articles
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them in Culture | Research by Dr. Ryan Denson
| Weronika Cygan-Adamczyk | Mermaids, the Kraken, dragons, phoenixes—fantastic creatures that have firmly taken root in our cultural consciousness. We read about them in books, see them in movies, and face them in video games. Without them, the worlds of Harry Potter and The Witcher—along with many other iconic stories—would not exist. These supernatural beings...
Guided by Paratexts | Prof. Magdalena Ślawska’s Research
| Author: Olimpia Orządała | A text is no longer a linear narrative. It has become a multi-level arrangement of visual and semantic signposts. Magdalena Ślawska, PhD, DLitt, Assoc. Prof. from the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Silesia in Katowice studies this phenomenon. She emphasises that the graphisation of media discourse is...
Born a Deviant, Made a Genius – or Vice Versa? | Research by Prof. Maciej Bernasiewicz
| Author: Weronika Cygan-Adamczyk | ‘Homosexuality was still considered a sexual disorder in the 20th century, whereas it’s no longer viewed as such by today’s psychiatric standards. This example alone shows us that what we view as the norm, and what we regard as a deviation from it, is very often culturally and historically defined,’...
Messengers from Early Solar System | Prof. Krzysztof Szopa’s research
| Author: Agnieszka Sikora, PhD | Looking back at the origins of the Solar System, one can’t help but wonder what the oldest objects to be found within it are. These are meteorites that originated in a young protoplanetary disk surrounding the forming Sun. During the early stages of the solar nebula, the dust heated...
6,000 Kilometres out of Love for Grammar | Research by Akylaj Abylkadyr kyzy, PhD
| Author: Olimpia Orządała | Kyrgyzstan, a country located in Central Asia, is about 6,000 kilometres away from Poland. It is home to an ethnically diverse population, the majority of which consists of Kyrgyz people (about 70%). It’s not a popular holiday destination. It does, however, attract mountain lovers, as mountains cover a significant part...
To survive. Climate migration through the eyes of the Global South | Research by USil literary studies experts
| Autorka: Weronika Cygan-Adamczyk | Wanderlust is part of human history. Homo sapiens owe it their greatest triumph. After leaving the cradle of humankind in Africa, we have reached every other continent and even set foot on the Moon. In the 21st century, however, we are still preoccupied with matters here on Earth, where increasing...