Annual Copernicus Lecture

Since 1980, income from the Nicolaus Copernicus Endowment has supported the Annual Copernicus Lecture. These presentations at the University of Michigan have featured the rich variety of Polish intellectual and cultural life. See our Videos page for recordings of recent Copernicus Lectures.

• 2023: Jonathan Ornstein and Chuck Fishman, "Survivors Saving Survivors"
• 2022: Anda Rottenberg, "Art, Museums, and Politics in Poland: A Conversation with Anda Rottenberg"
  
• 2020: Dorota Masłowska, "Hint: My Books Aren't Really about Sex and Drugs"
• 2019: Artur Żmijewski, "Working Around, Against, and Without: An Artist’s Excursion on Shifting Political Ground"
• 2018: Barbara Nowacka, “Contemporary Poland Fighting for Democracy”
  
• 2017: Adam Michnik, “The Glory and Poverty of the ’68 Generation”
  
• 2016: Robert Biedroń, “Sexual Minorities and Civil Rights in Poland”
  Ewa Wójciak, “Breaking Boundaries before and after Censorship: A Personal Story of When and How You Should Say No”
• 2015: Tomasz Stańko, "An Interview with Tomasz Stańko"
• 2013: Jan Gross, “‘Making History’: An Intellectual Journey into the Hidden Polish Past”
• 2012: Agnieszka Holland, “A Filmmaker’s Approach to Society’s Most Vexing Concerns”
  Agata Tuszyńska, “Wiera Gran: A Singer, A Collaborator? The Other Side of Polanski’s Pianist”
• 2011: Robert Hass, Robert Pinsky, Lillian Vallée, Bogdana Carpenter, and Benjamin Paloff, "Miłosz: Made in America"
  Richard Noyce, "A Stranger in a Strange Land: Traveling East to Find the World" | Lecture text 
• 2010: Marek Belka, "European Dimension of the Global Crisis"
  Piotr Cywiński, "Auschwitz in the 21st Century"
• 2009: David Ost, Magdalena Środa, and Sławomir Sierakowski, "Poland since 1989: A Critical Appraisal"
• 2008: Neal Ascherson, "Europe: Heir to the Ages or Pregnant Widow"
  Stasys Eidrigevicius residency
• 2007: Krzysztof Czyzewski, "Line of Return: Cultivating 'the Borderland' in Dialogue with Czeslaw Milosz"
• 2006: Zbigniew Libera, "How Artists are Tamed: Zbigniew Libera and the Polish Press, 1980-2005"
• 2005: Adam Zagajewski, "Without End: A Poetry Reading by Adam Zagajewski"
• 2004: Kora Jackowska, "Rock 'n' Roll Rebellion in Poland: An Interview with Kora Jackowska"
• 2003: Father Stanislaw Obirek, "Intellectuals and Catholicism in Poland Today"
• 2002: Krzysztof Wodiczko, "Pomnikoterapia: Memorial Therapy"
• 2001: Halina Filipowicz and Jadwiga Maurer, "Taboo Topics in Polish and Polish/Jewish Cultural Studies"
• 2000: "The Silences of Solidarity" Conference
  Bronislaw Geremek, "The Lessons of Solidarity"
• 1999: Adam Michnik, Aleksander Kwaśniewski, Wieslaw Chrzanowski, et al.,"Communism's Negotiated Collapse: The Polish Round Table Ten Years Later"
• 1998: Eva Hoffman, "Shtetl: A History of Conflict and Coexistence"
• 1997: Roman Szporluk, "Poland's Role in Modern East European History"
  Ryszard Kapuscinski, "The Russian Puzzle: Why I Wrote Imperium" (interview, Journal of the International Institute)
• 1996: Krzysztof Zanussi, "Gutenberg is Dead: Perspectives on a Spiritual Culture in a New Era of Communication"
  Adam Michnik, "Central Europe after Communism"
• 1995: Krzysztof Penderecki and Henryk Górecki, "Interviews with the Composers"
• 1994: Wlodzimierz Zawadzki, "Polish Contributions to World Science"
  Jacek Kuron, "An Interview with Jacek Kuron"
• 1993: The Lira Singers, "The Legacy of the Folk Melody in Poland's Music"
  Czesław Miłosz Poetry Reading
• 1992: Jerzy Jedlicki, "Poland's Perpetual Return to Europe"
• 1991: Kazimierz Dziewanowski, "Poland in Transition: Reflections on a Democratic Tradition"
• 1990: Tadeusz Chrzanowski, "The Unique Path of Polish Art"
• 1989: Zbigniew Brzezinski, "Communism's Terminal Crisis"
  Adam Michnik, "The Future of Socialism in Eastern Europe"
• 1988: Zdzislaw Najder, "Joseph Conrad after a Century"
• 1987: Timothy Garton-Ash, "Solidarity and the European Question"
• 1986: Piotr Wandycz, "Poland in World History: Inspiration or Troublemaker?"
• 1985: Czesław Miłosz, Joseph Brodsky, and Jan Skvorecky, "The Struggle for Cultural Survival"
• 1984: Andrzej Kaminski, "Sobieski's Victory at Vienna"
• 1983: Stanislaw Baranczak, "Independent Publishing in Poland" and Poetry Reading
• 1982: Czesław Miłosz and Stanislaw Baranczak, "Two Centuries of Émigré Literature"
• 1981: Tola and Tymon Terlecki, "The Poetry of Jan Kochanowski"
• 1980: Leszek Kolakowski, "The Impossible Language of the Sacred"

Other Major Polish Studies Events

• Generations and Genealogies - 4th Annual Polish Jewish Studies Workshop (April 2-4, 2017)
• Polish Studies in the 21st Century - 3rd International Conference on Polish Studies (September 16-18, 2010)
• Polish Films: Dekalog po Dekalogu and Teraz ja (November 1, 2009)
• Adam Zagajewski Poetry Reading, Zell Visiting Writers Series (December 4, 2008) | video |Zagajewski short bio
• Translation and Polish Literature in the West: A Round Table Discussion in Honor of Bogdana Carpenter (March 15, 2008)
• New Europe / Old Problems - A Symposium and Lecture Series Featuring Agnieszka Graff and Neal Ascherson (December 2007-January 2008)
• The University of Michigan Chopin Project - Performances of Chopin's Complete Solo Piano Works by the Piano Studio of Arthur Greene and Symposium (Winter 2007); Chopin Project Website
• "Democratic Revolutions, International Conflict, and Global Citizenship," lecture by Aleksander Kwasniewski, President of Poland, 1995-2005 (October 25, 2006)
• Adam Michnik Receives Honorary Degree (April 28, 2001)
• "Communism's Negotiated Collapse: The Polish Round Table Talks of 1989, Ten Years Later" (April 7-10, 1999)