Danuta Życzyńska-Ciołek

The QDA has published a new dataset entitled ‘Paltry Pensions’ in the Context of the Sense of Social Justice and the Goals of Pension Policy. It contains qualitative data from a project focused on retirees receiving pensions lower than the minimum pension from the Polish Social Security Institution (ZUS) — so-called ‘paltry’ or ‘penny’ pensions. The project is currently being carried out at the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Polish Academy of Sciences and is funded by the National Science Center in Poland. The dataset includes transcriptions of individual interviews with pensioners and experts, as well as parliamentary documents and articles from selected news portals concerning pensions lower than the minimum pension. The authors of the dataset are Dr. Danuta Życzyńska-Ciołek, Piotr Drygas, Ewa Potępa, Dr. Klaudia Wolniewicz-Słomka, and Dr. Marta Kołczyńska.

On December 18, an Oral History Seminar was held at IFiS PAN. Participants analyzed two interviews recorded with women born in 1935 in Gdańsk. These interviews are part of the “Gdańszczanie” (“Inhabitants of Gdańsk”) collection, which is deposited in the Gdańsk Oral History Archive (GAHM) at the Museum of Gdańsk.
The interviews were selected, and an introduction was provided by Dr. Andrzej Hoja—a historian, archivist, curator, and the creator and coordinator of GAHM. Dr. Hoja is also an expert at the Center for Historical Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Berlin.

The Oral History Seminars are co-organized by the Faculty of Culture and Arts at the University of Warsaw, the Qualitative Data Archive at IFiS PAN, and the Polish Oral History Association. The initiative is under the patronage of the “Wrocławski Rocznik Historii Mówionej” („Wrocław Yearbook of Oral History)”. If you would like to participate in future meetings or receive more information, please contact us at: seminariumoralhistory@gmail.com.

A new dataset titled ‘Orientation Systems in Public Transportation and the Cultural Dimension of Uncertainty Avoidance – A Behavioral and Semiotic Analysis of Selected European Cities,’ authored by Dr. Kamil Olender of the University of Wroclaw, has been published in the QDA. The dataset contains materials produced under the ‘Miniatura’ grant of the National Science Center, Poland. The study evaluated orientation systems in public transportation in the context of the identity elements of the city and region. The theoretical background of the project was based on Geert Hofstede’s concept of cultural dimensions.

On October 23, during the Oral History Seminar, Ms. Karolina Domańska presented an interview from her research on the popularity of American basketball in Poland in the 1990s. She used this research in her master’s thesis, titled The Popularity of American Basketball as a Cultural Phenomenon in Poland during the Transition Period in the 1990s (The Case of the Southwestern Voivodeships), which she wrote under the supervision of Dr. Marta Kurkowska-Budzan, Professor at Jagiellonian University. The thesis was awarded twice.

The Oral History Seminars are co-organized by the Faculty of Culture and Arts at the University of Warsaw, the Qualitative Data Archive at IFiS PAN, and the Polish Oral History Association. The initiative is under the patronage of the “Wrocławski Rocznik Historii Mówionej (Wrocław Yearbook of Oral History)”. If you would like to participate in future meetings or receive more information, please contact us: seminariumoralhistory@gmail.com.

On September 25, 2024, the first Oral History Seminar of the 2024/2025 academic year took place. Participants analyzed two transcriptions of interviews conducted as part of the project titled “‘Paltry Pensions’ in the Context of the Sense of Social Justice and the Goals of Pension Policy. A Multidimensional Sociological Analysis.” This project, funded by the National Science Center, Poland (grant number 2021/41/B/HS6/04416), is currently underway at the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, under the direction of Dr. Danuta Życzyńska-Ciołek. During the seminar, the analysis of the interview content was accompanied by a discussion of methodological issues. The handling of personal data of research participants in relation to archiving audio recordings of sociological research was also addressed.

