Third-year of study B.A. proseminars (3BA PROSEM) for summer term 2025–2026 (Full-time programmes)

What is this list?

This is a list of proseminars we intend to launch in the summer term (February–June) in some of our full-time B.A. programmes whose third 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 term of the third 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 in 2023.

How to navigate the list?

The lists are first sorted by study programmes, then by the name of the teacher. The format of each entry is the following: title of the proseminar, the name of the teacher, and the description of the proseminar.

Which proseminar is for whom?

The programmes in the lists and their abbrieviations are:

• English Philology (Filologia angielska) — FA
• English Linguistics: Theories, Interfaces, Technologies — ELTIT
• English Studies: Literature and Culture — ESLC

The programmes in Dutch Studies (Studia niderlandystyczne), in English-Celtic Philology (Filologia angielsko-celtycka), and in English and Chinese Studies (Filologia angielsko-chińska) are not covered by this list.

Proseminars for FA and ELTIT

The courses in this section are available to students of either of the two programmes unless stated otherwise.

Modern research methods in English historical vocabulary and semantics

prof. UAM dr hab. Ewa Ciszek-Kiliszewska

The course is designed to combine modern research methods and tools such as various electronic databases, with the historical English linguistic material. The major focus of our investigation will be English vocabulary and semantics in the early periods of the language, i.e., Old and Middle English. Nevertheless, those linguistic areas can also be examined in later periods of English. Words may be analysed in terms of their etymology, chronology, meaning, textual distribution, morphology, and syntax. Moreover, special attention will be paid to the investigation of loanwords as well as semantics, semantic change, and semantic fields.

The course will start from a brief introduction to the history of English and a discussion of basic linguistic terms. Then, the use of various electronic historical English databases, including online dictionaries, corpora, and a thesaurus, will be presented. Participants will be shown how to perform specific types of searches and how to tackle and interpret the search results. Students will have the opportunity to test the discussed tools individually during our classes. Finally, the proseminar participants will be asked to prepare and present a small project concerning selected words or semantic fields.

The seminar is intended not only for the students interested in the history of the English language but also for those who would like to start a new linguistic journey.

Credit requirements: regular class attendance and active participation in class discussions and exercises, one presentation of an assigned text, one presentation of a small project conducted with the use of the tested electronic databases.

Multilingual speech: Selected aspects of language acquisition

prof. dr hab. Katarzyna Dziubalska-Kołaczyk

The theme of the course is directed towards the students interested in the “mystery” of language acquisition, with special focus on sounds and sound sequences (but not excluding other components of language). The aim is to overview the major approaches to the study of language acquisition of both first language (L1) and further languages (second language acquisition SLA, third language acquisition TLA) within the general perspective of cross-linguistic influence.

Credit

Presence and active participation in class is expected. The participants will take part in two discussion panels in class (on L1 acquisition and on SLA/TLA acquisition). The arrangement of the panels will depend on the number of students participating in the proseminar.

Selected references

• Chang, Charles B. "The phonetics of second language learning and bilingualism." The Routledge handbook of phonetics. Routledge, 2019. 427-447.
• De Houwer, Annick. Bilingual development in childhood. Cambridge University Press, 2021.
• Dziubalska-Kołaczyk, Katarzyna and Magdalena Wrembel. 2022. Natural Growth Theory of Acquisition (NGTA): Evidence from (mor)phonotactics. In: Sardegna, Veronica and Anna Jarosz (eds.), Theoretical and Practical Perspectives on English Pronunciation Teaching and Research. Springer, 281-298.
• Hansen Edwards, J. G., & Zampini, M. L. eds. 2008. Phonology and second language acquisition. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing.
• Vihman, Marilyn M. 1996. Phonological Development: The First Two Years. Oxford: Blackwell.
• Wrembel, Magdalena. 2015. In search of a new perspective: Cross-linguistic influence in the acquisition of third language phonology. Poznań: Wydawnictwo Naukowe UAM.
• Wrembel, M. 2023. Exploring the acquisition of L3 phonology: Challenges, new Insights, and future directions. In: Jennifer Cabrelli, Adel Chaouch-Orozco, Jorge González Alonso, Sergio M. Pereira Soares, Eloi Puig-Mayenco and Jason Rothman (Eds.) The Cambridge Handbook of Third Language Acquisition and Processing, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 115-141.

