A set of competitions, plagiarism, professors from systems who mercilessly “plow” doctoral students, and finally the terrible results of Polish universities in the world rankings – these are taboo topics that Joseph Wiechurek addressed in his book “Leprosy in the Palace of Sciences”. As he confirms, All of them are connected with the fact that Polish universities are ruled by communist regimes.
Where did the title “Leprosy in the Palace of Science” come from? These words were said when the author, a geologist, was awarded the Presidential Medal of the 100th Anniversary of the Restoration of Independence and the IPN Prize, and was expelled from the Jagiellonian University at the end of the People’s Republic of Poland. – On Polish television, the day before I watched a play with very good actors – “Leprosy in the Palace of Justice,” according to Ugo Petit’s novel, about judges and the judiciary in Italy – recalls Josef Wiechurek. He had no doubt that under the so-called “Jarzel” second purge was negatively verified for its negative effect on students.
– Since the conversation was numb and I knew that it would not lead to anything, because the rector said that my case was not a matter of the university, that is, that higher factors play a decisive role in it, I asked him if he had seen this performance yesterday. He said no, because he doesn’t watch TV at all. Since the scenes presented in this performance seemed to me similar to what I had seen at the Jagiellonian University, I asked the rector if he thought leprosy pervaded the Palace of Sciences. It was too much for the rector, we adopted an upright stance, and the university’s left hand was a guidepost for me. The words “leprosy in the Palace of Science” were the last words I spoke at Jagiellonian University. I got out and left leprosy. Until today, I think.
The book can be purchased online Polish newspaper store.
A powerful conversation about taboos in Polish universities is below:
Source: niezalezna.pl
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