We are happy to announce that Dr. Agnieszka Kotwasińska’s first monograph House of Horrors: Familial Intimacies in Contemporary American Horror Fiction has recently been published by University of Wales Press.

This is a study of tumultuous transformations of kinship and intimate relationships in American horror fiction over the last three decades. Twelve contemporary novels (by ten women writers and two whose work has been identified as women’s fiction) are grouped into four main thematic clusters – haunted houses; monsters; vampires; and hauntings – but it is social scripts and concerns linked directly to intimacy and family life that structure the entire volume. By drawing attention to how the most intimate of all social relationships – the family – supports and replicates social hierarchies, exclusions, and struggles for dominance, the book problematises the source of horror. The consideration of horror narratives through the lens of familial intimacies makes it possible to rethink genre boundaries, to question the efficacy of certain genre tropes, and to consider the contribution of such diverse authors as Kathe Koja, Tananarive Due, Gwendolyn Kiste, Elizabeth Engstrom, Sara Gran and Caitlín R. Kiernan. (source: Uni of Wales Press presskit)

Year 2024/2025

May 22: Bitburg, Ratification, and Implementation of the Genocide Convention by the US

May 16, 2025

We are pleased to invite you to a lecture by Professor Joe Delap from Athens State University, who will present a lecture titled “Bitburg, Ratification, and Implementation of the Genocide Convention by the US”. The presentation delves into the history of the US’s role in the Convention, discusses US-European dealings prompting Senate ratification, and concludes by looking at what difference, if any, US ratification has made in assessing, investigating, and prosecuting genocide in the International Criminal Court.

News

Psychological Support For The UW Community

May 16, 2025

In these difficult times, the University of Warsaw offers psychological support to all members of its community

Year 2024/2025

May 20: History with a Twist: Exploring Fantasy and Alternate Realities in My Lady Jane

May 14, 2025

Join us for a penultimate Weird meeting, a lecture by Nicole Bryjka (University of Warsaw) on fantasy and alternate history in television series My Lady Jane!

News

May 8 A Day of Mourning at UW

May 8, 2025

In light of today’s tragedy, the Rector has declared tomorrow, May 8th, a day of mourning for the University of Warsaw community, with no classes and no work. This tragedy is keenly felt by all members of the University of Warsaw community, faculty, administrative staff, and students alike. We all want the university to be a safe place and work hard every day to ensure that it is. It is incredibly difficult to have this hope challenged so severely.

American Studies Colloquium Series

May 15: The Science and Art of Nabokov’s Atmospherics

May 7, 2025

We are pleased to invite you to the fifth lecture of the American Studies Colloquium Series in the 2025 Spring semester! This time we are pleased to host Anindita Banerjee, whose work focuses on science fiction studies, environmental studies, media studies, and migration studies in Russia, Central Asia, the Indian subcontinent, and Latin and African Americas.