Collegium Civitas in Warsaw

Collegium Civitas is a university located in Warsaw, the capital of Poland. It was established under the auspices of five Institutes of the Polish Academy of Sciences in 1997 and has relied extensively upon the teaching and research traditions of these renowned institutions. It is open to new and rewarding inventions in higher education: interdisciplinary approaches, closer lecturer-student relations, study abroad programs, internships, and the encouragement and supervision of individual student research projects. Collegium Civitas has grown into a true 21st century university.

Collegium Civitas boasts accreditation from the National Accreditation Commission and from the University Accreditation Commission at the Conference of Rectors of Polish Universities. Collegium Civitas is formally entitled to grant MA and BA degrees in International Relations, Political Science and Sociology. Recently, it has also received the right to grant PhD degrees in Sociology. Soon we will obtain the right to run Doctorate Programs in Political Science.

Our faculty have been keen observers of, and often active participants in, the dramatic developments in Poland during the tumultuous years that led to the fall of the Iron Curtain. Collegium Civitas students study under the architects of the country’s accession to the European Union and have the opportunity to personally consult eminent figures in their country’s recent history, who encourage them to explore unorthodox and original ideas.

Collegium Civitas has attracted a number of high-ranking scholars, both Polish and international, to teach a diverse range of courses. During the last few years, we have enjoyed hosting scholars from eminent institutions such as Harvard University, New York University, the University of Tubingen, CNRS Paris, the University of Okayama, West Virginia University, Erasmus University Rotterdam, University of California Santa-Barbara, Social Science Research Centre in Berlin, Chuo University in Tokyo, European University Institute, University of Illinois at Chicago, Rutgers University, the University of Oxford, La Sapienza, and the Danish Institute for International Studies.

Our faculty include many distinguished professors: Edmund Wnuk-Lipinski, Rector of Collegium Civitas and founder of the Institute of Political Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences; Jadwiga Koralewicz,  first Rector and co-founder of Collegium Civitas, Co-founder and first President of the Polish Association of Political Studies; Henryk Domanski, Director of the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Polish Academy of Sciences; Wlodzimierz Wesolowski, long-time President of the Polish Sociological Association, just to name a few.

Our expertise goes beyond social and political theory. Collegium Civitas also recruits lecturers from among the major policy practitioners involved in Poland’s transition to democracy and to a market based economy. Its teachers have occupied important positions at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Finance and at the National Bank of Poland, and have contributed to major think-tanks, leading polling organizations and the media. We are proud that our faculty includes Jacek Saryusz-Wolski, former Vice-President of the European Parliament; Jacek Zakowski, eminent journalist and editor of Polityka magazine, and Wieslaw Johann, Constitutional Court judge.

A strong command of English has become a prerequisite to a successful career in many professions and in academia. Collegium Civitas extends a warm welcome to international students interested in studying the social and political sciences as well as native Polish students wishing to study through the medium of English. Our English language programs ensure that the language barrier is no longer a hindrance to a rewarding study experience in Central Europe. Students benefit from high quality education while gaining experience of the country in which Solidarnosc, one of the most important 20th century social movements, originated.