P R O G R A M
67th Annual Meeting of the
Polish Institute of Arts & Sciences of America, Inc
Co-sponsored by Polish Cultural Foundation, Clark, N.J.
June 13- 14, 2009
Hyatt Regency Jersey City/On the Hudson
Two Exchange Place, Jersey City, N.J. 07302
SATURDAY , JUNE 13, 2009
8: 30 a.m . – 12 noon Registration - Harborside Room 3rd floor
All sessions and panels are scheduled in the Meeting Rooms on the 3rd floor.
8:45 a.m.-9:45 a.m. Business Meeting (members only) - Liberty I rm
9:45 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. Opening Session - Harborside rm
Presiding: Thaddeus V. Gromada, Annual Meeting Chair & Executive Director, PIASA
Welcome: TBA
Greetings: Representatives of Polish Cultural Foundation, PAHA, Orchard Lake Schools, Polonia Technica, and Polish University Club of NJ. TBA
10:00 a.m. – 11:50a .m.
1. Plenary Panel 1989”Annus Mirabilis”: Poland’s Road to Independence –Harborside rm
Chair: Thaddeus V. Gromada, New Jersey City University. Panelists: Jan Kubik, Rutgers University (Round Table Agreement); Z. Anthony Kruszewski, University of Texas at El Paso (June Elections); Neal Pease, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (The Role of the Catholic Church); Jakub Grygiel, Johns Hopkins University (The Role of American Diplomacy); and Susanne Lotarski, U.S. Department of Commerce (ret.) (Installation of the Mazowiecki/Balcerowicz Government).
12:00 p.m.- 1:25 p.m. - Lunch Break
Food services (breakfast and lunch) TBA
Registration: 1:00 pm. – 4: 30 p.m. Lobby – Harborside rm
SATURDAY, JUNE 13, 2009
1:30p.m.-3:20 p.m. CONCURRENT SESSIONS/PANELS
2. Economics, Politics, Society in Poland After 20 Years of Transition- Harborside rm
Chair: Jan Napoleon Saykiewicz, Duquesne University. “Poland’s Economic Development After Twenty Years of Transition” Jan Napoleon Saykiewicz.; “Twenty Years of Economic Transition Against A Historical Backdrop” Krzysztof Bledowski, Manufacturer’s lliance/MAPI; “Poland, the European Union and the EURO”, Brother Leo V. Ryan C.S.V. and Richard Hunter, Seton Hall University
- The Cold War and Its Aftermath in Poland and Eastern Europe – Liberty II rm
Chair: Neal Pease, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. “Arthur Bliss Lane and The Private Committee to Investigate the Katyn Massacre, 1949-1952”, Robert Szymczak, Pennsylvania State University; “ Schools as Sites of resistance: Classroom-based Opposition to Ideological Indoctrination in the Peoples Republic of Poland”, Teresa Wojcik, Villanova University; “Polish Relations with Ukraine since 2004: The Impact on Polish-Russian Relations”, Minton F. Goldman, Northeastern University.
- Session on Biomedical Science –Liberty III rm
Chair: Anne Hermanowski-Vosatka, Merck Research Laboratories. ‘Commensalism vs. Pathogenesis: Microbial and Host Factors That Influence Transitions between Colonization and Disease”, Barbara Kazmierczak, Yale University; “The Role Of DNA Damage Response in Selective Targeting of Tumor Cells During Chemotherapy”, Zbigniew Darzynkiewicz, New York Medical College; Testing the Cancer Stem cell Hypothesis Using a Functional Assay”, Christopher S. Lange, State University of New York, Downstate Medical Center.
- An Ancient Grievance: Relations Between Poland and the Teutonic Knights In the Late Middle Ages – Liberty I rm
Chair: Martha Brozyna, Independent Scholar. “1309-1339: Reassessing the Historiography of East Pomerania and Relations between Poland and the Teutonic Knights”, Paul Milliman, University of Arizona; “ ‘Quoniam error’: Paulus Vladimir and the Polish Pursuit of Pomerania in the Early 15th Century”, Paul W. Knoll, University of Southern California; “Between Two Foundings: The Teutonic Knights, Ethnogenetic Legend and the Ecclesial and State Identities of Jan Dlugosz” Paul Radzilowski, Madonna University.
