Institute of Oriental Studies

Institute of Oriental Studies of the Jagiellonian University, Cracow, Poland, with a history reaching back to 19th century, consists of 5 specializations: Arabic Studies, Iranian Studies, Japanese and Chinese Studies, Turkish Studies and Indology.

Department of Indology

The tradition of Indian Studies at the Jagiellonian University in Cracow goes back to the year 1860, when a linguist, professor Bernard Jűlg, began his lectures on Sanskrit. At present the Department of Indology admits twenty five students each year. The main subjects taught in the department are: Sanskrit, Sanskrit Literature, Hindi, Hindi Literature, Introduction to Indology, History of South Asia, Philosophy of India, Indian Religions, Culture and Art History of South Asia, Vedic grammar and texts readings, Sanskrit Readings (kavya, epics, religious and philosophical texts), Indian Poetics, Hindi Readings, Geography and Ethnography of South Asia, Urdu, Tamil, Pro-seminars and Seminars. The scholars of the Department, cooperating with colleagues from many Indological centres in the world, conduct their academic research accordingly, in classical and modern Indology; The journal Cracow Indological Studies is edited in the Dept. of Indian Studies from 1995.

Department of Japanology and Sinology

The department of Japanology and Sinology has carried out researches on the Japanese language, literature and culture, particularly in the areas of linguistic and literary studies. Head of the Department: Prof. Romuald Huszcza.

Dr. hab. Marzenna Czerniak-Drożdżowicz, Professor of the Jagiellonian University, Head of Indology Department, specializes in classical Indology. She works on the religious traditions of India and their literature, especially Vaishnava Pancaratra (habilitation book - Pancaratra Scripture in the Process of Change. A Study of the Paramasamhita. Publications of The De Nobili Research Library,Vienna 2003), though in the scope of her interest one finds also ancient Indian society and Vedic rituals as well as art of India, especially religious art - architecture and iconography of Hinduism, the description of which is an integral part of the religious texts being in the scope of her research. She runs her research projects also in cooperation and contacts with many scholars and research centers abroad (Austrian Academy of Sciences, Institute for the Cultural and of Intellectual History of Asia, École Francaise d'Extrême Orient in Pondicherry, India, Wolfson College, Oxford, Heidelberg University - Kanchipuram Research Project).