CANADIAN RESOURCES CENTRE / CENTRE DES RESSOURCES CANADIENNES - University of Warsaw

History and General Information:

The Canadian Resources Centre was officially opened at the Institute of English Studies, University of Warsaw on December 8, 1994 by the Ambassador of Canada in Poland at that time, Mme. Anne Leahy, in the presence of the Vice Rector of the University, the Vice Dean of the Faculty of Modern Languages, the Director of the English Institute, the Director of the Institute of Romance Languages and Literature, the Counsellor of the Canadian Embassy and other invited guests.

The purpose of this centre is to foster and facilitate academic and cultural contacts between the two countries, to provide a resource library for those in Poland who are interested in obtaining information about Canada- its culture, geography and academic resources, as well as to invite Canadians in academia and the arts to visit the university. A programme is offered at the Institute of English Studies in which students can complete studies for the Master of Arts degree in Canadian Literature or Canadian Culture.

The Centre was active in the formation of the Association of Polish Canadianists and was host in 1997 to a national conference of Polish Canadianists active in the areas of literature, history, law and culture in both official languages of Canada. The Centre maintains close contact with the International Centre of Canadian Studies in Ottawa and other Canadian Centres within Poland and in other European countries.

From its establishment, the Centre has remained under the auspices of the Institute of English Studies, in close co-operation with the Centre of French Canadian Literature at the Institute of Romance Languages and Literature. There is a collection of 1,500 books at present dealing with all aspects of Canada – literature, history, politics, art, music etc. There is also an extensive collection of journals and other information on the Canadian environment and on other specific topics. A reading area provides a large selection of current Canadian magazines for general use. The books in the Centre are catalogued by the library of the Institute of English Studies and are available to interested Canadianists under the usual rules of borrowing from the library.

The Centre also provides information regarding study in Canada and has a selection of Canadian University catalogues and forms for study in Canada.

Functions:

1. Library - administered by Institute of English Studies – 1,500 books available.

2. Dissemination of information regarding academic programmes in Canada, available by phone or in person during hours of operation.

3. Encouragement of interest in Canada through planned visits by prominent Canadians – academic and in the arts. The first such visit took place in October 1995 when the prominent Canadian writer Mavis Gallant visited the Centre and gave successful readings there and at the Polish Writers’ Association. In 1997 Canadian writer Robert Kroetsch visited and gave readings from his work and in 1998 poet Dennis Cooley came and read from his works. In the year 2000 a joint series of lectures and readings is planned by writers Janice Kulyk Keefer and Michael Keefer, who are both professors at the University of Guelph in Ontario.

4. Course of Studies: Administered in the Institute of English Studies -Curriculum is as follows – Survey Course in Canadian Literature, given yearly in the Summer Semester, Course in the Contemporary Canadian Novel and Short Story – given every other year in the Winter Semester, Course in Canadian Culture – given yearly in the Winter Semester and, starting in 2000, Course in Canadian Poetry – given in the Winter Semester. Students who plan to write their MA theses in Canadian Literature or Culture take part in North American Seminars in these areas. Warsaw University was the first university in Poland to grant MA degrees in Canadian Literature and in Canadian Culture and every year several students chose these options.

There are three members of staff teaching Canadian courses: Prof. Nancy Burke – Canadian Literature – novel and short story, Prof. Marek Gołębiowski – Canadian Culture and History, Mgr. Andrzej Sosnowski – Canadian poetry. Both professors supervise theses on Canadian topics.

For further information:

Prof. Nancy Burke

Director Canadian Resources Centre

00-497 Warszawa

Tel. 625 - 2862, ext. 32

Fax: 625 – 2931

E-mail: A25B35@plearn.edu.pl

Hours of operation: Books available through the library of the Institute weekdays from 9:00 – 16:00, Centre open – Mon. 12:00 – 14:00, Wed. 12:00- 14:00 or by appointment.

Tentative Schedule for visit of Profs. Janice Kulyk Keefer and Michael Keefer;

Janice Kulyk Keefer is a distinguished Canadian writer – novel, short story and poetry – of Ukrainian – Polish ancestry. She has been the recipient of many awards in Canada and was short-listed two years ago for the Governor General’s Award. Her most recent book was a memoir of her family’s origins in this part of the world. She is a professor of English at the University of Guelph in Ontario. Her husband Michael Keefer is also a professor at Guelph and the author of books dealing with Canadian contemporary culture. They have been invited to Siena in late April and expressed interest in visiting Poland while in Europe and giving lectures and readings here. Therefore the Association of Polish Canadianists would like to invite them to three universities with Canadian Resources Centres. Janice Kulyk Keefer would give readings from her works and Michael Keefer would lecture on Canadian culture in academia. We would like them to visit Warsaw, Toruń and Kraków. The prospective itinerary is as follows:

16 April – flight from Rome to Warsaw – two nights at university hotel in Warsaw ty.

17 April - lectures at University of Warsaw

lectures at Nicholas Copernicus University

19 April – return to Warsaw

free day

20 April – train to Krakow

lectures at Jagiellonian University

21 April – free day

22 April – return to Warsaw

23 April – flight to Rome

expenses : to be completed

per diem for food and transportation

Warsaw – Kraków return

plane fare – Rome – Warsaw return - $590