A World Drawn: An Introduction to the art of Julian Opie (for a Polish Audience)

Essay in a monograph associated with the exhibition Julian Opie: Sculptures, Paintings, Films at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Krakow, Poland, 18 October 2014 to 25 January 2015. Slyce attempts to re-examine the lineaments of Opie's practice for a new and broader audience. During which, he calls attention in the writing to the processes of its commissioning and early request to do so for a 'Polish audience'. He attempts to bring to light some of these often invisible moves in the commissioning of catalogue essays, while also re-examining Julian Opie's practice in light of its established reception in Britain.

The construction of social reality in minority discourse : Polish immigrants in Montreal

Thèse diffusée initialement dans le cadre d'un projet pilote des Presses de l'Université de Montréal/Centre d'édition numérique UdeM (1997-2008) avec l'autorisation de l'auteur.

Between “incidents of intolerance” and “massacre” : British interpretations of the early Modern Polish religious persecution

Este ensaio analisa o modo como as vias através das quais a razão humana, definida como um instrumento para eliminar os obstáculos da existência, na deriva da civilização resultaram frequentemente em “eliminações racionais” dos potenciais inimigos e de pessoas comuns.O autor realça esses processo desumanos com base em vários exemplos da história moderna. Começa com a Revolução Francesa até chegar ao século XX com a experiência devastadora dos totalitarismo, acabando por lembrar os massacres do Ruanda.

Made in “Polish village” – modern ethno-design vs. traditional culture of Polish countryside

Tradycyjna polska wieś – kolorowa, wesoła, zintegrowana z naturą i rządząca się swoimi prawami to zbiorowy mit, odległy w czasie. To klasyczny temat wielu poszukiwań etnografi cznych – terenowych, naukowych opracowań i porównań. We współczesnym świecie mamy do czynienia jedynie z wybranymi elementami – tradycjami jeszcze żywymi lub przetworzonymi i dostosowanymi do wymogów współczesnego odbiorcy – turysty, ale także artysty i projektanta. Obecne zainteresowanie polską sztuką ludową i rzemiosłem to kolejna fala mody folkowej. Ten ogólnoeuropejski trend, poszukujący w kulturze egalitarnej natchnienia i inspiracji swój początek bierze w I połowie XIX wieku. W polskiej sztuce dekoracyjnej (wzornictwie przemysłowym) także nastąpił powrót do źródeł, a w ludowości i wiejskości doszukiwano się narodowego ducha, inspiracją dla polskich artystów był angielski Ruch Arts and Craft, a w ich projektach widoczne były echa fi lozofi i Johna Ruskina oraz Williama Morrisa m. in. odrzucających masową produkcję, mającą wg nich zły wpływ na jakość produkowanych przedmiotów, jednocześnie na piedestał wynoszących umiejętności rękodzielnicze i rzemieślnicze. Po okresie PRLu utożsamianym głównie z funkcjonowaniem Cepelii i sprowadzeniem produktów inspirowanych ludowością do roli masowych dekoracji, stanowiących często synonim kiczu, powróciła moda na polskie rękodzieło, tradycyjną sztukę ludową oraz na inspiracje wypływające z obserwowania wiejskiego stylu życia. Współczesne poszukiwania polskich twórców w obszarze tworzących w ramach nurtu zwanego etnodizajnem przebiegają dwutorowo. Z jednej strony to inspiracja tylko przejawami ludowości, jej konkretnymi wytworami, które stanowią głównie dekorację dla współczesnych rozwiązań formalnych i technologicznych. Jednak coraz silniejszy jest drugi nurt,starający się wniknąć głębiej, którego celem jest zrozumienie istoty tradycyjnej kultury ludowej polskiej wsi. To inspiracja wiejskim stylem życia, wraz z jego zaletami i wadami, to wreszcie inspiracja zmieniającym się krajobrazem kulturowym i poszukiwanie nowych rozwiązań, dzięki którym odbiorca zbliży się do natury. Projekty zaliczane do nurtu etnodizajnu cechuje przede wszystkim różnorodność wykorzystanych materiałów (tradycyjnych i nowoczesnych), sposób ich przetworzenia, zachowanie pierwotnej funkcji lub nadanie nowej. Większość tych projektów sytuuje się też w nurcie eko-artu, sztuki nawiązującej do natury, z wykorzystaniem ekologicznych materiałów. Jest więc etnodizajn XXI kontynuacją ideologii stworzonej już w wieku XIX – przeciwstawieniem dla przemysłu, technicyzacji i umasowienia. A dla współczesnego człowieka – miejskiego – może być etnodizajn powrotem do źródeł.

The use of bootstrapped Malmquist indices to reassess productivity change findings: an application to a sample of Polish farms

This article assesses the extent to which sampling variation affects findings about Malmquist productivity change derived using data envelopment analysis (DEA), in the first stage by calculating productivity indices and in the second stage by investigating the farm-specific change in productivity. Confidence intervals for Malmquist indices are constructed using Simar and Wilson's (1999) bootstrapping procedure. The main contribution of this article is to account in the second stage for the information in the second stage provided by the first-stage bootstrap. The DEA SEs of the Malmquist indices given by bootstrapping are employed in an innovative heteroscedastic panel regression, using a maximum likelihood procedure. The application is to a sample of 250 Polish farms over the period 1996 to 2000. The confidence intervals' results suggest that the second half of 1990s for Polish farms was characterized not so much by productivity regress but rather by stagnation. As for the determinants of farm productivity change, we find that the integration of the DEA SEs in the second-stage regression is significant in explaining a proportion of the variance in the error term. Although our heteroscedastic regression results differ with those from the standard OLS, in terms of significance and sign, they are consistent with theory and previous research.

