Dr Elwira Grossman
- Lecturer in Polish and Comparative Literature (School of Modern Languages & Cultures)
telephone:
01413305589
email:
Elwira.Grossman@glasgow.ac.uk
R321A Level 3, School of Modern Languages and Cultures, Hetherington Bldg, Bute Gardens, Glasgow, G12 8RS
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9202-3469Research interests
Research interests:
Elwira Grossman has been Stepek Lecturer in Polish Studies at Glasgow University since October 1994. In 2004 she also became Comparative Literature Programme Director. Since then, she has been proudly convening the programme which has twice scored 100 per cent of students’ satisfaction on the NSS (National Student Survey).
Her current research activity focuses on migration studies as seen through the lens of creative arts/theatre with the focus on language and gender roles in multicultural communities of the United Kingdom. The questions that frame her research deal with the phenomenon of transnational art which escapes an easy definition in terms of nationality, linguistic belonging or a mono-cultural practice. What frame of cultural reference should we apply when reading a mobile/travelling wor(l)d? What/who shapes the set of assessment criteria for artistic products of transcultural idioms? What happens if we resist the tradition of artistic assessment in favour of social and cultural impact? If, instead, we concentrate on their role played in multicultural communication and dialogue? With these questions in mind Elwira Grossman has joined the project Researching Multilingually at the Borders of Language, the Body, Law and the State http://researching-multilingually-at-borders.com/ in a capacity of critical friend and has recently participated in two symposia. The first was held in Durham (October 2014) and the second in Brussels (June 2015).
Other previous research projects and activities include:
- ongoing work on transcultural literature and drama ‘written outside the nation’. This includes articles in Displaced Women (2014) and Polish Literature in Transformation (2013)
- involvement in the AHRC-funded knowledge exchange project ‘Translating Russian and East European Cultures’. This is linked to ongoing work on storytelling as a means of ‘knowledge exchange’ and public engagement, and engagement in debates about the role of languages in exchanging knowledge, development of intercultural dialogue, representation and accountability of the ‘public’ university.
Elwira Grossman’s other areas of research include:
- Teaching Polish as a foreign language
- Polish literature and culture
- Memory studies with special focus on Polish/Jewish relationships and literature regarding Shoah
- Gender studies in comparative perspective
- Storytelling as a form of transgressing cultural boundaries
- Role of language in multilingual and multicultural forms of artistic expressions
- Translation theory and practice
- Critical theory
Grants
Grants:
- Glasgow University grant for developing online teaching (2015-2016)
In collaboration with the College of Education and colleagues from the University network GRAMnet (Glasgow Refugee Asylum and Migration Network) Elwira Grossman has undertaken a task of creating a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) under the working title: Multilingual Learning and Teaching: Intercultural Language Education for the Globalized World
- GU Arts Lab small grant for facilitating impact (2015)
In collaboration with Shona Hugh (Education Scotland) and Iza Rudzka. This is to design a Polish Language Unit for Scottish Schools.
- AHRC grant (2014-2017, AHRC Grant Ref: AH/L006936/1)
Critical friend on the Advisory Board for ‘Researching Mulitlingually at the Borders of Language, the Body, Law and the State’ (PI: Professor Alison Phipps, College of Education, GU)
- AHRC Network Initiative (2011-13, AH/I001557/1)
'Translating Russian and East European Cultures' (PIs: Dr Jon Oldfield and Dr Katarzyna Kosmala, University of West Scotland)
- Small Grant/CRCEES co-funding (University of Glasgow, 2013)
Two-Day Workshop on Polish-English Translation: Strategies and Practical Approaches including John Bates, Dorota Holowiak, Piotr Kuhiwczak, Antonia Lloyd-Jones. (co-organised with CEES, Central and East European Studies, College of Social Science UG with support from AHRC and British Academy)
- Connecting Communities AHRC-funded grant with UCL-London (2011-2012)
Two PG workshops and Summer 2012 School co-organised with Dr Dorota Holowiak from UCL-London in order to produce on-line resources for PG students studying Polish for research purposes.