Intersemiotic translation

prof. dr hab. Małgorzata Fabiszak

In Translation Studies two main types of translation can be distinguished: interlingual (between languages, e.g. between Polish and English) and intersemiotic (between different semiotic codes, e.g. between a photo and its description). Intersemiotic translation asks such questions as What information or emotion can be induced by a photo or an artifact? How can this information be supplanted with the verbal text added to it? How our perception of a painting or an object changes relative to its title or description? The source of the examples for analysis during the classes will mostly be taken from museum exhibitions, but in their own presentations students are encouraged to look at polysemiotic representations of their intrest (graphic novels, films, anime, etc.). During the course we will read short texts and conduct analyses with the use of concepts from the texts we have read. To receive the credit students are expected to read the assigned literature, participate in the discussions, do team tasks in the class and post them on the Moodle and finally present their own analysis of an example of intersemiotic translation.

Selected references (we will read them during the course):

• Liao, M. H. (2015). One photo, two stories: Chinese photos in British museums. East Asian journal of popular culture, 1(2), 177-191.
• Neather, Robert. (2020). Museums as translation zones. In The Routledge handbook of translation and globalization (pp. 306-319). Routledge.
• Onciul, B. (2018). Community engagement, curatorial practice, and museum ethos in Alberta, Canada. In A Museum Studies Approach to Heritage (pp. 714-730). Routledge.

Categorization in language

prof. UAM dr hab. Marcin Kilarski

Categorization is the backbone of the lexicon and an essential structuring principle of grammar. In this course we will look at the ways in which this generalization is illustrated in the languages of the world, without adopting any theoretical framework (cognitive, formal or other). Following an introduction to the main principles of linguistic typology as well as the ways in which lexicon and grammar can be distinguished, we will analyse various forms of categorization of concrete objects and abstract concepts. These will include words for body parts, numbers and kinship relations among lexical choices that speakers make, together with those which are obligatory as part of the grammar of a language, e.g. expressing the physical properties of objects that we interact with and the ways they can be possessed, or specifying the source of the information that we convey to others.

Grading will be based on a) a 10-minute presentation describing a type of categorization in a language of your choice (other than English or Polish), based on grammars of that language (70%); b) participation in class discussion (20%); and c) participation in two guest talks at WA in linguistics (10%).

References (for the introduction to the course)

• Aikhenvald, A. Y., & Dixon, R. M. W. (Eds.). (2017). The Cambridge handbook of linguistic typology. Cambridge University Press.
• Hickey, R. (Ed.). (2017). The Cambridge handbook of areal linguistics. Cambridge University Press.
• Rosch, E. (1977). Human categorization. In N. Warren (Ed.), Studies in cross-cultural psychology (pp. 1–49). Academic Press.
• Song, J. J. (2018). Linguistic typology. Oxford University Press.
• Voelkel, S., & Kretzschmar, F. (2021). Introducing linguistic research. Cambridge University Press.

Gender in language and society

prof. UAM dr hab. Joanna Pawelczyk

Male and female is a physical distinction that has important ramifications for individuals’ life experiences. Related to this distinction, but more complex than these two categories, is the concept of gender, which refers to an individual’s sense of identity and the social expectations and behaviors related to different categories. In the first part of the course (the ‘society’ section), we will look at how the world we live in is constructed in gendered terms. Then (the ‘language’ part) we will explore how patterns of speaking perpetuate and create our experience of gender. We will explore what we mean by ‘femininity’ and ‘masculinity’ in discourse/interaction and how they are constructed and communicated in an everyday conversation. Both sections of the course will underscore the power of social expectations in perceiving and evaluating one’s behavior including language use.

