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.

TBA

TBA

tba

TBA

TBA

tba

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.

TBA

TBA

tba

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.

TBA

TBA

tba

TBA

TBA

tba

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.

Proseminars for ESLC — pair 1

Law, Lawlessness, and (In)Justice in Contemporary (Non)Fiction

prof. UAM dr hab. Ryszard Bartnik

This proseminar explores the themes of law, lawlessness, and (in)justice in contemporary fiction and non-fiction. It takes as its point of departure a reflection on how legal institutions, systemic violence, the presence and absence of justice, and the moral dilemmas surrounding (non)compliance with human rights are represented in novels, short stories, essays, and literary journalism. Adopting an interdisciplinary approach, this course combines literary, socio-cultural, and legal perspectives. Its aim is not only to interpret selected texts but also to consider the role of literature in shaping socio-political sensitivity and awareness of the fundamental nature of our rights.

Literary (Non-)Fiction and the Politics of Storytelling

prof. UAM dr hab. Ryszard Bartnik

This proseminar examines how contemporary fiction and nonfiction engage with urgent socio-political realities such as nationalism, migration, borders, identity, democracy, and ethical responsibility. Bringing together novels, essays, literary journalism, and some theoretical texts, the course foregrounds the shifting boundaries between imaginative writing and factual discourse, asking how narratives respond and intervene in public debates. Through close reading of selected texts, students will explore how literature registers – inter alia – cultural trauma, collective identity, and political crisis, as well as lived experience. The course focuses on comparative analysis and student-led inquiry, encouraging participants to reflect on literature’s role in interpreting and contesting contemporary socio-political contexts.

Proseminars for ESLC — pair 2

100 Years of Arthouse Cinema

prof. UAM dr hab. Kornelia Boczkowska

This course surveys the history of arthouse cinema from the 1920s until the present day, drawing from Anglo-American and world cinema. Seen in opposition to mainstream Hollywood films, arthouse films are independent films made for aesthetic rather than commercial reasons and targeted at a niche market. Influenced by the work of D.W. Griffith and Orson Welles, European avant-garde movements and the rise of little theatres, art films prioritize experimentation, artistic expression, emotional engagement, unconventional storytelling and thematic depth overmass appeal, raising questions of identity, ethnicity, race, gender, power, authorship and the apparatus. By studying narrative, documentary, animated and avant-garde films, we will see how arthouse films have been shaped by Soviet montage, French impressionism and surrealism, Italian neorealism, cinéma verité, San Francisco Renaissance, the French and British New Wave, British poetic realism, New Hollywood, New American Cinema, the New York School of Indies, Afro-American and Asian-American cinema and the New Queer Cinema. The course also provides a broader context and strategies for the study of arthouse cinema, bringing attention to the art of filmmaking and the creative ways in which makers use mise-en-scène, editing, montage, camerawork, framing, lighting and sound.

Introduction to Film Studies and Theory

prof. UAM dr hab. Kornelia Boczkowska

This course introduces you to the main movements, concepts and traditions in film studies and theory. Tracing the technological and aesthetic evolution of cinema, the course explores film form and style to address the questions of narrative, genre, medium specificity, authorship, spectatorship, the apparatus and the role of film as an art form, social phenomenon and medium of communication. Deepening our understanding of the film’s unique language and the craft of filmmaking, the course provides the vocabulary and tools to analyze the basic elements of cinema, such as mise-en-scène, editing, montage, camerawork, framing, lighting and sound. Putting theory into practice, it also explains how the key methods and approaches in film studies, including realist, formalist, auteur, psychoanalytic, apparatus, feminist, cognitive, phenomenological, postmodernist and critical race theory, can be applied to the study of films that represent different styles and historical eras. Drawing from Italian neorealism, German expressionism, Soviet montage, cinéma verité, feminist film, the French New Wave, classical and New Hollywood and American independent, documentary and experimental cinema, we will discuss how filmmakers shape narratives, stories, characters and settings, using the aesthetic and political power of the medium to perpetuate and challenge dominant conventions, ideologies and hierarchies.

Proseminars for ESLC — pair 3

Canadian Women Writers

prof. dr hab. Dagmara Drewniak

This course will be devoted to the study and discussion of a selection of literary texts written by the most important women writers in Canada in a chronological order. The course comprises short stories, poetry, and one or two novels (or excerpts from them), the study of which is supposed to broaden your knowledge of English speaking countries literature. We will look at Canadian literature from the feminine and feminist perspectives in order to trace the impact women writers have had on CanLit since its early colonial stages. No prior knowledge of Canadian literature is required as we will at times refer to the students’ general awareness of English literature and try to discover something new to ourselves. The basis for the class organization will consist of involving and stimulating discussions so all students passionate about English-language culture and literature are warmly invited to this proseminar.

Credits will be given on the basis of active participation in class, preparing the author’s bios and a final test written at the end of the course.

Multicultural Canada

prof. dr hab. Dagmara Drewniak

This seminar will be devoted to the study and discussion of the most important issues from Canadian politics, history, culture, and literature in order to give students interested in the widely understood field of literary and cultural studies a possibility to supplement and broaden their knowledge of the English-speaking world. As a North American country, Canada, with its history, legacy, languages, myths and culture(s) on many levels responds to British and French roots and, due to its location, to the USA. Its multiplicity of legacies and traditions and a unique political project of multiculturalism makes the country an exceptional place. The discussion on the above-mentioned issues will be supplemented with a few short, literary texts by Canadian authors that will illustrate certain social tendencies. As a result, the overall aim of the seminar is to familiarize students with the historical, cultural and literary traditions of Canada as well as its contemporary multicultural model.

The concept of multicultural Canada is going to be rendered through a selection of contemporary texts which vary in style, subject-matter and origins of their authors, thus, allowing students to appreciate the diversity of Canada.

Credits will be given on the basis of students’ active participation, mini-presentations/mini-projects and final test’s results.