SATURDAY, JUNE 13, 2009
3:30 p.m. – 5:25 p.m. CONCURRENT SESSIONS/PANELS
6.Impact of World War II: Polish Children in Exile – Harborside II rm
Chair: Anna Jaroszynska-Kirchmann, Eastern Connecticut University. “From the Snows of Siberia to the Snows of Kilimanjaro: a Children’s Epic”, Irene Tomaszewski, Program Director ‘Poland in the Rockies’ and survivor; “Identity and Culture: Based on the Autograph Books of Polish Children in Exile” Wesley Adamczyk, author and survivor; and “The Years 1946-1956: Polish Presence in Barcelona Revisited”, Aleksandra Gruzinska, Arizona State University and survivor
- Tadeusz Kosciuszko in Europe and America – Liberty III rm
(Co-sponsored by the Polish American Historical Association)
Chair: James S. Pula, Purdue University North Central. “New Discoveries About the Life of Tadeusz Kosciuszko”, Alex Storozynski, The Kosciuszko Foundation; “Agrippa Hull and Thaddeus Kosciuszko: A Revolutionary Friendship” Graham Hodges, Colgate University; “Kosciuszko’s Forgotten Role in the Southern Campaign”, James S. Pula.
- Eminent Polish Engineers in America – (Co-sponsored by Polonia Technica) Liberty II rm
Chair: Janusz Romanski, Piasecki Aircraft Corp. and Widener University. “Erazm Jozef Jerzmanowski- the Man Who Illuminated Our Streets” Janusz Zastocki, Association of Polish American Engineers” (in Polish); “Tadeusz Sendzimir: Inventor, Entrepreneur, and Father of Steel Milling Process”, Wojciech Misiolek, Lehigh University; “The Bridges of Ralph Modjeski”, Jan S. Plachta, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; and “Frank N. Piasecki , His Achievements as Helicopter Designer and Philanthropist” Janusz Romanski . Zbigniew Krawczyk’s exhibit of “Prominent Polish Engineers on Stamps will be on display.
- Kazimierz Wierzynski: On the 40th Anniversary of His Death (1894-1969) – Liberty I rm
(In Polish)
Chair: Beata Dorosz, Institute of Literary Research, Polish Academy of Science, Warsaw. “Kazimierz jako tlumacz poezji rosyjskiej” Anna Frajlich, Columbia University; „ Literacki Sag Harbor „ Maciej Patkowski, Polish Writers Association; „Kazimierz Wierzynski w kregu Polskiego Instytutu Naukowego w Ameryce” Beata Dorosz; and „Los Emigranta-Kazimierz Wierzynski” Zbigniew Andres, University of Rzeszow. The session will include Audio-Visuals, “Wierzynski, Poeta szczesliwy” on TVP; Wierzynski on Radio Free Europe and Photos from PIASA Archives.
6:15 p.m.-7:00 p.m. Pre-banquet Reception (Cash Bar)
7:00 p.m.- 9:30 p.m. GALA BANQUET – Harborside Ballroom- Hyatt Regency Jersey City
Tickets @ $75. per person – Reservations by June 8, 2009
Presiding: Thaddeus V. Gromada, President and Executive Director PIASA
Greetings: TBA
Address: “1989: The Year Poland Changed the World” HE John R. Davis, Ambassador of the U.S. to Poland in 1989.
SUNDAY , JUNE 14, 2009
REGISTRATION 8:30 a.m. – 12 noon 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Harborside Room
9:30 a.m. – 11.25 a.m. CONCURRENT SESSIONS/PANELS
10.Poland Reborn 1919; Poland and the Outbreak of World War II, September 1939 Harborside II rm
Chair: M.B. Biskupski, Central Connecticut State University. “World War I : Forgotten American Supporters of the Polish Cause: House, Lord and Hoover”, Z. Anthony Kruszewski, University of Texas at El Paso; “The Origins of a Relationship: The U.S. and Poland 1914-21”, M.B. Biskupski; “Poland and the Treaty of Versailles” Piotr S. Wandycz, Yale University; and “Poland and the Oubreak of World War II : Was There an Alternative”, Anna M. Cienciala, University of Kansas
11.Research on the Polish Experience in America – Liberty III rm
(Co-sponsored by the Polish American Historical Association)
Chair: Brian McCook, Leeds Metropolitan University, UK and President of PAHA. ‘Inne Narody w Ameryce; Polish American and Inter-ethnic Relations” Anna Jaroszynska-Kirchmann, Eastern Connecticut State University; “The Influence of Sports in American Polonia”, Neal Pease, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee; and “Polonia’s Literary Tradition”, Thomas J. Napierkowski, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.
