June 23 APS Social Event – International Community Potluck

APS Members and Friends…
You are invited to an International Potluck party for the International Welcome Ambassador Program. The APS is an official member of EuroCircle and of the International Welcome Ambassador Program.

Gosia Jurczynska is our official APS official representative and she and APS encourage you to submit a Polish dish and come and meet other international partners in Austin. Details are below.

Event Date & Time: Sunday, June 23 at 5:30pm
Event location: Icenhauer’s in Austin, Texas, 83 Rainey Street, Austin, Texas 78701
Website: https://www.facebook.com/icenhauers
Cost: Free
What: The City of Austin, EuroCircle, and Global Austin are joining hands and building the next great event together. This trio is hosting an International Potluck for all International Ambassador Welcome program organizations & their members. Bring your traditional dish to share! We have so many excellent Polish chefs and bakers in Austin and this event will be a great way to share our Polish culture with others!
Drinks will be available for purchase at the bar, and all food will be nicely organized according to the different dishes you bring to the table.

Registration: All APS members who bring a dish, please send details to Kaisa Kokkonen (Kaisa@eurocircle.com) or to Allison at allisonb23@hotmail.com.
• Send your category (appetizers, salads, main course, dessert) and
• Provide a name in English/Polish for your dish, plus your name. For example: “Salad: Cucumbers in Sour Cream/Mizeria ze Smietana” by Mary Gawron.
EuroCircle will provide plates, forks, knives, spoons and napkins. Please bring a serving dish and utensil for your dish.

Food brings people together, so keep this date open. Join us! We look forward to seeing you then!

U.S. Senate to Vote on Polish Visa Waiver Legislation (S. 744) in June

S. 744 (“Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act”) that is sponsored by Senator Charles Schumer of New York, and co-sponsored by Senators Jeff Flake and John McCain of Arizona, Michael Bennet of Colorado, Marco Rubio of Florida, Richard Durbin of Illinois, Robert Menendez of New Jersey, and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, was successfully “referred out of committee” (in this case, the Senate Committee on the Judiciary) last week with a favorable vote and sent to the floor of the United States Senate for final debate and vote. Prospects are that the Senate will begin debate on S. 744 as soon as June 10th with the idea of reaching consensus for a decisive vote well before the August recess. MORE INFO

New Endowment Supports Polish Studies Program

AUSTIN, Texas – A permanent endowment has been established to benefit the Polish Studies Program in the Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies at The University of Texas at Austin.
The endowment was spearheaded Mary Neuburger, chair of the Department of Slavic and Eurasian Studies, who collaborated with the Austin Polish Society (APS) to keep the Polish Studies program alive. Mary Gawron, President of APS, was key in building support among the community and volunteers. The funding will support study abroad, research, teaching and academic events.
Texas is home to the first Polish settlement in the United States and many descendants of Polish heritage, and The University of Texas offers the only Polish Studies program at a Texas state university.
Go to this website to learn how to support the endowment.

Read more: Austin Polish Society Meets Its Goal
Thanks to Marek Proga for providing photos for this event. See the reception photos:APS Endowment

Summer Camps in Poland for Children and Youth

Polonica – School of Polish has sent APS Board member Magda Szatanik Boudni information for parents interested in a summer Polish language and sport camp in Poland for their children. Please contact the program directly for more information and details on the 2013 program. This year the camp is being held in Gdansk on the Baltic Sea. There are also language programs for adults.
Note: APS is sharing this Polish education information with our community as a courtesy, but does not officially endorse or sponsor this program.
More information: Polonica – School of Polish

Congratulations to the 9th APS Bigos Cook-Off Winners!

The 9th Annual APS Bigos Cook-Off was a great event. There were 12 tasty Bigos entries. The First place winner was Anna Bielecka and 2nd place went to Ewa Pawelczyk. Third place went to Chrystyna Wilson and the People’s Choice Award went to Dorota Ziolkowski.
Thank you to the Judges for their help in making the difficult choices and thanks to all of our volunteers: Angelika and Jurek Firlej, Zbyszek Gawron, Renata Szowa, Ania Bielecka,Gosia Jurczynska, Ania Hand, Joanna Patzek, Marek Pawelczyk, Magda Boudni, Anthony Wozniczka, Wieslaw Glinski, Zach Booth, Marek Proga, and Agnieszka Ozarowski.
The event was another great APS success and we appreciate all of your participation and support for APS!

Visa Waiver Program Update – H.R. 490

The Polish American Congress is appealing for assistance in spreading the word among Polish Americans in Texas that the House Judiciary Committee sitting in Washington, DC is currently considering the merits of H.R. 490 (“Visa Waiver Program Enhanced Security and Reform Act”), which — if it is referred “out of committee” with a favorable vote — will then be voted on by the House of Representatives.

H.R. 490, if passed by the House and then by the Senate (S.223), will allow Poland to be admitted to the US Visa Waiver Program. Today, of all the nations constituting the European Union, only Poland, along with Bulgaria and Romania, are excluded from that Program. MORE INFO

APS Profile – City of Austin International Program Newsletter

APS is proud to be included in the March 2013 City of Austin International Program newsletter. Thanks to COA staffer, Natalie Betts, for giving APS this opportunity to tell Austin about our great organization. Please take a minute to read about Austin’s International Program and our organization (scroll down for APS Profile). Please share with friends and family!

The 2013 Austin Polish Society Newsletter

Hello and welcome to our first edition of the new APS Newsletter. Angelika Firlej and I will be working on creating a newsletter that will keep members up to date on Board and organizational activities.

Please let us know what you think and if you have comments or news items, please send them to either Mary Gawron (mmwgawron@gmail.com) or to Angelika Firlej (lika_firlej@yahoo.com).
Thank you!
APS Newsletter March 2013

APS – Updates for Polish Studies in the UK

A New Program of Studies on Contemporary Poland at the University of Oxford, St. Antony’s College

October 24, 2012
An agreement was signed in Warsaw inaugurating a Contemporary Polish Studies Program at the University of Oxford. Historically, this is the first interdisciplinary Polish Studies Program of this scale to be conducted abroad. Devoted to contemporary Poland and the historical changes after 1989, the program at Oxford is a response to the challenge of building a strong position for Poland within the international community. It has the potential of creating ambassadors and friends for Poland and becoming a place where students can benefit from international instructors, lecturers, and policy makers. The goal is to promote Poland as a regional leader with a dynamic economy.

Studies will operate under the St Antony’s College (www.sant.ox.ac.uk ). The initiators of the program are outstanding educational authorities in Oxford, including Professor Timothy Garton Ash and Professor Norman Davies.

In Poland, Dr. Leszek Czarnecki initiated funding for the Oxford Polish Studies Program. A visionary and a financial genius, Dr. Czarnecki (he holds a Ph.D in Economics) is a majority shareholder in six companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange and he is co-director, with his wife, of the Jolanta and Leszek Czarnecki Foundation to aid children and young adults (www.fundacjajlc.pl).
Honorary Patrons of the Program are Prime Minister Tadeusz Mazowiecki and Professor Zbigniew Pelczynski.

Program Studiów o Współczesnej Polsce na Uniwersytecie Oxfordzkim