The time has come to ring out the old year. For PIASA, as well as for the rest of the world, 2022 was a year of transition into a future of “living with COVID.” This was no more apparent than in our summer hybrid conference in Białystok, which we convened after a two-year hiatus in PIASA’s annual meetings. COVID testing requirements for travelers returning to the United States limited in-person participation as did uncertainties related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, itself immediately preceded by a crisis on Poland’s border with Belarus. Yet in-person outnumbered virtual participants in Białystok, a reflection of the desire of PIASA’s members and friends to engage each other intellectually and socially in a physical space. Thus encouraged, we are holding our first, entirely in-person conference since the outbreak of the pandemic in June 2023 at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain in conjunction with the upcoming 50th anniversary of its Polish Studies program.
Meanwhile, webinars have become and will remain part of PIASA’s activities, which we promote along with other events on a website that was completely revamped in 2022. This year’s webinars on themes ranging from identity in Gdańsk, the politics of history and the war in Ukraine, and designer nuclei were all well received. Particularly during the second half of the year, we began to hold important in-person events in our Manhattan townhouse, including a social hour for Polish Fulbright and other scholars and an 80th anniversary celebration of PIASA’s founding. That event was accompanied by the publication of a beautifully produced commemorative album which documents and illustrates PIASA’s rich history. Unfortunately two individuals associated with that history passed away in 2022, the historian and educator Halina Osysko, and the former long-serving editor-in-chief of The Polish Review, Joseph Wieczerzak.
As we ring in the New Year, we do so with optimism for a continuation of our organization’s momentum, the steady increase in its membership, and the growing international reputation of its journal. May it be one of peace, good health, and accomplishment for all of you!
― Robert Blobaum, PIASA President
