Culture Animation at the Institute of Polish Culture
The Culture Animation specialisation was founded in 1991 at the University of Warsaw as the first practical study program available at a higher education institution in Poland. The Culture Animation program in Warsaw was designed in collaboration with academics and practitioners who endorse the idea of culture as a democratic and creative activity. Every year, we expand the educational offering onto new methodology of work and adjust it to the needs of the students.
We combine academic studies in humanities with art instruction and the practical aspects of working with people and communities. We teach students:
- How to apply art in community projects;
- How to manage projects and obtain funding.
The Culture Animation specialisation consists of workshops and internships at institutions and local communities. Both the workshops and the internships follow the idea of “learning through practice” and often take the form of “field workshops”. What this means is that the students not only learn selected methodology of working with and around culture but also apply them in a real situation while working with specific people. The syllabus for the academic year 2018/2019 is available here.
Culture Animation students take part in various workshops on topics such as:
- Film, photography, graffiti, theatre, traditional singing, art in public space and new technologies.
- Project planning and management, its evaluation and financing.
- Organising new institutions: participation museum, theatre pedagogy, audience development.
An essential aspect of our program is going beyond the walls of the university and establishing close ties with the surrounding reality. This is the reason why we collaborate with many different institutions of culture and NGOs in Poland and abroad. Our students take part in internships based in Denmark, Germany, Portugal and Great Britain, among other places. They also participate in community and art projects carried on by the most important centres of culture and art across Poland. This way, already during the course of studies, they become acquainted with the environment where culture animators work, which permits them to establish contacts that may later facilitate their career decisions.
Each student completes his or her individual set of courses as per their choice, interests and future career plans. The student selects as many workshops and internships in each semester as needed to fulfil the minimum requirements for the number of study hours set out in the curriculum. More information about the requirements here.
Duration of studies: 4 semesters
Workshops: 330 academic hours
Internships: 40 days
The specialisation is open to graduates of first-cycle studies of all university programmes. It can be completed as part of the second-cycle studies in Culture Studies program at the Institute of Polish Culture at the University of Warsaw. The specialisation is also open to students of other programs and people who are not students of the University of Warsaw. For more information on admissions see here.