Productivity change in Polish agriculture: an illustration of a bootstrapping procedure applied to Malmquist indices

This article illustrates the usefulness of applying bootstrap procedures to total factor productivity Malmquist indices, derived with data envelopment analysis (DEA), for a sample of 250 Polish farms during 1996-2000. The confidence intervals constructed as in Simar and Wilson suggest that the common portrayal of productivity decline in Polish agriculture may be misleading. However, a cluster analysis based on bootstrap confidence intervals reveals that important policy conclusions can be drawn regarding productivity enhancement.

The transition of the Polish real estate market within a Central and Eastern European context

The real estate market in Poland is a relatively immature market, but one that has been experiencing substantial transformation. The development of the market has been encouraged by a number of factors, including changes arising as a result of new legislation and the migration of capital between capital markets. The progress of the real estate sector towards a western style competitive market has taken place within the gradual transformation of the Polish economy into a free market economy. As investment grade property is in relatively short supply in Poland, investors consider opportunities within the wider CEE block. An analysis of the risk-return characteristics of the three largest CEE real estate markets namely, Poland, Hungary and Czech Republic, shows that the returns in these markets have been negatively correlated with the UK. As these economies and markets evolve, and being part of the wider EU trading block, their economic performance will slowly converge and become more synchronized with their western counterparts. However, the catch-up of the CEE markets to western European performance cycles will be protracted and consequently there are likely to be significant ongoing portfolio risk reduction opportunities

Realities and perceptions for English teachers of Polish children

This chapter examines the responses of English primary school teachers to Polish children arriving in the south of England since 2006. Schools in England have a changing pupil demographic which reflects changing patterns of trans-European migration since the accession of new member states to the EU in 2004 and 2007. There is evidence that this shift is one experienced not just in inner-city schools most commonly associated with minority ethnic populations, but in a wide range of schools in rural and smaller town settings in a number of counties across the country. In adjusting to new identities and new languages in their classrooms, teachers in areas not previously associated with national or ethnic differences are required to respond pedagogically and pastorally in new ways. Their beliefs are compared with the views of migration held by Polish teachers’ from one Polish town affected by migration. Interview data are analysed in order to explore differences in perception towards Polish migrant families and their children. Discussion centres on English teachers’ very positive responses to Polish children, and of how the teacher-friendly behaviour of Polish families may support the construction of stereotypes that are not necessarily a reflection of reality as experienced by the children.

Encountering migration: English primary school teachers’ responses to Polish children

Schools in England have recently undergone a shift in their pupil demographic which in part reflects changing patterns of trans-European migration since the accession of new member states to the EU in 2004 and 2007. There is evidence that this shift is one experienced not just in inner-city schools most commonly associated with minority ethnic populations, but in a wide range of schools in rural and smaller town settings in a number of counties across the country (Vertovec, 2007). This article explores the responses of English primary school teachers to Polish children arriving since 2006 in a county in the South of England. Using Bourdieu’s logic of practice, interview data are analysed in order to examine attitudes towards Polish children and their families. Discussion centres on how teachers’ professional habitus may unconsciously govern their reception of children from Poland, and of how the teacher-friendly behaviour of Polish children and families may support a generalised construction of the Polish model learner.

Graduate School and University Center Archives Finding Aid - Record Group III: Periodicals

This is part of the finding aid to the Graduate School and University Center (GSUC) Archives. Record Group III is periodicals by and/or about the GSUC.

Rhetorical approaches to scientific writing : an English-Polish contrastive study

This article reports an investigation of the rhetorical framework of research papers written by Polish scholars in English and Polish. It specifically targets the structure of introductions to articles in the field of psychology. Notions of linearity and digressiveness, as well as related issues of form and content and reader-writer reciprocity are discussed. The results of the analysis indicate that discoursal organization employed by Polish authors differs from that utilized by Anglo-American scholars. It is argued that styles of academic prose are interconnected with underlying cultural values.

The development and consequences of multiculturalism : as exemplified by the Polish diaspora intelligentsia

This study analyses the way intellectuals within the Polish Diaspora or Polonia in Australia use writing as a means to integrate the community within the host society whilst creating a distinct ethnic community identity. By interviewing authors and analysing the relationship between the evolving characteristics of Polish writing and social policy this study brings to light the shortcomings of multiculturalism. The controversial policy experiment of multiculturalism has lost support as it failed to redress central issues of social equity and as I will show created new social problems which have yet to be overcome. The central argument of the study is that multiculturalism created a reactive social environment which encouraged Diaspora ethnocentrism in a way that has been detrimental to national unity. I show how and why this policy has failed to foster inter-culturalism and why a move towards integration can lead to greater social cohesion and equity in Australian society. I also explore the extent to which Diasporas such as the Polonia have been agents of social change rather than recipients.