by Russell Guerrero
For Michael Tworek ’04, who received a bachelor’s in history and who is finishing the master’s in education program, something seemed missing from his studies of the Renaissance. While there was much written about Italy, France, Germany, and England, Michael found very little about Poland, his family’s native home land. So what started as an academic quest into his Polish heritage has led Michael to being awarded a prestigious Fulbright Fellowship, which will allow him spend a year beginning next fall in Warsaw researching a 16th century poet and humanist.
Michael’s journey started his junior year. Working with history professor John Martin, Michael decided to undertake an independent research project on how Poland was connected to the rest of Europe during the Renaissance. He said he picked the topic “because of my heritage and my language skills. I wanted to get away from looking at countries in Western Europe and concentrate on the little studied humanists of Poland.”
It was a point of pride for Michael as both his parents are from Poland and Polish was his first language.
As he compiled his research, Michael was struck by how little has been written about Poland in English language scholarship. Michael believes some of the reasons for this include a lack of Polish language skills, ignorance of archival resources in Poland, and, perhaps, a scholarly prejudice of Eastern Europe left over from the Cold War.
Michael also rediscovered Jan Kochanowski, regarded as the most important Polish poet and humanist of the 16th century . Michael was familiar with his work because he had read his poetry when he was younger. Michael used his research to write a senior honors thesis in history on Kochanowski.
It was while writing his honors thesis that Michael’s academic work turned into an academic passion. “I did an incredible amount of research on Kochanowski,” he said. “But I realized that, although I did a really good job on my thesis, I felt there were many aspects that needed first-hand research from Polish sources.” He decided that he wanted to continue his work at the graduate level and do further research in Poland.
Thomas Sebastian, associate professor of German and one of Michael’s professors, was the first to suggest that he apply for a Fulbright Fellowship to study in Poland. After meeting with Donald Clark, director of the international studies program as well as the campus Fulbright advisor, Michael began the arduous applications process. With help from Professors Sebastian and Clark, as well as support from several professors including Thomas Jenkins and Erwin Cooke from classical studies, Bruce Holl from modern languages and literatures, and Sarah Burke, associate vice president for Academic Affairs, Michael spent every free moment he had on his Fulbright proposal. “It was one of the hardest things I have ever done in my life,” he said.
Along with submitting a written proposal, Michael had an interview with a Fulbright faculty committee, which included Professor Clark, John Donahue from sociology and anthropology, Alida Metcalf from history, and Peter O’Brian from political science. On Oct. 31, Michael sent everything to the Fulbright program. The long wait to hear from the Fulbright organization began.
During spring break this year, Michael came to the Coates Library to work on a project for his master’s. While doing a check of his e-mail, he received a letter of congratulations from the Fulbright program. He had won a fellowship. “After that I was too excited to work on anything else. I spent the rest of the break basking in the glow of that e-mail,” he said.
Once he graduates with his master’s, Michael plans to spend time with his mother and sister, both of whom live in San Antonio before leaving for Poland in the fall. He also wants to take a break from what has been a very hectic year. When he wasn’t working on his Fulbright application, Michael taught Latin and world geography at a local high school as part of his master’s internship. “It was difficult spending so much time and energy on the proposal while balancing teaching, grading, and class work,” he said. “It was very challenging.”
After he completes his fellowship, Michael plans to pursue a Ph.D. in history.