Report of the inauguration ceremony of the 2023/24 academic year at the College for Interdisciplinary Studies of the University of Wrocław from the 23rd of November 2023
23rd of November 2023 was the day of the festive matriculation and inauguration of the academic year at the College for Interdisciplinary Studies of the University of Wrocław. The ceremony took place in the Aula Leopoldina, with music performed by Gaudeamus igitur. 28 students were matriculated at the College. The ceremony was hosted by prof. dr hab. Piotr P. Chruszczewski, the Head of the College for Interdisciplinary Studies of the University of Wrocław. The inaugural lecture was given by the Vice-Rector, prof. dr hab. Stefan Kiedroń.
The ceremony included the guest of honor – editor Jacek Hugo-Bader, who gave an inaugural interview about his own translation of the reality from the road. Special guests were students of the College for Interdisciplinary Studies, students of high schools in Wrocław, Żary, Góra and Lubin (among others), parents, teachers, tutors, and friends of the College for Interdisciplinary Studies of the University of Wrocław.
After a warm welcome, the professor and the reporter started their interview about:
– the origin of reporter’s fondness for the East
– what was it like to be the first Polish reporter who interviewed Kalashnikov
– the path which led him to write about the Tuva shamans
– the tools crucial for the reporter’s topic preparations
– the intensity of meetings, communication, and sincerity in human contact
– the delight of reporting
[…]
To begin with:
Remember! Do not let yourselves be hidden behind the table when talking with other people. A reporter needs to make contact with their hero. Do not isolate yourselves. Always try not to sit higher than your hero. It is the most important thing for a reporter to take responsibility for the well-being of their hero. It is the hero who must feel comfortable, not you.
Jacek Hugo-Bader about being a “specialist on Russia”
The East is my favorite topic. It is a bit like Stasiuk – I like to turn left when leaving my house. I have the East on my left arm. I just feel drawn towards it. It probably is both a coincidence and my fondness for it. […] I do come from the East … well, my ancestors do, not me personally. Being in Russia for the second time, I felt as if I were the right man, in the right place, at the right time. I sat down in the Moscow centre, thinking, “this is where I belong” … I did not “think” that, I felt that I AM HERE. And this is how it began. […] I do not really feel like a specialist in Russia, because Russia is constantly changing, constantly amazing me.
Boldness with Kalashnikov
I was given the proposition of writing a text about the rifle. Or so I thought! In the meantime I had discovered that its inventor is alive. I proudly told my colleagues that he is alive! And they said, “okay, that is great, Jacek! Sensational! – go and talk to him!” […] That is how I first went to Russia. […] My text about Kalashnikov is not a piece that I am proud of. I achieved great success, everyone praised me, many gave me a pat on the back, I even received some award … This text is not great, but it is nobly bold. It was written by a young, bold reporter. Reaching Kalashnikov requires some boldness, which is here. It is about my attempts to reach him. Moreover, it is a story about this country.
I guess I have this kind of gift which makes me able to open people up. Which I think is a very valuable gift for reporters.
Fortune needs to be earned by a reporter. A reporter is not going to succeed without it.
About the search for the path which led him to the Tuvan shamans
One day I thought that I need to write a book about shamanism. And it took me twelve years to even start it. I was afraid of this topic for twelve years. Why? For different reasons. Most of the time, a reporter is scared (at least a reporter of my kind) that he is not going to handle the topic. My brain would need to be constructed in a different way. To write about it, you would need to be a Buddhist or a shamanist. […] When you ask about the shaman’s address in a shaman country, you will hear, “if your path towards him is unblocked, then obviously, you will find him.” Just go and find him. It is a shaman’s way of perceiving the world. If some door is closed for you, then just find and open another door. […] Every shaman agreed to talk with me, except one. One refused, and I even know the reason … . I needed half a month to learn how to travel around shaman regions.
When I talk with my heroes, I do not deceive them.
About the tools needed for difficult conversations
When I talk with my heroes, I do not deceive them. Even people who by definition should be despised […] I try to understand them and their life path. Someone, who has never done anything good, tells me his life story. How can you do something so vile, and yet live with yourself (?) And so I asked them about it. […] Once, I wrote a text about people sentenced to life imprisonment. I visited some prisons and […] tried to understand how to live with something that is never going to end […] I wanted to write about this finality. To enter a cell of a prisoner, I needed to find some good feeling inside me to even start talking with a monster […]. In some cases I would simply resort to this feeling called mercy.
Why am I telling you this (?) In fact, for no reason.
I am telling you about the delight of reporting, and about embarking on a journey without going far at all.
Editor Jacek Hugo-Bader was interviewed by prof. Piotr Chruszczewski of the University of Wrocław.
Photographed by Paweł Piotrowski of the University of Wrocław.
Among the special guests were students of the College for Interdisciplinary Studies, students of high schools in Wrocław, Żary, Góra, and Lubin, teachers, lecturers, tutors, and friends of the College for Interdisciplinary Studies.
The University can be proud of one remarkable thing – and that is what Jacek Hugo-Bader talked about, although not in the academic sense. It is freedom. Freedom of perceiving in the very own and personal way (prof. dr hab. Stefan Kiedroń).
Editor Jacek Hugo-Bader’s text entitled “Shamanic Pyres” („Szamańskie stosy”) will be published in the lastest issue of the Æ Academic Publishing in the BEYOND LANGUAGE series entitled Między tekstem a kulturą. Z zagadnień interpretacyjnych. The text will be published during this year’s Good Books Fair in Wrocław.
All clever students are invited join the College for Interdisciplinary Studies.
Created by: dr Monika Piechota
Translated by Mateusz Czerwiński (student of English Studies at the University of Wrocław) as part of the translation practice.
