the practical problems of identifying, describing, and teaching a standard American English in the world today.

Selected bibliography

• Carver, Craig M. 1987. American Regional Dialects: A Word Geography. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
• Katz, Josh. 2016. Speaking American: How Y’all, Youse, and You Guys Talk. A Visual Guide. Boston & New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
• Labov, William. 2012. Dialect Diversity in America: The Politics of Language Change. (Page-Barbour Lectures for 2009.) Charlottesville & London: University of Virginia Press.
• Labov, William, Sharon Ash, and Charles Boberg. 2006. The Atlas of North American English: Phonetics, Phonology, and Sound Change. Berlin/New York: Mouton de Gruyter.
• Wolfram, Walt and Natalie Schilling-Estes. 1998. American English: Dialects and Variation. (Language in Society 24.) Malden, MA & Oxford: Blackwell.

Affective Psychophysiology of Language

dr Marcin Naranowicz

In this psycholinguistics-based proseminar, we will explore the intricate relationship between language and affect (emotion and mood) from a psychophysiological perspective. The course will focus on recent advancements in research on emotion and mood effects on language comprehension. We will pay special attention to the phenomena of language disembodiment in bilingual speakers and the foreign language effect. Students will learn to critically read and analyse psycholinguistic research articles employing physiological and electrophysiological methods, such as skin conductance, electromyography, and electroencephalography (EEG). To gain practical experience, students will have the opportunity to visit the Psychophysiology of Language and Affect Laboratory (Faculty of English, AMU) to observe EEG-based psycholinguistic research in a laboratory setting. Additionally, the course will cover topics related to emotion regulation, emotion-driven communicative interactions, and the role of intuition in emotional processing. By the end of the course, students will have a comprehensive understanding of how language and affect interact and influence each other, supported by cutting-edge research and hands-on experience.

A queer history of English: Language beyond the norm

dr Justyna Rogos-Hebda

This seminar explores how English has been used to express power, gender, identity, and resistance to social hierarchies throughout history. We will ‘queer’ the history of English by moving beyond ideas of the language as only ‘standard,’ ‘correct,’ or something that develops linearly. Instead, we will turn to historical English sources to help us think critically about normativity, identity, and language change. By focusing on marginalized, subversive, and non-standard uses of English, we will see that many linguistic phenomena often thought of as “modern” actually have deep historical roots. Some of the questions we will address include: How has English expressed and challenged gender norms? Where does the myth of “pure” English come from? How do non-standard dialects, coded speech, and debates about “correctness” reveal struggles over power? How has English been used as a tool of imperialism and of resistance?

Students will work with historical texts and apply tools of sociolinguistics, queer theory, and language ideology studies (in their ‘lite’ versions), which will help them reflect on English as a socioculturally conditioned ‘work in progress’. Thus, ‘queering’ both the content and method of traditional English language history will help students gain a deeper understanding of current cultural and linguistic anxieties.

Selected readings

• Deborah Cameron, Verbal Hygiene (1995)
• David Crystal, The Stories of English (2004)
• Anne Curzan, Fixing English: Prescriptivism and Language History (2014)
• Simon Horobin, How English Became English (2016)
• Gretchen McCulloch, Because Internet (2019)

The Evolution of Language, or How We Learned to Talk
(from grunts to grammar)

dr Jacek Rysiewicz

How did humans become the only species capable of complex language? This seminar explores the fascinating evolutionary story behind our most distinctive ability: talking and understanding one another through a richly structured, symbolic system. Combining insights from linguistics, archaeology, anthropology, genetics, and evolutionary biology, the course traces the step-by-step emergence of language in our hominin ancestors.

Students will examine the anatomical, cognitive, and cultural innovations that made spoken language possible, from changes in brain architecture and vocal tract anatomy to the evolution of symbolic thought and cumulative culture. Drawing heavily on Steven Mithen’s The Language Puzzle and other leading scholarship, we will see how language arose not from a single “big bang” mutation but through the interplay of many evolutionary pressures: cooperation, teaching, tool use, and social complexity.

Later sessions will connect this evolutionary perspective to individual differences in language learning today, revisiting John Carroll’s provocative hypothesis that foreign language aptitude (FLA) may reflect retained elements of our species’ early capacity for effortless language acquisition.

Designed for linguistics students with limited formal training in biology, the course begins with a concise introduction to evolutionary theory before building a rich, interdisciplinary picture of how humans “talked their way out of the Stone Age.”

Sample Readings

1. Carroll, J. B. (1971). Implications of Aptitude Test Research and Psycholinguistic Theory for Foreign Language Teaching.
2. Mithen, S. (2024). The Language Puzzle: How We Talked Our Way Out of the Stone Age.
3. Finch, T. (2000). The Evolution of Language..
4. Skehan, P. (1998). A Cognitive Approach to Language Learning.

Communicating health, illness and mental well-being

dr Magdalena Zabielska

The way we talk about health – whether it is physical, mental or emotional – affects our well-being, shapes our attitudes and influences the decisions we make. This course explores how health, illness and well-being are represented and discussed in everyday life and in professional settings, and how these conversations can impact individuals and communities.

We will begin with key ideas from discourse and genre analysis to help you identify and describe different ways of talking about these issues. You will gain the vocabulary and analytical skills to examine how language is used in medical consultations, mental health support contexts, public health campaigns and informal discussions – both in person and online. Throughout the course, we will pay special attention to communication about mental health and emotional well-being, exploring how words can reduce stigma, encourage openness and promote resilience. We will also consider how communication can unintentionally harm, excluding certain voices or reinforcing stereotypes.

By the end, you will have a deeper understanding of how communication practices shape our views on health and well-being, and how to approach these conversations with sensitivity, accuracy and empathy.