The Stanislaw Brzozowski Association established the Institute for Advanced Study in Warsaw dedicated to conducting academic research and didactic activity on the most crucial and timely problems of contemporary culture and society. The founders of the Institute are motivated by a desire to create a friendly environment, conducive to searching for answers regarding the current crisis in liberal democracy, resulting rom a breakedown in social bonds and social imagination. Taking into account that no eflection can replace action and direct engagement motivated by society’s needs, we also understand the necessity of a space for contemplation free from any direct obligations or practical dimensions. The Institute means to align itself with traditions of similar research outposts (other Institutes for Advanced Study) that are not affiliated with any political parties, or party organizations; that take advantage financial support only on the condition of preserving autonomy in the sphere of actual research and research interests; that anticipate longterm research objectives, breaking the pre-ordained boundaries of traditional disciplines; and that collaborate with other research institutes and organizations, as equal partners.
The Institute is composed of: A board of Trustees, comprised of designated members of the Academic or Cultural INSTITUTE FOR ADVANCED STUDY WARSAW spheres; permanent fellows, who, along with a group of coordinators, plan research actions and supervise the development of the institution; and visiting fellows, who work on their own research projects, which constitute independent research, seminars and lectures, debates with invited guests, publications of segments of their research results, and conclude with a book compilation. The Institute also offers scholarships for inviting international researchers to Poland, as well as sending Poles abroad for research purposes.
THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Prof. Zygmunt Bauman (Leeds University)
Prof. Andrzej Friszke (Polish Academy of Sciences)
Prof. Irena Grudzińska-Gross (Princeton University)
Prof. Jarosław Hrycak (Ivan Franko University, Lvov)
Agnieszka Holland (film director)
Ivan Krastev (Centre for Liberal Strategies, Sofia)
Prof. Krzysztof Michalski (Institute for Human Sciences, Vienna)
Andrzej Przywara (Foksal Gallery Foundation, Warsaw)
Prof. Marci Shore (Yale University)
Prof.Timothy Snyder (Yale University)
Olga Tokarczuk (writer)
Prof. Michael Walzer (Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton)
PERMANENT FELLOWS
Prof. Agata BIELIK-ROBSON (1966) – Polish philosopher, working in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Nottingham. A member of the the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Multi-year associate of Stanislaw Brzozowski Association, published by Krytyka Polityczna Publishing House and „Krytyka Polityczna” journal. uthor of books: Romantyzm, niedokończony projekt. Eseje (Universitas 2008), „Na pustyni” – kryptoteologie późnej nowoczesności (Universitas 2008), The Saving Lie: Harold Bloom and Deconstruction (Northwestern University Press, 2011), Erros. Mesjański witalizm i filozofia (Universitas 2012).
Katarzyna SZYMIELEWICZ (1981) – human rights lawyer and activist. Co-founder and executive director of the Panoptykon Foundation—a Polish NGO defending human rights in the context of modern surveillance and a board member of European Digital Rights. A graduate of the University of Warsaw (Law) and the School of Oriental and African Studies (Development Studies). Member of the advisory board of the Ministry of Administration and Digitization, Poland; legal advisor to the Islandic New Media Initiative and International Commission of Jurists (Polish Section).
Dr. Maciej GDULA (1977) – sociologist at the Institute of Sociology of the University of Warsaw. Areas of research: social theory and class systems. Researcher of P. Bourdieu, N. Luhmann and B. Latour. In his research on social classes, Gdula concentrates on the increasing importance of the middle class in contemporary society and the relations of middle class, state and public institutions. Between 2005–2010 board member of Stanislaw Brzozowski Association. Author of books: Trzy dyskursy miłosne (2009), Style życia i porządek klasowy w Polsce (2012, with P. Sadura).
Apart from the group of Permanent Fellows, there is a permanent associate with the Institute for Advanced Study,
Prof. Jerzy HAUSNER (1949) – Polish economist, lecturer at Cracow University of Economics. From 1994 to 1996 Hausner served as Director-General of the Prime Minister’s Office. In that capacity, he was in charge of a group of advisers to Grzegorz Kołodko—then the Deputy Prime Minister responsible for the economy. In February 1997, in the Government of Prime Minister Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz, he was appointed Undersecretary of State at the Prime Minister’s Chancery and Government’s Commissioner for Social Security Reform. He was charged with developing an implementation timetable for social security reform, the operational establishing principles of pension funds, as well as with an ex-ante evaluation of the implementation costs of the new social security system, and with designing a financing scheme. He specializes in political economy, economics and public administration. Hausner is an author or co-author of over 300 academic publications.
The Institute commenced on October 11, 2012. The opening lecture on the ‘Challenges for the Century’ was delivered by Prof. Zygmunt Bauman. In the fall 2012 we also host, among others, Prof. Claus Offe (talking about the idea of progress in 21st century), Prof. Irena Grudzinska-Gross, Prof. Boris Kagarlitsky and Prof. Slavoj Žižek. Our guests also take part in discussion panels in several cities throughout Poland. Events in Moscow and Kiev are currently planned.
There are 14 projects currently carried out in the first semester of the Institute’s operations, including seminars, research projects, workshops and publishing projects. We cooperate with well-acknowledged academics and intellectuals, who are often also engaged in social projects and public activities.
Director of the Institute: Sławomir Sierakowski
Coordinators: Izabela Jasińska, Michał Sutowski
FALL 2012–2013 SEMESTER CLASSES
Prof. Jerzy Hausner
Culture and Development
Prof. Agata Bielik-Robson
The Identity of Spirit: Ruach?
Spiritus? Geist? Spectre?
Dr. Maciej Gdula
Outside of Certainty and
Convention. Establishment and
Critique of Values in Social Worlds
Katarzyna Szymielewicz
From „Electronic Eye” to „Fluid
Supervision”—Conversations about
Surveillance Society
Dr. Agnieszka Graff
What Happened to the Second Wave?
Dr. Maciej Sosnowski, Jacek Schodowski
Slicing Hegel
Dr. Adam Lipszyc
Paul Celan: Language and
Destruction
Prof. Andrzej Leder
Dreamed Revolution.
Psychoanalytic Critical Theory and
the Understanding of Polish History
Dr. Vasyl Cherepanyn
Art/ Knowledge/ Politics:
Culture and Society in
Contemporary Ukraine
Igor Stokfiszewski
Art as a Tool for Reality Change
Dr. Bartosz Kuźniarz
Terry Eagleton and Late Marxism
Dr. Przemysław Sadura, Joanna Erbel
City/ Space/ Property
Dr. Michał Polakowski
Contemporary Social Policy:
Concepts and Conditions
FALL 2012 –2013 OPEN LECTURES
Dr. Kamil Sipowicz
Psychedelics in Anthropology,
Culture, Medicine and Philosophy