Professors
Our professors are dedicated to advancing the field of Polish studies through research, teaching, and community engagement. Explore their profiles to learn more about their expertise and contributions.
Dr. Tamara Trojanowska
Associate Professor; Vice-Dean, Faculty & Academic Life
Department of Slavic & East European Languages & Cultures
Biography
A graduate of the Drama Centre at the University of Toronto (PhD) and of Theatre Studies at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków (MA), Tamara Trojanowska has also formerly held an Oxford University scholarship and an internship at the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm. She has taught at universities in Poland, Canada, and the United States, returning to University of Toronto as a faculty member in 1998. Since then, she has directed the Polish Language and Literature Program at the Slavic Department, strengthening in strides its profile and presence in North America , as well as the University College Drama Program (2008-2012). In 2012, together with Stephen Johnson, then director of the Graduate Drama Centre, she integrated the two units to form the Center for Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies, with which she was cross appointed and served as its Director (2017-2021) There, she co-founded the BMO Lab in Creative Research in the Arts, Performance, Emerging Technologies and AI in 2019. She now serves as Vice Dean Faculty and Academic Life in the Faculty of Arts and Science.Drugie (Kraków).
Education
- PhD, University of Toronto, 1994
- PhD, research, Oxford University, England, 1986-87
- MA, Jagiellonian University, 1983
Dr. Magdalena Cabaj
Assistant Professor Teaching Stream of Polish Language, Literature, and Culture
Department of Slavic & East European Languages & Cultures
Biography
Magdalena Cabaj is a leader of the Polish Program at the University of Toronto. She completed her joint PhD in Philosophy at École Normale Supérieure — Paris Sciences & Lettres, and in Literature at the University of Warsaw. Before joining the University of Toronto, Magdalena was a Kościuszko Foundation Fellow at the Department of Slavic and East European Languages and Cultures at Indiana University in Bloomington, and a researcher at the University of Warsaw. Her areas of interest include Polish studies from a comparative perspective, teaching Polish in a broad cultural context, and relationships between contemporary philosophy and art.
Education
- PhD, École Normale Supérieure – Paris Sciences & Lettres, 2020 - Philosophy
- PhD, University of Warsaw, 2020 - Literature
- MA, University of Warsaw, 2015 - Philosophy
- BA/MA, University of Warsaw joint MA with Sorbonne University, 2011 - Polish Studies
Teaching Experience
- SLA106 - Polish for Beginners I
- SLA216 - Introduction to Polish Culture
- SLA226 - Film and Ethics: Polish Cinema
- SLA266 - War & Culture
- SLA206 - Intermediate Polish I
- SLA346 – Communism & Culture
- SLA356 - What's New? Polish Culture Today
- SLA426 - Polish for the 21st Century
- SLA427 - Polish Culture for the Curious