This section contains information about the Poland in the Rockies Program.

The Poland in the Rockies program is intensive, but it is by no means restricted to lecture rooms. The town of Canmore, nestled within the Three Sisters Mountain Range, is close to some of the most spectacular sights in the Rockies. Our program allows time to visit Banff, Johnson Canyon, Sulphur Mountain, Lake Moraine and Lake Louise, and to enjoy barbecues and campfires within the National Park.


Mary Skinner will present “In the Name of their Mothers,” a new documentary about Irena Sendler and the women of Żegota, the underground organization in wartime Poland dedicated to the rescue of Jews. PiTR previously hosted film makers Menachem Daum (Hiding and Seeking), Wanda Koscia (The Battle of Warsaw), and the late Aneta Naszynska and the late Jagna Wright (Forgotten Odyssey).
Documentary film maker and PiTR alumnus (2006) Eric Bednarski, will coordinate this year’s film program with documentaries and feature films from PiTR’s and his own film library.
An understanding of the past is essential for an understanding of contemporary social, political and economic developments, including Poland’s relations and mutual perceptions with other nations.
PiTR’s history program places an emphasis on “applied history,” which is not a simple study of the past, but the past as it affects the present and how it is interpreted in the present. We also emphasize an “integrated history,” the study of Poland not in isolation but within the context of its place in Europe and the international community..
Historian Timothy Snyder quoted in Cosmopolitan Review: “Poland would win a great victory if Polish history could be integrated in European history… Many Poles think Europeans don’t understand them, and that’s true.” Click to article.
Poland’s Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski: “Europe will only be united when all Europeans know the history of the entire continent.” He also stated that historian Norman Davies is “the first historian of united Europe.”

Are we Canadian? American? Polish? Part Polish? Or a hyphenated combination of these?
No easy answers and diverse opinions make for a lively discussion among students and speakers alike.
A complex identity? Worth exploring -- and celebrating.
Diane Ackerman
Wesley Adamczyk
Anne Applebaum
Timothy Garton Ash
M.B.B. Biskupski
John Bukowczyk
Marek Jan Chodakiewicz
Norman Davies
Yisrael Guttman and Michael Brenbaum, Editors
Gustav Herling (aka Gustaw Herling-Grudzinski)
Eva Hoffman
Anna D. Jarszynska-Kirchmann
Karolina Lanckoronska
Rulka Langer
Richard Lukas
Danuta Mostwin
Lynn Olson & Stanley Cloud
Allen Paul
Neal Pease
Marci Shore
Timothy Snyder
Alex Storozynski
Irene Tomaszewski
Adam Zagajewski
Adam Zamoyski
Got a topic you’d love to discuss? A paper you want to present? Send us your proposal.
Past topics have included topics in literature, history, Polish-Jewish relations, the status of women, and a couple of short films.