Polish studies with English at the University of Lodz – crisis intervention or an idea for the future?

Abstract

This article presents Polish Studies with English, a new course of study at the University of Lodz, which was launched in May 2022, for Ukrainian students who are war refugees. The aim of the analyses presented here is to answer the question: To what extent the decision to study was part of a crisis action and to what extent it was a conscious decision? To answer this question, we used a questionnaire with two groups of respondents, students and lecturers. The results of the questionnaires, together with the analysis of the documents, allowed us to draw preliminary conclusions. The decision to launch the study two months after the outbreak of the war was evidently driven by the need for a crisis intervention, and some students decided to start the study for a variety of non-educational reasons. However, the second edition, which started in October 2022, predominantly brought together students consciously embarking on this course of study. The question of the future of Polish Studies with English remains open – whether the course will continue to be an attractive offer even after the end of hostilities?