From July 13 to August 11, a doctoral student at the Doctoral School in the discipline of history, Alicja Szumowiecka, M.A., participated in the Summer School of Slavic Studies (LSSS) under a scholarship funded by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic. The trip was made possible by a bilateral agreement with the National Agency for Academic Exchange.
The intensive lecture course organized by Palacký University made it possible to improve language skills. The Olomouc university also provided students with a rich program of optional activities. Among them were lectures on topics related to Czech history and culture, as well as theater, dance and choral workshops. All of them were interesting, but the doctoral student has particularly fond memories of the folk dance classes, during which she learned, among other things, the polka, the czardas and the waltz. The several-day workshop ended with a dance evening with live folk music. The band, to whose music the participants enjoyed themselves, was unique, as in addition to violinists and a double bass player, the lineup also included an accomplished dulcimer player. Two dance competitions took place during the party: for student-student and student-faculty pairs, in which a doctoral student took part and won 2nd and 3rd place.
It is also worth mentioning Olomouc itself, which boasts numerous Baroque (but not only) monuments. The university provided those willing to expand their knowledge on the subject by organizing various guided walks. In addition, the LSSS allowed participants to learn about other interesting places in Moravia.
On the first Saturday of the Summer School there was a trip to the Renaissance pearl of the region, located right on the border with Austria - Mikulov. During the second trip, they went to the Czech-Polish borderland - to the Vítkovice steelworks near Ostrava. The goal of the last joint trip of the LSSS participants was the Macocha cave, which is part of the so-called Moravian Karst.
The course ended with the awarding of diplomas, preceded by the passing of an exam. The ceremony took place in the Auditorium of the Faculty of Philosophy of the University, which celebrated its 450th anniversary last year.
