The Department of Contemporary Cultural and Film Studies continues the activities of the Department of Aesthetic Education, established in 1978 at the Faculty of Pedagogy and Psychology when the University of Białystok was a branch of the University of Warsaw. Stanisław Malewski, PhD, was the first head of the Department. Next this function was held by professor Jolanta Brach-Czaina. During her term, in 1995, the Department changed its name to the Department of Cultural Studies. Since 2015 the Department has been headed by professor Katarzyna Citko. In April 2017 when the Interdepartmental Institute of Cultural Studies and Art was established, the Department of Cultural Studies became part of it, and professor Katarzyna Citko became the Deputy Director of the Institute (from 1 February 2018 to 30 September 2019). Since 2019 the Department of Contemporary Culture and Film Studies has been part of the Faculty of Cultural Studies.
Members of the Department of Contemporary Culture and Film Studies study anthropology of culture, theory and history of individual arts (especially film) and new multimedia technologies, as well as changes in the axiological sphere in postmodern societies and autoethnography.
Until 2016 the members of the Department carried out a research project within statutory activity: Therapeutic dimension of contemporary culture and art. Moreover, in 2016 they conducted a research project titled Tradition versus postmodernity. Transformations in culture and art of the 21st century.
Research conducted by the members of the Department of Contemporary Cultural and Film Studies is related to the therapeutic (and self-therapeutic) dimension of contemporary culture and art, as well as changes in culture and art of the 21st century, especially the issues of values and valuation in contemporary culture and autoethnographic research.
The research is interdisciplinary and multithreaded, as it is related to specific research issues undertaken by individual employees:
Ewa Katarzyna Citko, associate professor
– history and theory of film (Polish film, Spanish film, Mexican cinema); film analysis and interpretation; emotions in art, especially in cinematic art, issues of values as well the sacred and profane in art, especially in cinematic art.
Krzysztof Arcimowicz, associate professor
– sociology and anthropology of media (analysis of the new generation of TV series and study of the phenomenon of media convergence); sociology and anthropology of subjects (e.g. study of the symbolic meanings of the car in contemporary culture); sociology of gender and sexuality, sociology of the family, sociology and anthropology of the body; critical discourse analysis
Ewa Kępa, PhD
– gender studies; interdisciplinary studies of contemporary culture; issues of cultural identity; autoethnography; study of creative strategies related to traditional handicraft techniques and their use in postmodern cultural practices
Tomasz Adamski, PhD
– history of film and photography; film in culture; Scandinavian, in particular Swedish, cinema
Joanna Mytnik, PhD
– art therapy, especially film therapy, analysis and interpretation of film from the perspective of changes in contemporary culture
Phone number: +48 (85) 745 72 87
Ewa Katarzyna Citko, associate professor
Her book Filmowy świat Pedra Almodóvara. Uniwersum emocji (2007, Białystok) [The Cinematic World of Pedro Almodóvar. The Universe of Emotions] written thanks to a scholarship of the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs "Becas MAE" and a residency query in Madrid, was submitted in 2008 for the ministerial award. She is the author and co-author of 7 books in the area of cultural studies and over 50 articles published in collective works and journals, in Polish, English and Spanish. The result of her latest research is a book written together with Tomasz Adamski, Krzysztof Arcimowicz and Ewa Kępa, i.e. The World of Values and Its Representations in Contemporary Films and Series published in 2018.
Katarzyna Citko also writes poems. She is the author of 5 volumes of poetry:
- Zielnik niedokończony [Unfinished Herbarium] (1991)
- Ptasie pismo [Bird letters] (2004)
- Post tenebras Lux - Orfeusz Mazurski 2015 literary prize for the best volume of the year
- Tryptyk z trzema sonetami [Triptych with three sonnets] (2016)
- Ogród zapieczętowany [The Sealed Garden] (2022)
Krzysztof Arcimowicz, associate professor
In 2008 he participated in an international research and implementation project The Flexible Worker – The Partnership Family developed as part of the EQUAL Community Initiative of the European Union (2007–2008). From 2013 till 2014 he participated in the project Families of choice in Poland financed from a research grant "Idea Plus". He was a member of the discourse analysis team and prepared three reports. He is the author of two books: Obraz mężczyzny w polskich mediach (2003) [The Image of a Man in the Polish Media] and Dyskursy o płci i rodzinie w polskich telesagach (2013) [Discourses on Gender and Family in Polish TV Sagas]. He published over 50 academic articles in Polish, English, German, and Russian, as well as several popular scientific articles. His articles have appeared in monographs, as well as in scholarly journals, such as: ”Studia Socjologiczne "," Kultura i Społeczeństwo "," Studia Humanistyczne AGH"," Rocznik Lubuski ", "Folia Sociologica. Acta Universitatis Lodziensis", "Kwartalnik Pedagogiczny", "Problemy Rodziny", "Creativity. Theories – Research – Applications". The result of his latest research is a book written together with Tomasz Adamski, Katarzyna Citko, and Ewa Kępa: The World of Values and Its Representations in Contemporary Films and Series, published in 2018.
Tomasz Adamski, PhD
He is a film director, creator and co-creator of documentaries: Tandemem przez pogranicze (2012) [Tandem Through the Borderlands], Wielki Łapiak (2013) [Call me BIG], Pieśni rzeki (2013) [Songs of the River] and short films: Człowiek ryba (2013) [Man Fish], Człowiek ptak (2013) [Man Bird]. Together with other filmmakers he also made the following documentary etudes: Searching for hell: Russia (2014) and Searching for hell: Vardo (2015), as well as a series of documentary-promotional films Spacer z Ambasadorem [Walk with the Ambassador] made for the Ministries of Foreign Affairs in Zagreb, Lisbon, Kiev (2013/2014). He also made a documentary about Poles working for the United Nations in Africa (South Sudan), Turkey (Istanbul), and the United States (New York, 2015). He is the co-author of the book: Sztuka i jej miejsce w edukacji międzykulturowej. Idee, koncepcje i rozwiązania metodyczne. (2015) [Art and its place in intercultural education. Ideas, concepts and methodological solutions]. The book was co-written with Anna Józefowicz, Jarosław Chaciński, and Elżbieta Krysztofik-Gogol. He is also the author of academic articles in the field of film studies. The result of his latest research is a book written together with Krzysztof Arcimowicz, Katarzyna Citko, and Ewa Kępa: The World of Values and Its Representations in Contemporary Films and Series published in 2018.
Ewa Katarzyna Citko, associate professor
- author meet-and-greet promoting volumes of poems and albums, including at: the Public Library in Mońki (2013, 2015), the Ludwik Zamenhoff Centre in Białystok (2016)
Tomasz Adamski,PhD
– a series of film workshops in an orphanage in Krasno (2014–2016), which resulted in a documentary and music video (co-authors: Krzysztof Kiziewicz, Dagmara Sowa, Paweł Chomczyk)
