M.A. programme in English Philology: Second year of study: Subject seminars — summer term 2025–2026

What is this list?

This is a list of subject seminars (Polish: seminaria przedmiotowe) we intend to launch in the summer term (February–June) in our full-time M.A. programme in English philology (Filologia angielska) 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 term of the second year of their full-time M.A. programme: this is your reference point before your enrolment into subject seminars;
2. Candidates for our full-time programmes: this list gives you a snapshot of what subject seminars were on offer for the study cycle that started in October 2024.

How to navigate the list?

The list is sorted first by the discipline (linguistics precedes literary studies) and then by the name of the teacher. The format of the entries is as follows: the title of the subject seminar, the name of the teacher, and the description of the subject seminar.

Linguistics

Current Issues in British Politics, Society and Culture

dr Samuel Bennett

Like many countries, Britain finds itself in a period of upheaval. From Brexit, to Scottish Independence, to immigration, religion and the so-called culture wars, the UK has a lot on its plate. Led by students’ interests, in this course we will delve into these and other issues to ‘take the temperature’ of politics, society and culture. We will start with introductory lessons on how British politics works and who the main figures are, as well as how the British public sphere operates (civil society, media). We will then move to weekly presentations and student-led discussions on different issues, including: devolution, the legacy of colonialism, race/immigration, the role of sport, LGBTQIA+ issues, the environment, and social class.

Assessment will be based on a discussion leading activity (400%), a short essay (20%) and active class participation (40%)

Feminitives for gender equality?

prof. UAM dr hab. Agnieszka Kiełkiewicz-Janowiak

Do “masculine generics” really refer universally to all people, irrespective of their gender? Do nouns in the feminine gender need to be (re)introduced in Polish to provide for more gender equal representation? Does the use of third-person plural pronouns in English contribute to gender inclusion? What might be the impact of social action enacted through grammatical means?

Grammatical gender in a range of languages will be explored along with its relation to the concept of socio-cultural gender. The focus will be on the ongoing changes in the linguistic practices, their social motivations and consequences. The idea of gender inclusive communication will be considered as one driving force.

Students will do fieldwork (individually or in groups) to collect data to address the central question of the seminar: Can social ends be achieved by promoting grammatical change? Thus, students will learn to select a methodology for a data collection task and an analytical approach to the data.

Introduction to Language Contact

prof. UAM dr Ronald Kim

Description

Speakers of different languages and dialects have always been in contact, and almost everyone in today’s world is affected by multilingualism and interaction with other speech communities. Yet only in the last few decades have scholars begun to understand the complex ways in which languages can influence one another, and the factors that shape the outcomes of language contact.

This course surveys the current state of knowledge in contact linguistics, including Second Language Acquisition (SLA) and language contact; the role of internal vs. external factors in shaping the outcomes of contact; borrowing and shift and their short- and long-term effects; problematic cases such as so-called “mixed languages”; convergence areas (Sprachbunds); and the most extreme examples of language contact, namely pidgins and creoles: their evolution, typical features, typology, and sociolinguistic aspects. Examples will be drawn from English, Polish, and other European languages where possible, but we will also examine cases of language contact around the world, including Asia, Africa, and the Americas.

Requirements

Class requirements include attendance and participation (30%), homework assignments (20%), an in-class presentation (20%), and a final exam (30%). The exam will contain a multiple-choice section, short definitions, and an essay question.

Aspects of language and man in the discourse of linguistics

prof. UAM dr hab. Elżbieta Wąsik

The topic of this seminar is addressed to students who are interested in the cognitive and investigative consequences of different approaches to language as an object of linguistic and nonlinguistic theories. Posing questions about the relationship between language and its speakers, we will make reference to the stages in the development of the discourse of linguistics, such as comparativism, structuralism, and poststructuralism, recognized also as leading perspectives in the humanities. We will also point out the opposing philosophical views called “logocentrism,” treating language as an object posed beyond the communicating subject, and “anthropocentrism,” regarding man as homo loquens for whom language is one of environmental settings and/or individual subjective property. In particular, we will pay attention to how linguists construct the image of language and man in their works. As it appears, depending on the direction of linguistic research, language is studied in abstraction from or in relation to man as a living being, a member of society, and a conscious subject. Man, however, is usually presented as an individual with their concrete and mental traits and/or a member of a community, but always in relation to language. The linguistic properties of a speaking/understanding individual are depicted either as externally perceivable features of them as organisms or as their inherent qualities.