This course requires consistent reading of the assigned texts, active class participation, in-class presentation and completion of a reflection paper.

Selected bibliography

• Brannon, Linda. 2025. Gender. Psychological perspectives (8th ed.). New York-London: Routledge.
• Cameron, Deborah. 2007. The myth of Mars and Venus. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Criado-Perez, Caroline. 2019. Invisible women. Exposing data bias in a world designed for men. London: Vintage.
• Eckert, Penelope and Sally McConnell-Ginet. 2013. Language and gender (2nd edition). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Message and medium: intermedial and transhistorical perspectives

prof. UAM dr hab. Hanna Rutkowska

What does digital communication have in common with medieval manuscripts? Can you compare the linguistic practices of a contemporary political leader with those of an early modern monarch? What is the function of intertextuality in everyday communication and in commercial messages? Can such trivial features as spelling, punctuation and typography affect the message which you express and the way you are perceived by others? Trying to answer the above and many other questions, in this course, we are going to focus on non-obvious connections and similarities between the use of language and extralinguistic features, especially visual ones, in various genres and text types in English now and in the past. Applying the interplay between theory and practice, we are going to examine some fuzzy boundaries between, for instance, spoken and written communication, the language recorded in old documents and that used in today’s media. We will also see if concepts and methodologies developed for studying modern sociolinguistic phenomena, such as communities of practice, can be applied to people and documents from the past. Credits will be awarded based on students’ active participation in class discussions and on a final written assignment performed on Moodle.

Selected bibliography:

• Kopaczyk, J. and A. H. Jucker (eds.), 2013. Communities of practice in the history of English. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
• Sebba, M. 2007. Spelling and society: The culture and politics of orthography around the world. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Squires, L. (ed.), 2016. English in computer-mediated communication: Variation, representation, and change. Berlin/Boston: De Gruyter Mouton.
• Tagg, C. and M. Evans (eds.), 2020. Message and medium: English practices across old and new media. Berlin/Boston: De Gruyter Mouton.

Canadian shorts (with a sprinkling of longjohns)

prof. UAM dr hab. Agnieszka Rzepa

The aim of the seminar is to familiarize students with Canadian literary tradition and major trajectories of change in Canadian literature from the second half of the 19th to the first two decades of 21st century. Special emphasis will fall on contemporary prose—primarily “shorts” (short stories, sketches, essays), and a few somewhat longer texts (primarily short novels or memoirs). Texts selected for discussion vary in genre, style, subject-matter and focus, allowing students to appreciate the diversity of contemporary Canadian literature and its cultural contexts. The contexts—cultural, social, literary—will be crucial during our discussions as we try to find best ways of approaching each text. Course work will include individual and group assignments, various (brief) written and oral activities, and—most importantly—active engagement with literary and critical texts in class.

Languages and language speakers in comparative studies

prof. UAM dr hab. Elżbieta Wąsik

The objective of the course is to familiarize its participants with the principles of investigating and categorizing languages in terms of similarities and differences between them. The implications and results of taking the descriptive and comparative points of view in the study of the languages in the world will be discussed in terms of three groups of interrelated issues. It will be demonstrated that, firstly, languages are classified into language families and groups (due to their origin) or language leagues (due to affinity between them), and language types (due to similarities between them within their phonological, morphological, syntactic or semantic systems). Secondly, the structural diversity of languages in the world will be confronted with the anthropological, ethnic, political, social, cultural, and civilizational diversity of the world’s population. Finally, when it comes to the names of languages that are mostly equal to ethnonyms, that is, are derived from the words referring to their speakers in the native language or other languages, attention will be paid to the difficulties in identifying them in situations when languages have more than one name. Statements about linguistic and nonlinguistic facts will be exemplified with selected languages spoken in Europe and on other continents.

