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Program Dates: May 17 - May 28, 2027

Application Deadline: January 28, 2027

Withdrawal/Commitment Deadline: February 4, 2027

​​​​​​​Program Fee Payment Deadline: The program fee will be billed to your Kent State student account. The program fee deadline aligns with the Financial, Billing and Enrollment Center's summer due dates. You should refer to the first Summer 2027 due date.

• Minimum 2.0 GPA
• Must be 18 years of age or older by the start of the program abroad

Course Information

Course Name: Poland: Nationalism, Identity, and the Politics of Democracy

Number of Credit Hours: 3

KSU Sponsoring College: College of Sciences and Humanities

Course Description:

The overarching goal of this faculty-led study abroad course is to expose students to Poland’s contemporary struggle with the erosion of democracy in the context of global democratic backsliding. Central to this struggle are enduring tensions around nationalism and identity—who belongs to the national community, how belonging is defined, and how those definitions shift in response to war, economic disruption, globalization, and immigration.

Poland offers a rich case study given its long history of foreign domination, internal division, and contested sovereignty, including its disappearance as a state for over a century, occupation during World War II, and subordination during the Cold War. These experiences have profoundly shaped debates over Polish identity, religious diversity, and historical memory, especially regarding anti-Semitism and the Holocaust, which continue to reverberate in contemporary political controversies over speech, education, and memorialization. 

Since the democratic transition of the late 1980s, sparked by the Solidarity movement, Poland has struggled to define the character of its democracy amid social change, immigration, religious influence, judicial restructuring, and external pressure from Russia, leading to sharp political polarization between conservative and liberal camps. By studying Poland’s democratic challenges across the Twentieth Century to the present, students are encouraged to critically examine democracy and democratic stability from a comparative perspective, better equipping them to reflect on similar issues at home and elsewhere.

Program Language of Instruction: English

Faculty Contact Information

Name: Dr. Patrick R. Miller

Title: Professor

Email: pmille62@kent.edu 

Below is a tentative itinerary; however, the exact sequence and sites are subject to changes in availability and cost.

Day 1: May 17, 2027 - Travel day

• Depart from CLE to Warsaw

Day 2: May 18, 2027

• Morning: Arrive in Warsaw. Airport transfer to hotel, breakfast included everyday at the hotel.
• Afternoon: Walking City Tour (Lazienki Krolewskie to Stare Miasto)
• Evening: Welcome Dinner

Day 3: May 19, 2027

• Morning: Breakfast, then head to the Warsaw Uprising Museum for a guided tour.
• Afternoon: Students will head to the Palace of Culture and Science, a high-rise building in Warsaw containing several cultural institutions within it. Students will explore the building as well as go to the top for an awesome view of the city.

Day 4: May 20. 2027

• Morning: Breakfast, then Business visit.
• Afternoon: POLIN Museum of The History of Polish Jews guided tour.

Day 5: May 21, 2027

• Morning: Breakfast, then catching Intra Train from Warsaw to Gdansk.
• Afternoon: Walking City Tour of Gdansk.
• Evening: Group Dinner

Day 6: May 22, 2027

• Morning: Breakfast, then head to the Museum of the Second World War.
• Afternoon: Solidarity Museum.

Day 7: May 23, 2027

• Morning: Breakfast, then catch the Intra Train from Gdansk to Krakow.
• Afternoon: Walking City tour in Krakow, including Rynek Glowny and City walls

Day 8: May 24, 2027

• Morning: Breakfast; Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp Guided Private Tour.

Day 9: May 25, 2027

• Morning: Breakfast, then Nowa Huta Visit & Nowa Huta Steelworks Historic Tour.
• Afternoon: Lunch, Wawel Castle.

Day 10: May 26, 2027

• Morning: Breakfast, then Business visit
• Afternoon: Ukrainian traces walking tour
• Evening: Walking tour of Kazimierz District

Day 11: May 27, 2027

• Morning: Breakfast, then visit to Schindler Factory.
• Afternoon: Wieliczka Salt Mine.
• Evening: Farewell Dinner.

Day 12: May 28, 2027

• Breakfast, then airport transfer.
• Fly back to CLE from Krakow.

Warsaw, Gdansk, and Krakow, Poland

Poland is a vibrant country in central Europe, rich in culture and history. Its capital is Warsaw, and three major cities are Warsaw, Gdansk, and Krakow, where the majority of the 37 million inhabitants live in. The official language of the country is Polish, and the currency used is the Polish zloty. Warsaw, the capital, is a bustling modern city, which has the reconstructed Old Town, the incredible high-rise Palace of Culture and Science, and historic sites and museums which tell the history of the country. Gdansk, situated on the Baltic coast, is a famous maritime city known for its colorful architecture, the massive St. Mary's Church, and the historic Shipyard. Krakow, the cultural capital of Poland, is packed with historic sites and museums, like the incredible Wawel Castle, and the huge towers of St. Mary's Basilica, it also features the more modern and formally-industrial district of Nowa Huta.

Transportation

A roundtrip group flight is included in the program fee. Program-related travel is included in the program fee. 

Independent activities and travel are at the expense of the individual student.

Accomodation

All accommodation are included in the program fee. For this program, students will be staying in hotels. 

Meals

Breakfast is included daily at the hotel, and some lunch and dinners are also included. See itinerary tab for exact days when meals are included. You will need to budget for all other meals.