Polish Studies Research Group
Polish studies events at SSEES include one-off conferences and research seminars as well as an annual Polish studies conference and biennial Polish migration conferences.
As of 2019, the annual conference has been organised collaboratively with the British Association for Slavonic and East European Studies (BASEES) Polish Studies Group. Polish studies events also take place under the aegis of various SSEES seminar series.
Multidisciplinary Polish studies events at SSEES are open to students, researchers and non-academic participants.
‘Polish’ studies is understood inclusively, within the framework of Critical Area Studies. Polish studies research at SSEES includes anthropology, architecture, cinema, history, gender and queer studies, literature, memory studies, migration studies, sociology — including socio-legal studies and socio-linguistics — and politics.
The Polish Migration Website provides an on-line bibliography of publications on Polish migration.
Staff at SSEES with Polish studies expertise:
Dr Uilleam Blacker
Dr Pawel Bukowski
Professor Richard Butterwick-Pawlikowski
Miss Dagmara Grabska
Dr Thomas Lorman
Professor Richard Mole
Dr Michał Murawski
Professor Anne White
Dr Katarzyna Zechenter
Call for papers
There are currently no open calls. The call for the September 2026 annual conference will appear in May.
Upcoming events
Film screening: That Boy: conversation about hate and healing (2025) Masaryk Senior Common Room, SSEES, 17.00-19.00, 10 March 2026. In-person event with the film’s director, Prof Michal Garapich. Tickets must be booked in advance.
Recent events
7th Annual Conference of the UCL SSEES Polish Studies Research Group and BASEES Polish Studies Group, 4-5 September 2025 (by Zoom).
’Poland and its migrants’ conference, 5-6 June 2025, in-person and on Zoom.
Polish Studies: Today and Tomorrow (6) SSEES PSRG and BASEES Polish Studies Group annual conference, online, 5-6 September 2024
Polarization that boosted voter turnout - lessons from Poland’s 2023 parliamentary elections, 18.00-20.00, 16 May, Masaryk Senior Common Room, SSEES
A SSEESing event with Mikołaj Cześnik, SWPS University, Warsaw. This in-person event will also be livestreamed online.
Polish Studies: Today and Tomorrow (5) SSEES PSRG and BASEES Polish Studies Group annual conference, online, 7-8 September 2023. Programme and abstracts.
Poland: Migrants’ Perspectives and Experiences, online and face-to-face conference, 5-6 June 2023
Human rights against democratic backsliding, 21 October 2022
Polish Studies: Today and Tomorrow (4), online conference, 8-9 September 2022.
Polish Studies Today and Tomorrow (3rd annual conference), 2021, online
Polish migration in the age of ‘staying at home’: online conference, 17-18 June 2021
Polish migrant entrepreneurs in the UK: the significance of digitalization amid the pandemic, 26 March 2021, 1-3 pm GMT
Abortion crisis in Poland, 30 October 2020, online SSEESing Now event
Polish Studies Today and Tomorrow (2nd annual conference), 22-23 September 2020, online
| Absence is presence – the strange case of Polish Roma migrations. Some thoughts on the untold side of migrations from Poland | Seminar | 3 June 2020 |
| Queer #PolesinUK: Identity, Migration and Social Media | SSEES Central Europe Seminar Series | 28 February 2020 |
| Chinese and Polish Student Migration in London | SSEES Research Student Seminar Series | 20 Janaury 2020 |
| Peer groups and migration in Poland | Seminar | 20 November 2019 |
| Is it ‘Devils’ or ‘Angels’ that influence our paths? | Seminar | 18 November 2019 |
| Poland at a crossroads? Analysing the 2019 parliamentary elections | SSEESing Now: Round Table | 15 October 2019 |
| Polish Studies: Today and Tomorrow | Workshop/Conference | 19-20 September 2019 |
| Polish Migration: experiences and concepts | Conference | 20-21 June 2019 |
| Discourses about Polish. Conceptualisations, Language Ideologies and Language Myths in Poland | SSEES Research Student Seminar Series | 30 May 2019 |
| Linkages between civil and political society in Poland: Women’s mobilisation and liberal democracy | SSEES Research Student Seminar Series | 16 May 2019 |
| Invisible Poles: a Book of Interview Extracts | Book Launch | 10 April 2019 |
| Being Poland: A New History of Polish Literature and Culture since 1918 | Book Launch | 13 March 2019 |