Oriental Studies – Mongolian and Tibetan Studies

Full-time undergraduate studies in Polish and graduate studies in English.

The program in Oriental Studies – Mongolian and Tibetan Studies is highly interdisciplinary, although the leading discipline is cultural and religious studies. This unique educational program is offered exclusively at the Faculty of Oriental Studies at the University of Warsaw, which boasts more than 90 years of experience in teaching about Oriental/African cultures and languages, including Mongolian and Tibetan. This experience is evidenced by the creation of the unique program in Oriental Studies – Mongolian and Tibetan Studies. The curriculum is based on years of experience and practice in teaching and researching issues related to the Central Asian region, with a particular focus on Mongolia and Tibet. The lecturers are specialists, in most cases the only ones in Poland, in matters related to this geographical and cultural area, conducting advanced research supported by numerous publications in both Polish and foreign publishing houses. Language classes are conducted by native speakers. Additionally, to enhance their qualifications and language skills, students have the opportunity to apply for a language or scientific internship in Mongolia.

The intended learning outcomes have a dual nature: they guarantee the acquisition of extensive knowledge in various aspects of Mongolian and Tibetan culture and the ability to use the Mongolian and Tibetan languages. The studies provide broad knowledge in literature, history, philosophy, religion, and the art of the cultural world of Mongolia and Tibet and ensure the acquisition of advanced language skills and competencies through intensive learning of the Mongolian and Tibetan languages.

The comprehensive education provided by the program in Oriental Studies – Mongolian and Tibetan Studies, which also encompasses broadly understood humanities, allows for future interdisciplinary research and understanding the roots of contemporary world issues and attempts to find solutions to them. It provides students with a wide horizon necessary for understanding today’s problems and conflicts arising from civilizational differences. The program also enables the training of new personnel in the field of cultural and religious studies and other scientific disciplines. Implementing the program in Oriental Studies – Mongolian and Tibetan Studies allows for achieving cognitive synergy and shaping a new trend of thinking and social awareness, comprising the much-needed understanding, openness, and tolerance towards others, and recognizing the value of one’s own culture and ethical attitudes stemming from the European, Mongolian, and Tibetan circles.

The acquired knowledge will allow graduates of the Oriental Studies – Mongolian and Tibetan Studies program to navigate the general issues concerning the theory and practice of Mongolian and Tibetan culture. Graduates will understand the diversity of cultures and civilizations, enabling them to participate in the process of intercultural communication and cooperation. They will have a foundation for theoretical reflection on Mongolian, Tibetan, and Central Asian cultures. Graduates will be able to analyze fundamental phenomena related to Mongolian and Tibetan culture, using sound language preparation and methodological preparation in cultural and religious studies, linguistics, philosophy, history, literary studies, and art studies as tools for analysis.

Graduates will be ready to work in cultural promotion institutions, media, editorial offices, and public administration. The increasingly intensive economic contacts with the world of Mongolian and Tibetan culture create a demand in the job market for experts familiar with the language and cultural-social realities of the countries in this region. Moreover, graduates will be prepared to pursue graduate studies.

The staff of the Mongolian and Tibetan Studies Programme continues the tradition of Altaic Studies commenced in Tsarist Russia by Józef Kowalewski (1801-1878). Outstanding scholars in this field included Władysław Kotwicz (1872-1944), Marian Lewicki (1908-1955), and Stanisław Kałużyński (1925-2007). Mongolian studies were added to the curriculum of the University of Warsaw in 1950 by the Chair of Inner Asian Peoples, with Prof. Marian Lewicki as their first director. Prof. Lewicki was succeeded by Prof. Stanisław Kałużyński, who remained in this post until 1985. After structural changes in 1996, Mongolian studies were merged with Turkish studies in the Department of Turkic Studies and Inner Asian Peoples. Until 2003, the Department head was Prof. Stanisław Gadziński. With time, Tibetan studies were added to the curriculum.

In 2008/2009, the study programme was divided into a three-year first-cycle course and a two-year second-cycle course. Subjects include the history of Inner Asia, with special focus on Mongolia and Tibet, languages used in the past and at present (Mongolian, Tibetan, and Manchu), and the region’s culture, its religions, literature, and art. Mongolian and Tibetan are taught by native speakers.

The staff of the Mongolian and Tibetan Studies Programme play an active role in scholarly life in Poland and abroad, organizing conferences, seminars, lectures, and collaborating on common projects. Bilateral agreements with universities outside Poland, some of them within the Erasmus scheme, guarantee student exchange and teaching staff mobility in Europe, Asia, and United States.

Mongolists and Tibetologists of the Department of Turkic Studies and Inner Asian Peoples conduct research in the following fields:

• Languages and cultures of Altaic peoples
• Mongolian Buddhist cultural heritage
• Revival of Buddhism in Mongolia after 1990
• The archives of Prof. W. Kotwicz in the Archive of Science of the Polish Academy of Sciences and the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences in Krakow
• Modern Mongolia: language, society, and culture

History and culture of Tibet

• Tibeto-Mongolian relations
• Tibetan and Mongolian text collections in Poland

More detailed information about the study program and the major can be found on the website: www.siap.uw.edu.pl