Welcome to The Ohio State Summer School in Social Sciences in Warsaw Website

This is the website for The Ohio State Summer School in Social Sciences in Warsaw.

The Summer School is part of Cross-National Studies: Interdisciplinary Research and Training Program (CONSIRT), a collaboration between The Ohio State University and the Polish Academy of Sciences, and is co-organized by the University of Warsaw.

OSU Office of International Affairs’ description of the Summer School is here.

Former First Lady Michelle Obama on the value of study abroad:

“Studying abroad isn’t just a fun way to spend a semester; it is quickly becoming the key to success in our global economy. Because getting ahead in today’s workplaces isn’t just about getting good grades or test scores in school, which are important. It’s also about having real experience with the world beyond your borders — experience with languages, cultures and societies very different from your own.”

Publications of OSU Summer School Students

Every year since 2008, OSU Summer School in Social Sciences write a research paper based on analyses of the Polish Panel Survey 1988 – 2013 as part of their course work. Many of our students have presented these papers at OSU’s Undergraduate Research Forum/Festival held in Fall and at OSU’s Denman Undergraduate Research Forum in Spring.

Some have published their research in journals or book chapters:

“The Global Economic Crisis, Economic Distress, and Mental Health in Poland” by Taylor Cathcart, forthcoming in the 2018 issue of JUROS: Journal of Undergraduate Research at Ohio State

“Justice for All? Economic Disadvantage and Trust in Poland’s Judicial System” by Lauren Sayers, 2017 in JUROS: Journal of Undergraduate Research at Ohio State

“Is the Church a Source of Social Capital? Religiosity and the Size and Quality of Personal Networks,”  by Oyindamola Bola, 2016 in Social Inequality and the Life Course: Poland’s Transformative Years 1988–2013 (IFiS Publishers)

“Lean In in Poland: Psychological Determinants of Women’s Labor Market Success” by Polina Zvavitch, 2014 in JUROS: Journal of Undergraduate Research at Ohio State

“Effects of Marital Status on Material Conditions” by Megan Hicks, 2011 in JUROS: Journal of Undergraduate Research at Ohio State

 

 

Jokes

After years of saving up, a Soviet man finally has enough to buy a car. He goes to the appropriate ministry and informs them that he would like to purchase a vehicle.

“There are currently shortages, it will be three years before your car is available,” the minister informs the man. “We will have it sent to your house when it’s ready.”

“Three years,” he responds. “What month?”

“August,” says the minister.

“August? What day in August?” Asks the man.

“The Second of August,” says the minister.

“Morning or Afternoon?” Asks the man.

“Why do you need to know?” Asks the minister, getting exasperated.

“The plumber is coming in the morning,” the man responds.

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It is the Soviet time and a man is distributing leaflets in Red Square. He is stopped by a policeman, who confiscates them, only to discover that they are blank.

“What are you spreading? They are blank. Nothing is written!” the policeman exclaims.

“Why write?” the man replies. “Everybody knows!”

See, amazingly, The European Journal of Humour Research. Really, no joke: https://europeanjournalofhumour.org/

Undergraduate Research at OSU

Students in our Summer School conduct independent research. In addition to our training, The Ohio State University has various resources for supporting undergraduate research. First is their new office, Office of Undergraduate Research & Creative Inquiry, who

strives to nurture and support mentored research pursuits of all undergraduate students to proactively transform and enrich their academic experience by providing inclusive and innovative research engagement opportunities and fostering collaborative partnerships in the world beyond the classroom.

Check our their website for their services. Also check out OSU’s Research Commons, and the Journal of Undergraduate Research at Ohio State, JUROS, where some of our students have published their Summer School research.

A resource outside of OSU is the Council of Undergraduate Research. They have a small and limited range of services and resources for undergraduates, but their main job is to advise universities on how to set up undergraduate research programs. Its good to know that such an organization is out there on behalf of undergraduate students.

Making an Impact with Your Career

Many students want a career that can make a lasting, positive impact on their community and the world around them. But, choosing this career is difficult. How to decide?

Here is an excellent and free website that will help you decide: 80,000 Hours

You have 80,000 hours in your career. Make the right career choices, and you can help solve the world’s most pressing problems, as well as have a more rewarding, interesting life.

We’re here to give you the information you need to find that fulfilling, high-impact career. Our advice is all free, tailored for talented graduates, and based on five years of research alongside academics at Oxford.

Read their website, use their Decision Tool, and explore your world.

Our Summer School provides some of the skills that are the foundation for making a positive impact on society: social science methodology, quantitative analysis, and managing your own independent research project.

Do Something Great.

Warsaw Summer School Student’s Research Published in Journal

Congratulations to Polina Zvavitch, an OSU senior and an alumni of The Ohio State Summer School in Social Sciences (2014), who has published her Summer School research project in The Journal of Undergraduate Research at Ohio State (JUROS)!

You can read her article, Lean In in Poland: Psychological Determinants of Women’s Labor Market Success in JUROS online.

Many of Our Summer School Students Win Awards

Congratulations to our undergraduate students for their great achievement of obtaining grants for research and study abroad in relation to the OSU Warsaw Summer School. Through CONSIRT, we work with students in guiding them with the grant application process. See here for a list of funding opportunities.

2014

In 2014, undergraduate students have collectively won over $25,000 in study abroad and research awards to attend the Warsaw Summer School.

The full list:

OSU URO Research Fellowship ($ 3,500/grantee)

Polina Zvavitch, Sociology

Brianne Zachmann, Sociology

OSU URO Undergraduate Education Summer Research Fellowship ($ 3,500/grantee)

David Rabinovich, Major: Biochemistry, Minors: Health and Society; French

Ohio State University President Gordon Gee Visits Summer School in Social Sciences

On Sunday, June 21, 2009, the President of The Ohio State University, E. Gordon Gee, visited the OSU Summer School in Social Sciences in Warsaw, Poland.  President Gee spent the evening with the Summer School students and Professors Maciek Slomczynski and Irina Tomescu-Dubrow, the teachers and administrators of the School, at a restaurant in Old Town.  On the following Monday, President Gee hosted a dinner for alumni and friends of OSU in Poland.  President Gee used the occasion to praise our Summer School as a unique OSU Study Abroad program that will establish a standard for other programs at OSU.

This year, the Summer School also welcomed a visit by J. Craig Jenkins, the Chair of the Department of Sociology at The Ohio State University.  Professor Jenkins met with the students and delivered a talk at the Polish Academy of Sciences on the politics of dissent and repression in cross-national perspective. 

Professor Henryk Domanski, Director of the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology at the Polish Academy of Sciences, delivered a guest lecture on the dynamics of social inequality in Western and Eastern Europe. 

Please see the syllabus for details.