12.Prominent Figures in the History of Polish Science – Liberty I rm
Chair: Hanna Chroboczek Kelker, New York University Medical Center. “Jan Brozek: 17th Centuryu Mathematician Astronomer and First Biographer of Copernicus”, Jan Chroboczek, Institute de Microelectroniue, Electromagnetisme et Photonique, IMEP, Grenoble, France; “Aleksander Zawadzki of Lwow University, Poland: Gregor Mendel’s Mentor and Inspirer”, Waclaw Szybalski, University of Wisconsin-Madison; and ‘Lice, Life and Leafhoppers: How Weigl’s Vaccine Creation Influenced My Virology Research”, Karl Maramorosch, Rutgers University
13.Studies in Polish Music and Cinema – Liberty II rm
Chair: TBA. “Postmodern ‘Polskosc’: Ethnicity, Identity and Popular Music”, Ann Hetzel Gunkel, Columbia College, Chicago; “ The Cinematography of Roman Polanski” Sylvia G. Dapia, Purdue University; and TBA.
11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Lunch Break - Food Services TBA :
SUNDAY , JUNE 14. 2009
1:00 p.m. – 2: 55 p.m. - CONCURRENT SESSIONS/PANELS
14.Orchard Lake Schools in its Second Century – Liberty III rm
Chair: Karen Majewski, The Polish Mission of Orchard Lake Schools. “The New Mission of the Orchard Lake Schools”, Marcin Chumiecki, Director, ThePolish Mission of the Orchard Lake Schools; “Polonica Americana Institute: A Center for Polish Genealogy at Orchard Lake” Ceil Wendt Jensen; “The Archives of Polonia at Orchard Lake”, Karen Majewski. .
15.World War II: Its Impact on Poland – Harborside II rm
(On the Occasion of the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II)
Chair: Grazyna Kubica, Jagiellonian University. “The Roy Publishing House and Its Support of the Polish Cause During World War II in the U.S.”, Peter J. Obst, Poles in America Foundation; “The Home Army (AK) and the Bielski Partisans: A Tale Not Told in the Film ‘Defiance; “, Charles Chotkowski, Polish American Congress; “Polish Teenagers Fighting for Freedom and Independence: The Legacy of the White Eagle” excerpts from a documentary”, Julian E. Kulski, author; “Comments on the book ‘Null and Void; Subjugation of Poland After World War II”, Maria Szonert Binienda, author. .
16.Selected Topics on Polish American Studies – Liberty II rm
Chair: Pien Versteegh, Tilburg University, The Netherlands and Executive Director PAHA; “Erazm Jozef Jerzmanowski: Engineer, Inventor, Industrialist, Activist, Philanthropist: Notes on his American Interim”, (On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the death of Jerzmanowski.) Joseph W. Wieczerzak, City University of New York; “The Bloody Battle Over the Deed to St. Stanislaus Church in 19th Century New York City”, Anne M. Gurnack, University of Wisconsin-Parkside; “Fry Street USA: Life in the Near North Side Chicago Polish Community in the 1940’s”; Leonard C. Scott, author. and .”Haiman: Herodot Polonii Amerykanskiej” Teresa Kaczorowska, author. (tentative).
- Polish Music and Poetry: Selected Topics – Liberty I rm
Chair: Frank T. Borkowski, Appalachian State University NC; “The Role of Music in Shaping the Cultural Image of Poland at International Exhibitions in 1918-1939”, Jolanta Guzy-Pasiak, Polish Academy of Science, Warsaw; “ The Bridge Between Chopin and Paderewski” Frank T. Borkowski; “Images of Chopin in English Language Poetry, Maja Trochimczyk, Los Angeles.
SUNDAY, JUNE 14, 2009
3:00 p.m.-4:30 pm Polish Theatre Institute in the USA production
18. “Helena, The Queen of Emigrants” Harborside I rm
A monodrama by Kazimierz Braun produced by the Polish Theatre Institute in the USA based on the life of Helena Modjeska , the first major Polish celebrity in the U.S. It is being presented on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the death of the famous Shakespearean actress. The play will be introduced by Kathleen Cioffi, editor at Princeton University Press and PIASA BOOKS. Performance by Nina Polan.
67th Annual Meeting Committee
Chair: Thaddeus V. Gromada; Coordinator; Janina Kedron
Committee members: TBA