Announcements and Notes

"Polish for Everyone" computer program
The program called, "Polish for Everyone," is a preliminary part of a bigger project. The aim of the project is to give an interactive tool for learning the Polish language and obtaining information about Poland, Polish literature, business, tourism, etc. This program has been designed to give the user some idea how the Polish language operates. It is intended for beginners. It can run on the Macintosh family of computers.

The recent version (1.3) of my program has the following features:
* 8 interactive lessons and many language exercises (introducing more than 300 words)
* sound support (over 600 sound samples)
* lots of pictures
* speaking vocabulary (300 words)
* declension and conjugation tables
* pronunciation rules (with tongue position pictures and sound)
* illustrated information about Poland: currency, Tatra Mountains, prices
* grammar explanation
The program is available from the Internet ftp/gopher server: poniecki.berkeley.edu (or: poniecki.haas.berkeley.edu)
in dir: /pub/polish/language/macintosh/polish-for-everyone13.hqx

Budka Polish Studies Award Established
The Metchie J.E. Budka Award for a scholarly work in Polish Literature, History and Polish-American Relations is administered by the Kosciuszko Foundation (15 East 65th Street, New York, NY 10021). The Prize of $1,000.00 will be awarded yearly to recent graduates and graduate students at American universities for an outstanding work on the above topics. This year, Award nominations will close August 30, 1996. Budka was a scholar and translator of Polish literature. The Award was established by his university colleagues, friends and family.

Chair of Polish Studies at the University of Virginia
Blanka A. Rosenstiel, President of the American Institute of Polish Culture, has brought to fruition her longstanding project of launching a Chair of Polish Studies at UV. Director of the fund drive is Professor Kenneth Thompson, Miller Center for Public Affairs, University of Virginia, Post Office Box 5106, Charlottesville, VA 22905. An additional $500,000.00 has to be collected, and donations are solicited. Here is an opportunity for an American of Polish descent to make his/her name survive by contributing generously. It is also an opportunity for small donors to exercise their civic conscience. SR is happy to note that the proposed Chair is in history and political science, or the areas in which Polish representation at American universities is particularly skimpy.

54th national PIASA Meeting
The meeting took place June 7-8, 1995 at Georgetown University and featured Michael Novak and Zbigniew Brzezinski as speakers. Those wishing to organize a panel and/or present a paper at the next meeting should join the PIASA (208 East 30th Street, New York, NY 10016). To join the national chapter as a regular or associate member (depending on your scholarly standing and by invitation only), submit a letter and a short biography. Membership dues are $50.00/year.

The Australian Institute of Polish Affairs
was recently launched by the same indefatigable Polish intellectual and activist who once published and edited Studium Papers, the now-extinct quarterly on Polish affairs published in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Professor Andrew Ehrenkreutz retired from the University of Michigan and moved to Mooroolbark, Australia. He has again performed a service by launching an institution whose focus is to keep an eye on matters pertaining to Poland in the Australian context.

Pat Tours/Division of WORLDWIDE TRAVEL
This agency is located at 1053 Riverdale Center, West Springfield, MA 01089, tel. 413-747-7702 or 1-800-388-0988. This travel office specializes in organizing summer camps for youth (age 14-18) in Poland. They also publish an annual Newsletter (featured in the BOOKS section in this issue) chockful of information about travel in Poland. In 1996, 18-day, June and July camps were only $450 per person! Ask for Mary Gorecki.

CESG Lecture
Speaker: Jan Rybicki, Visiting Assistant Professor of Polish, Rice University
Topic: The Art of Translation: Second Thoughts of a Practitioner
Time: September 27 (Friday), 1996, 7:30 PM
Place: 110 Rayzor Hall, Rice University
Refreshments will be served.
This lecture is sponsored by the Central Europe Study Group at Rice University, by the Kosciuszko Foundation (which sponsors Mr. RybickiÕs visit to Rice), and by the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America.


Return to September 1996 Issue
The Sarmatian Review
sarmatia@rice.edu
Last updated 12/20/96