Romance and Revolution: History on Film

Timothy Williams, PhD

The French Revolution represents a founding event and cornerstone of modernity; Hollywood, the Dream Factory, became the 20th century’s main vehicle of mythmaking and escapism as the USA grew into its role as global hegemon. This course will attempt to make sense of the intersection of history and escapist entertainment, or “filmic pop history,” through an examination of several 20th century mass-audience treatments of the French revolution, as well as a sampling of cinematic narratives of the Russian (Bolshevik), Chinese and Cuban revolutions, tales of terror and loss but also liberation. The revolutionary cataclysm is shown to be traumatic but historically inevitable and justified. The protagonists in the films tend, however, to be ambivalent bystanders rather than revolutionary subjects. Theoretical and scholarly writing on history and film will illuminate discussion of whether the “biopic” and historical fiction are inherently reactionary genres, or can transmit a dialectical spark of inspiration.

1. Week 1. The French Revolution as Event: Marcuse, Reason and Revolution, Chapter 1
2. Week 2. Counter-revolutionary Romance: Marie Antoinette (1938)
3. Week 3. Myth and Representation: Marszałek, Filmowa Pop-Historia
4. Week 4. Revolutionary Tragedy: A Tale of Two Cities (1935)
5. Week 5. Revolutionary Noir: The Black Book (1949)
6. Week 6. Revolutionary Farce: Start the Revolution Without Me (1970)
7. Week 7. Revolutionary Fairy Tale: Lady Oscar (1979)
8. Week 8. Revolutionary Tragedy, Western Hemisphere: Juarez (1939), Viva Zapata! (1952)
9. Week 9. Midterm Exam: In-class Essay Test
10. Week 10. Bystander to the Revolutionary Juggernaut: Dr. Zhivago (1965)
11. Week 11. Revolutionary Romance: REDS (1981)
12. Week 12. Bystander to the Chinese Revolution: To Live (1994), The Last Emperor (1988)
13. Week 13. Revolutionary Western: Ché (2008); Re-imagining History: Benjamin, “On the Concept of History”
14. Week 14. Bystander to the Cuban Revolution: Memories of Underdevelopment (1968)
15. Week 15. Final: In-class Essay Test

Selected Bibliography

• Benjamin, Walter. “On the Concept of History.”
• Carroll, Noel. A Philosophy of Mass Art.
• Comay, Rebecca. Mourning Sickness: Hegel and the French Revolution.
• Hegel, G. F. W. Aesthetics: Lectures on Fine Art.
• Janion, Maria. Romantyzm. Rewolucja. Marksizm.
• Lukacs, Georg. The Theory of the Novel.
• Marcuse, Herbert. Reason and Revolution.
• Marcuse, Herbert “The Affirmative Character of Culture.”
• Marszałek, Rafał. Filmowa Pop-Historia.
• Robin, Corey. The Reactionary Mind.
• Steiner, George. In Bluebeard’s Castle.

Exploring Word Meaning: Dictionaries, Corpora and Large Language Models

dr Sylwia Wojciechowska

What does it really mean to “know” a word? How do dictionaries decide which meanings to include and what lies ahead for dictionaries in the age of AI? This proseminar invites students to explore word meaning in English from linguistic, cognitive, and practical perspectives.

The course introduces key concepts from lexical semantics, lexicology, and lexicography, focusing on how meanings are conceptualized in the mind, shaped by context, and represented in dictionaries. We will explore phenomena such as synonymy, antonymy, polysemy, and homonymy, as well as metaphor and metonymy as cognitive mechanisms underlying meaning extension. Alongside single words, the course also examines multi-word expressions, including collocations and idioms.

A major component of this course is the representation of meaning and lexical relations in dictionaries, with particular emphasis on online monolingual and bilingual resources. Students will also be introduced to language corpora and learn how corpus data can be used to investigate actual language use. Finally, we will discuss current developments in lexicography, including the growing role of generative AI and Large Language Models in representing and explaining meaning.

Classes will combine discussion, analysis, and student-led exploration. Reading assignments will include selected handbook chapters and papers from academic journals. Assessment will be based on active participation and presentations of small-scale research projects in which students examine a chosen lexical phenomenon using dictionaries, corpora, or Large Language Models.