Padraic Kenney, Director

Padraic Kenney has been Director of Polish Studies since 2010; he was also interim director in 2008-09. He is a historian of contemporary Poland, and the author or editor of seven books, including Rebuilding Poland: Workers and Communists 1945-1950; A Carnival of Revolution: Central Europe, 1989 (also published in Polish: Rewolucyjny karnawał. Europa Środkowa 1989r.); and Wrocławskie zadymy. When he is not in Bloomington, you are likely to find him in his adopted home town, Wrocław.

Michael Young, Graduate Assistant

Michael Young is a PhD Candidate in the IU Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology who studies national identity, music, and dance in Central and Eastern Europe. He recently returned from a year of fieldwork research in Poland for his dissertation project, On the City Life of Polish Village Culture, which explores the contested visions and performances of Polish culture and identity as represented by various urban music and dance collectives.