PhD in Language and literature studies

Language and Literature Studies, offered as the Oriental Studies – Language and Culture doctoral programme, is a PhD taught in English at the University of Warsaw in Warszawa, Poland, with yearly tuition of 16,000 PLN. The programme is directed by Prof. Joanna Jurewicz of the Faculty of Oriental Studies and sits within the discipline of humanities, covering literary studies and linguistics. Students choose a specialty from a wide range of options: African Studies, Arabic Studies, Hebrew Studies, Indology, Iranian Studies, Japanese Studies, Korean Studies, the Culture of the Ancient East through Hittitology, Mongolian and Tibetan Studies, Sinology, Turkish Studies, or East-European Studies. The four-year doctoral programme offers what the Faculty describes as an opportunity in Europe to gain in-depth knowledge of the Orient, while also developing skills in using cognitive linguistics tools to examine aspects of culture and cross-linguistic, intercultural communication. The programme encourages respect for linguistic and cultural variation and prepares students to become experts on a selected Oriental or African culture, attentive to the challenges and opportunities of cross-cultural communication. Students engage with recent developments in both oriental studies and cognitive linguistics, alongside further training in research methods. Doctoral study in Oriental languages and cultures of this kind typically combines advanced language training with original research leading to a dissertation, preparing graduates for academic careers in area studies, translation and interpretation at an expert level, diplomatic and cultural institutions, or research roles requiring deep regional and linguistic expertise. The breadth of specialties on offer allows candidates to focus on a specific language and culture while situating their research within broader questions of cognitive linguistics and intercultural communication.