Łukasz Wodzyński
Credentials: Slavic
Position title: Assistant Professor
Pronouns: he/him/his
Email: lukasz.wodzynski@wisc.edu
Address:
Office Number: 1454 Van Hise Hall
Language(s): Polish, Russian, German (reading), French (reading)
Research/Language Interests: Adventure in literature, culture and society; Polish and Russian modernism; post-communism; enchantment/disenchantment/re-enchantment; sociology of literature; genre theory.
About Me: I am a comparativist specializing in Polish and Russian modernist and contemporary literatures. Before coming to GNS+, I was an Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream at the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures at the University of Toronto, where I served as the Acting Director of the Polish Program.
My research interests focus on various ways in which ‘high’ and ‘low’ cultural forms interact with each other and, in the process, narrativize periods of social change. Currently, I am finalizing a monograph on romance and re-enchantment in Polish and Russian modernist novel and researching my next book project, which will examine the concept of adventure in contemporary Polish literature. My articles have appeared in The Polish Review, Slavic and East European Journal, Slavonic and East European Review, and Slavic Review. In 2024, SEEJ Editorial Board have voted my article “In Search of Wild Beaches: Adventure in Michał Witkowski’s Lovetown” the Best Article published in the journal in 2022.
At UW-Madison, I oversee the Polish program curriculum and teach courses on Polish and East-Central European literatures and cultures, Polish cinema, postcommunism, war and culture, and the theme of adventure in literature and film. Since 2020, I organize the annual Madison Polish Film Festival.
Education:
• University of Toronto, PhD, Comparative Literature (2015)
• University of Toronto , MA, Slavic Languages and Literatures, (2008)
• University of Toronto, Honours BA, Slavic Languages and Literatures/Computer Science (2007)