Supervision
Supervision:
Elwira Grossman welcomes enquiries from potential PhD applicants in any of her main areas of research. She also supervises undergraduate and postgraduate SMLC dissertations (MLitt in Comparative Literature, MLitt in European Languages and Cultures, MSc Translation Studies).
Successful PhD completion
- Paul Vickers, ‘Peasants, Professors, Publishers and Censorship: Memoires of Rural Inhabitants of Poland’s Recovered Territories (1945-c.1970)’. Co-supervised with Dr John Bates, SMLC (2013)
Current Research Students
- Magdalena Kampert, ‘Self-translation in Italian and Polish Literature in Twentieth and Twenty First Century.’ Co-supervised with Dr Penelope Morris SMLC (2014-)
Teaching
Teaching:
Current Undergraduate Teaching
- Comparative Literature 1B (Heroic Women): Interrogation (film dir. by Bugajski)
- Comparative Literature 1C: The Faithful River by Zeromski and ‘Miss Antonina’ by Orzeszkowa
- Comparative Literature 2A: Antigone in New York by Glowacki
- Comparative Literature 2C: Knife in the Water (film dir. by Polanski)
- Beginners’ Polish, Subsidiary Polish, Polish for Social Scientists
Honours Teaching
- Holocaust Literature and Film: Borowski’s short stories; Nalkowska’s Medallions; selected poetry by Rozewicz, Milosz and Szymborska, The Pianist dir by Polanski, As Seen through Theses Eyes dir by Hillary Helstein
- Slavonic Drama: Kofta’s The Umbilical Cord, Zapolska’s The Morality of Mrs Dulska , Witkacy’s The Crazy Locomotive
- Intercultural Readings: Hoffman’s Lost in Translation, Nabokov’s Lolita and Reading Lolita in Tehran by Nafizi, bloc on translation studies
- Theories of Reading: Russian Formalism and reading Gogol’s ‘The Overcoat’
- Writing Subjects: Wirtemberska’s Malvina, or the Heart’s Intuition
Current Postgraduate Teaching
- MLitt in Comparative Literature: two sessions on transcultural fiction (2014--present)
- MSc Translation Studies: ATLS English-Polish (2014-present)
- MLitt Gender, Culture and Text (HIST5107): one session on Reading Cultures: ‘East-West’ Exchanges (2013-present)
- PG option course Reading the New Europe, six sessions covering various readings from Rupnik, Jude, Bauman, Thomson, Filipowicz, Porter and others (2012 –present)
Other Roles
- Convener of the following Comparative Literature modules: Heroic Women (COMPLIT1002), Heroism in Slavonic Cultures (COMPLIT1011), Crossing Borders (COMPLIT2001)
- Convenor of the following UG Honours modules: Holocaust Literature and Film (SLAV4041); Slavonic Drama (SLAV4007); Writing Subjects (COMPLIT4015)
- Convener of beginners’ Polish: POLISH1001, POLISH4007, POLISH5005
- Convener of the PG module Reading the New Europe (offered as an option course for various PGT programmes)
Additional information
Additional information:
Institutional Affiliations
- Member of GRAMNet (Glasgow Refugee Asylum and Migration Network) Advisory Board (2010 –present)
- Member of CRCEES
Professional Memberships
- Member of ATSEEL
- Member of British Association for Slavonic & East European Studies
- Member of British Comparative Literature Association
- Member of the Board of Directors for BEMIS Scotland (2012 – present)
Additional information
- Interviewed by Dziennik Polski in London within the campaign ‘Save Polish A-Levels’ http://www.dziennikpolski.co.uk/artykuly/2015/05/04/budowac-mosty-gdzie-sie-wznosi-mury/
- Awarded Gold Cross of Merit (August 2013) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross_of_Merit_(Poland)
- Member of Cross-Party Group on Poland at Holyrood and PEC (Polish Education Committee)
- Regular contributor to the GRAMNet research workshops and Film Series
- Interviewed on BBC Radio channel 4 on gender (in)equality in Poland (‘Women’s Hour’ 22 April, 2011)
- Referee of journal articles for: Slavic Review, Europe-Asia Studies, Canadian Slavic Papers, SEEJ, Didaskalia (Warsaw –based theatre quarterly)
