UB Will Open Polish Academic Center During National Conference On Polish Studies

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The University at Buffalo will open its new Polish Academic Information Center during the Second National Conference on Polish Studies in the United States, to be held April 12 and 13 on the UB North (Amherst) Campus.

The conference will be sponsored by the Polish Embassy and co-sponsored by the UB Faculty of Arts and Letters. See attached program.

The center, developed by Piotr Pienkowski, a professor at Jagiellonian University in Krakow, is a unique, inter-university agency of UB and Jagiellonian University that will operate at UB under the aegis of the Polish Ministry of National Education.

It will serve the academic communities of both countries as an information clearing house for those interested in pursuing studies related to Poland, its culture and language.

Through an extensive hyper-linked Web site, the center also will provide on-line listings and databases that pertain to resources events and opportunities of interest to those interested in Poland and in America¹s Polonia (i.e. Polish-American community). The Web site may be accessed after April 12 at http://wings.buffalo.edu/info-poland

The April conference will include presentations by distinguished Polish and Polish-American scholars, a reading of work written by Poland¹s 1996 Nobel Laureate Wislawa Szymborska, an exhibition of Szymborska¹s manuscripts and memorabilia, an archival exhibit about UB and Poland, and a concert of Polish music featuring the celebrated Silesian String Quartet and the distinguished Polish pianist Janusz Olejniczak.

Featured presenters will include Leonard Polakiewicz, professor at the University of Minnesota and an expert in the status of Polish language and literary training in the U.S., and Wladyslaw Miodunka, director of the Polonia Institute at Jagiellonian University.

Registration is $80, which includes meals, concert tickets and resource materials, or $15 for conference observation only. For conference information and registration, call Tim Rutenber in the UB Office of International Education at 716-645-2368. For concert information, call 716-645-2921.