The Oral History Seminars are co-organized by the Faculty of Culture and Arts at the University of Warsaw, the Qualitative Data Archive at IFiS PAN, and the Polish Oral History Association. The initiative is under the patronage of the “Wrocławski Rocznik Historii Mówionej (Wrocław Yearbook of Oral History)”. If you would like to participate in future meetings or receive more information, please contact us: seminariumoralhistory@gmail.com.

A new dataset titled ‘Housing Tenure and Dwelling in Social Housing Associations – IDI Interviews with Residents of TBS Warszawa Północ Housing Stock’ has been published in the QDA. The dataset contains 10 transcripts of interviews conducted in the spring of 2024 in Warsaw by Ms. Klara Lewandowska as part of her bachelor’s thesis research at the University of Warsaw.

In May 2024, Dr. Michał Przeperski published the book  Dziki Wschód. Transformacja po polsku 1986-1993 [Wild East. Transformation in Polish 1986-1993] (Wydawnictwo Literackie Publishers, Cracow 2024). Among other sources, the book uses interviews from the dataset ‘Narratives of political and economic transition, 1995’ – a collection of interviews conducted by Dr. Denise V. Powers, available at QDA.

The last Oral History Seminar of the 2023/2024 academic year took place on May 22, 2024, with an introduction by Dominik Czapigo (KARTA Center). Participants analyzed two accounts recorded as part of the documentary project ‘Poles in the East,’ carried out from 2006 to 2011 by the KARTA Center and the History Meeting House, which jointly run the Oral History Archive. During the project, numerous trips were organized to seven countries (Belarus, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Latvia, Russia, Romania, and Ukraine), during which the stories of 1,075 interviewees were recorded and nearly 4,300 archival materials were scanned. These materials were then—thanks to a grant from the National Program for the Development of the Humanities—compiled and prepared for release. One of the results of the project was the publication Polacy na Wschodzie. Historie mówione [Poles in the East. Oral Histories]. More information can be found on the project website: www.polacynawschodzie.pl.

The Oral History Seminars are co-organized by the Faculty of Culture and Arts at the University of Warsaw, the Qualitative Data Archive at IFiS PAN, and the Polish Oral History Association. The initiative is under the patronage of the ‘Wrocławski Rocznik Historii Mówionej (Wrocław Yearbook of Oral History)’. If you would like to participate in future meetings or receive more information, please contact us at: seminariumoralhistory@gmail.com.

On April 24, 2024, the subsequent Oral History Seminar took place at IFiS PAN. During the meeting, Dr. Marcin Chorązki (Institute of National Remembrance, Branch in Cracow) presented an interview with a woman representing the former social class of Polish landowners. The interview was conducted in 2015 as part of research into the fate of landowners in the People’s Republic of Poland.

The Oral History Seminars are co-organized by the Faculty of Culture and Arts at the University of Warsaw, the Qualitative Data Archive at IFiS PAN, and the Polish Oral History Association. The initiative is under the patronage of the “Wrocławski Rocznik Historii Mówionej (Wrocław Yearbook of Oral History)”. If you would like to participate in future meetings or receive more information, please contact us: seminariumoralhistory@gmail.com.

On March 27, an Oral History Seminar was held at IFiS PAN. Participants analyzed an interview conducted in 2013 by Ms. Wioletta Wejman with a Jewish woman, Ms. Anna Mass, born in 1921 in Lublin. The interview is part of the “Oral History” program implemented by the “Grodzka Gate – NN Theater” Center in Lublin. This program aims to document the personal histories of Lublin residents and those from the surrounding areas.

The Oral History Seminars are co-organized by the Faculty of Culture and Arts at the University of Warsaw, the Qualitative Data Archive at IFiS PAN, and the Polish Oral History Association. The initiative is under the patronage of the “Wrocławski Rocznik Historii Mówionej” („Wrocław Yearbook of Oral History)”. If you would like to participate in future meetings or receive more information, please contact us at: seminariumoralhistory@gmail.com.