Until 31st December, one can vote for a word or expression which, in their opinion, has great resonance for the year 2019. Słowo Roku 2019 (Word of the Year 2019) will be announced at the beginning of January by the UW linguists who organise the event.

What Polish word has attracted a great deal of interest over the last 12 months? Everyone is invited to either choose a word or expression from the list posted on the website http://sloworoku.uw.edu.pl/ or submit own proposals.

The candidates for the Word of the Year might be nouns, adjectives, verbs, etc. However, organisers will not accept surnames, proper names of people, places and institutions.

The poll is organised for the 9th time. The winner of the last edition is “konstytucja” (constitution).

This year proposals include, e.g. “klimat” (climate), “nauczyciel” (teacher), and “strajk” (strike), “wybory” (elections), “nienawiść (hatered), “hulajnoga” (scooter), and “równość” (equality).

Other countries such as the United Kingdom, Germany, France and the Czech Republic also choose their word of the year. Recently, the editors of “Oxford English Dictionary” have named “climate emergency” as its 2019 Word of the Year. Collins Dictionary, for example, picked “climate strike” as its word.

UW linguists are among a panel of experts who choose the word. The panel includes: Prof. Jerzy Bartmiński (Maria Curie Sklodowska University in Lublin), Prof. Jerzy Bralczyk (the University of Warsaw), Prof. Katarzyna Kłosińska (the University of Warsaw), Prof. Ewa Kołodziejek (the University of Szczecin), Prof. Marek Łaziński (the University of Warsaw), Prof. Andrzej Markowski (the University of Warsaw), Prof. Jan Miodek (the University of Wrocław), Prof. Renata Przybylska (the Jagiellonian University, Cracow) and Prof. Halina Zgółkowa (Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań).

News

Student research grant 2025/26

December 11, 2025

The American Studies Center is pleased to announce a competition for student research grants. The grants will support students’ work on their MA theses and BA papers written in conjunction with their BA seminars. As the research must be related to a BA paper or an MA thesis, 3rd-year BA students and MA students of all years will have priority.

News

Holiday break at the ASC

December 9, 2025

We would like to inform you that the holiday break at the American Studies Center will take place from 22 December 2025 to 6 January 2026. On 22, 23, 29, 30 and 31 December the offices will have limited online availability.

American Studies Colloquium Series

December 11: “Poetry After Barbarism: The Invention of Motherless Tongues and Resistance to Fascism”

December 3, 2025

We are pleased to invite you to the next lecture of the American Studies Colloquium Series in the 2025/2026 Winter semester! This time we are pleased to host Jennifer Scappettone (University of Chicago) with a lecture titled “Mother(less) Tongues of ‘America’: Xenoglossic Writing and Xenoglossic Breathing in the Poetry of Etel Adnan and LaTasha N. Nevada-Diggs”.

Year 2025/2026

Dec 11-12: International Conference on Anti-Gender Campaigns and the Politics of Knowledge Production

November 28, 2025

The American Studies Center at the University of Warsaw invites you to the international conference Anti-gender campaigns and the politics of knowledge production, to be held on 11–12 December 2025 in Warsaw, Poland.

News

Call for Papers: “America and the World: A Reciprocal History of Influence and Exchange”

November 26, 2025

In 2026, the American Studies Center at the University of Warsaw will celebrate its 50th anniversary, a landmark occasion that coincides with the 250th anniversary of the United States. To mark these dual jubilees, we invite scholars to submit papers that explore the past, present, and future of the United States, its global impact, and the evolving role of American Studies as a field of inquiry.