POLIN Meeting Point 2017
POLIN Meeting Point 2017, fot. Muzeum Historii Żydów Polskich

POLIN Meeting Point - Summer Education School 2017

Who can participate?

Are you a student or a graduate* from a higher education institution from Poland, Germany, Israel or Ukraine? Are you interested in history and multiculturalism? Would you like to become member of a multinational group of students and discuss the joint history of Central and Eastern Europe and its significance for the world today? Would you like to take part in interesting lectures and workshops run by experts and get inspired to start your own academic research? Would you like to meet interesting and open young people and create a final project together?

If your answers are positive, you should definitely apply for the POLIN Meeting Point – Summer Education School 2017! It is the third edition of a summer programme run by POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews that has become very popular among students from Poland, Germany and Israel over the past two years. This year, for the first time, we are inviting our eastern neighbours – academic youth from Ukraine – to participate in the programme. This way, we would like to stress the significance of the eastern perspective for the joint history of our region.

Participation in the summer school is free of charge. The cost of travel and accommodation, as well as partial cost of food will be covered by the organiser. All classes are conducted in English.

* To be accepted for the POLIN Meeting Point programme, you need to be a higher education school graduate with a degree or a course completion certificate not older than three years.

Information about the 3rd edition

This year 3rd edition of the POLIN Meeting Point – Summer Education School 2017 will take place on 13-27 August. The classes will be held in three cities: Warsaw, Łódź and Zduńska Wola.

In this year edition, we would like you to focus on the topic of Local multiculturalism. The example of Zduńska Wola – a town in the Łódź Province, before World War II a rapidly growing Polish-Jewish-German centre – will serve as a point of departure for the discussion.

In the first week of the course – during lectures, discussions and workshops, and within the space of the POLIN Museum's core exhibition– we will discover tools used to study multiculturalism from the historical perspective. We will have a look at local studies as a research topic and will confront the myth of pre-war multicultural Poland.

A trip to Łódź and Zduńska Wola to be organised in the second week of the course will help the participants discover the multicultural past of both places and the contemporary local residents' approach to diversity. Is the memory of multicultural past being cherished? Does this heritage play a role in building the local identity? You will be encouraged to seek answers to these and other questions.

See the preliminary programme >>

The summer school programme has been developed in consultation with the Programme Council experts:

  • Dr Yael Granot-Bein (University of Haifa);
  • Prof. Bianka Pietrow-Ennker (University of Konstanz);
  • Dr hab. Jolanta Żyndul (Jewish Historical Institute).

and with our partners from Zduńska Wola and Łódź:

  • Tomasz Polkowki (Museum of the History of Zdunska Wola);
  • Dr. Kamilia Klauzińska;
  • Prof. Krystyna Radziszewska (University of Łódź);
  • Gabriela Górska (Museum of the History of Zduńska Wola);
  • Anna Karolczak (University of Łódź);
  • Dr. Michał Trębacz (Warsaw University).

Lectures and workshops will be held by Polish and international experts, including:

  • Prof. Aleida Assmann (University of Konstanz);
  • Prof. Nissim Calderon (Ben Gurion University);
  • Prof. Ewa Domańska (Adam Mickiewicz University);
  • Dr. Kamila Klauzińska (Jagiellonian University);
  • Prof. Bianka Pietrow-Ennker (University of Konstanz);
  • Dr. Anatoly Podolsky (Ukrainian Center for Holocaust Studies);
  • Prof. Krystyna Radziszewska (University of Łódź);
  • Prof. Shimon Redlich (Ben-Gurion University);
  • Dr. Michał Trębacz (University of Warsaw);
  • Dr. Gerhard Wolf (University of Sussex);
  • Dr. hab. Jolanta Żyndul (Jewish Historical Institute).

Our goals

The summer school will end in a joint project of teachers and students – a book summing up the 3rd edition of the programme. The publication will be distributed among all the people taking part in the POLIN Meeting Point 2017 as well as academic circles and promoters of intercultural dialogue, educators and the Museum's ambassadors.

The participants will:

  • consolidate and expand their knowledge of Central and Eastern Europe's pre-war and wartime history;
  • discover tools used to study memory and multiculturalism from the historical perspective;
  • focus on the history of everyday life and micro-histories and social history as well as tangible and cultural heritage;
  • increase their critical analysis skills in using references (including working with oral history resources);
  • develop interpersonal and intercultural skills.


The execution of the programme has been made possible thanks to the support from the Nissenbaum Family Foundation and the Foundation for Polish-German Cooperation.

The implementation of the project is possible due to the support of Nissenbaum Family Foundation and the Foundation for Polish-German Cooperation.

Partners