Erasmus – General informations

The Institute of History and Political Science functions as part of the Faculty of History and Sociology located in the left wing of the building which initially was not constructed for academic purposes. It is one of the most characteristic architectural constructions in Bialystok which, for many years, was a seat of the Provincial Committee of Polish United Workers’ Party. The building was designed in a shape of a semi-circle with a colonnade and attic-style pilasters and built in the 1950s. It became a university building as late as at the beginning of the 1990s when, after the system transformation in Poland, it was handed over to the then Bialystok Branch of Warsaw University.

In 1968, when Bialystok Branch of Warsaw University was established, the Department of History was founded as well. Its first head was Prof. dr hab. Andrzej Wyrobisz. On 1 February, 1980 the Department was converted into the Institute of History. It was developing in close scientific and staff cooperation with the Institute of History of Warsaw University, which has also significantly influenced its present high scientific and didactic position.

In 2011, thanks to scientific development and a wider educational offer including a new field of study – International Relations, the Institute of History was converted into the Institute of History and Political Science.