Jagiellonian University

Bachelor of East European Studies: Languages and Discourses

The first-cycle program—East European Studies: Languages and Discourses—is meticulously crafted to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of Eastern Europe, a region pivotal to global political and economic stability. Renowned for its political, cultural, linguistic, and religious diversity, Eastern Europe has witnessed a multitude of historical and contemporary conflicts, including the ongoing war in Ukraine.

The program is dedicated to equipping students with a profound understanding of the cultural underpinnings of these conflicts and nuanced knowledge of the specific cultural characteristics of individual countries. In doing so, it furnishes them with indispensable intercultural competencies crucial for careers in business, administration, journalism, or the non-governmental sector.

The program offers intensive training in two foreign languages—Russian, Ukrainian, or Polish—culminating in B2+ proficiency in the primary language selected and B1+ in the secondary, as per the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). Furthermore, it empowers students to explore a diverse array of discourses, encompassing political, legal, literary, and religious ones, and those pertaining to collective memory, thereby providing valuable insights into the operational dynamics of their chosen languages within specific communicative contexts.

Delivered entirely in English by a faculty of seasoned professors from Jagiellonian University, who are esteemed specialists in the languages, cultures, literature, and contemporary issues of Eastern European countries, the program includes mandatory courses covering the history of Eastern Europe, basic linguistics, discourse studies, and memory studies. Additionally, offering a broad selection of optional courses, the program grants students the autonomy to tailor their educational journey according to their interests.

Although it appeared in the structure of the university in 1951, the Faculty of Philology offers study programs (fields of research) that have existed for a long time and tradition of which dates back by even five centuries. The Faculty offers over 20 philologies but teaches as many as 50 languages! It was granted the A category by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, study programs conducted at the Faculty lead in rankings prepared by the Education Foundation “Perspect”, and talented students join the prestigious Diamond Grant program winners.

Studies at the Faculty of Philology have enjoyed unflagging popularity for years, allowing graduates to work, among others, as translators, editors in publishing houses, teachers in schools, journalists, or employees of diplomatic or special services. Internships and paid internships offered by companies cooperating with the Faculty together with vocational courses and certified training, available to all interested students, can help in smooth entry to the labor market. Studies at the Faculty of Philology also include classes in small groups and the opportunity to work in more than 20 students’ academic associations.

The Faculty consists of 8 institutes, the study program is conducted by the Institute of East Slavonic Studies, which is located at Ingardena 3 Street, close to the Historic Centre of Kraków, the Jagiellonian Library, and Błonia Park. The library of the Faculty of Philology ensures access to national and worldwide sources of information – it is a modern information center concerning foreign philologies, history of literature, linguistics, methods of teaching, history, culture, art, and translation studies.