Literary studies

Anglo-Caribbean Fiction: Socio-Cultural Contexts

dr Marta Frątczak-Dąbrowska

This seminar explores Anglo-Caribbean fiction with a focus on understanding the complex cultural, social, racial, and economic backgrounds that shape the region’s literature. Students will engage deeply with texts that illuminate the legacies of slavery, identity struggles, postcolonial realities, and economic migrations, examining how these forces inform both individual and collective experiences. Through intensive reading and active discussion, participants will critically analyse narrative techniques, thematic concerns, and character development in works by prominent authors such as Andrea Levy, David Dabydeen, and Caryl Phillips. By the end of the seminar, students will be equipped not only to interpret Anglo-Caribbean literature with sensitivity to its cultural and historical dimensions but also to articulate informed perspectives on broader issues of identity, migration, and social justice.

Irish short story

dr Joanna Jarząb-Napierała

This seminar is devoted to the development of the short story genre in Irish literature. Since the short story, as a modern genre in Irish literature, symbolically begins with the publication of George Moore’s The Untilled Field in 1903, the aim of the course is to familiarize students with the most significant representatives of Irish short story writing from the twentieth century to the most recent publications of this millennium. Bearing in mind that Irish literature is represented in two languages — English and Irish — the scope of the analysis will be limited to those Irish short story writers who chose to publish their works in English or whose Irish-language works have been translated into English.

During the seminar, we will try to answer the following questions: To what extent does the Irish short story draw on the Irish storytelling tradition, or should we treat it as a modern genre that emerged at the beginning of the twentieth century? Is the short story a response to the Irish ‘anxiety about the novel’? Is the Irish short story undergoing a crisis in contemporary times, or does it remain a relevant form of expression today?

These and other questions aim to familiarize students not only with the history of the Irish short story but also with the distinctive features of the genre in the Irish context.

Interpretation in the humanities and social sciences: Selected issues

prof. UAM dr hab. Janusz Kaźmierczak

The course aims to discuss and clarify the various uses of interpretation in the humanities and social sciences. In particular, it will look at those conceptualizations of interpretation that can be used for student MA projects in the study of literature, cultural studies and media studies. Where applicable, within particular frameworks, it will attempt to draw boundaries between the related terms of interpretation, hermeneutics, understanding, meaning and significance. In the second part of the course students will be asked to prepare presentations on a cultural phenomenon of interest, interpreted with the use of a theoretical framework discussed earlier in the course. Assessment in the course will be based on the quality of participation in class discussions, as well as the presentation.

Selected bibliography

• Carey, James W. [1989] 1992. Communication as culture: Essays on media and society. New York: Routledge.
• Deacon, David, Michael Pickering, Peter Golding and Graham Murdock (eds.). 2021. Researching communications: A practical guide to methods in media and cultural analysis. (3rd edition.) London: Bloomsbury.
• Geertz, Clifford. [1973] 2009. The interpretation of cultures: Selected essays. New York: Basic Books.
• Hirsch, Eric D. 1979. Validity in interpretation. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Stories on the Move Across Borders and Cultures

dr Katarzyna Macedulska

This seminar examines how contemporary authors writing in English articulate identities and complexities of belonging within shifting cultural landscapes and geopolitical contexts. The focus is on how they navigate and portray their changing social and natural environments shaped by the complex intersections of identity, history, power relations, and migration, within transnational and transcultural contexts.

Reading the works of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Zadie Smith, Joy Harjo, Kao Kalia Yang, Yaa Gyasi, Miriam Toews, Tanya Talaga, Ocean Vuong, Laila Lalami, and others, we will analyze how identities are constructed, reexamined, and reshaped in response to contemporary events; how individual and collective legacies endure and inform lived experience; and how historical inheritances continue to shape interpersonal relationships. We will explore how these authors engage with the uncertainties of everyday life within the social, cultural, and linguistic spaces they inhabit, challenge, and make visible.

Considering an array of diverse literary voices, this seminar invites critical reflection on transculturalism as both an evolving theoretical concept and a lived reality. Throughout we will discuss why and how storytelling is a vital act of cultural negotiation and identity formation in our interconnected world.

Credits will be awarded based on students’ attendance, active participation, and completion of assignments.