MAGDALENA SZALBOT
2007 ‒ obtained a PhD degree (in humanities) in Ethnology at the Faculty of History of the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań.
2000 ‒ obtained an MA degree in Ethnology at the Faculty of Pedagogy and Arts of the University of Silesia in Katowice, the Cieszyn Branch.
Professional appointments
2008 ‒ present: Academic Assistant Professor at the Institute of Culture Studies of the University of Silesia
2017 ‒ present: editorial secretary of an academic, semi-annual journal “Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne” published by the University of Silesia in Katowice https://www.journals.us.edu.pl/index.php/SEIA.
2016 ‒ present: Faculty Coordinator for International Cooperation at the University of Silesia in Katowice for student and staff exchanges as part of the Erasmus+ Programme.
2024 ‒ present: member of the Board for the Climate and Environmental Crisis at the University of Silesia in Katowice.
Research interests
ludism and ludicalicty, traditional games and sports, urban anthropology, anthropology of the borderlands and multi-culturalism, in particular cities divided by a border, museology
Membership in organisations/associations
Polish Ethnological Society, the Cieszyn Branch (from 2010 the treasurer of the Branch)
Polish Ethnological Society, the Museum Section (from 2012)
Game Research Association of Poland (from 2018)
Asociación Cultural “La Tanguilla” (from 2019)
Commision for the Polish-Czech and Polish-Slovakian Relationships, the Katowice Branch (from 2023).
Projects
Ekologia kulturowa – specjalność na kierunku etnologia, studia II stopnia (Cultural ecology – specialisation in Ethnology, postgraduate studies). Programme financed by Fundacja Rozwoju Systemu Edukacji, as part of the programme “Rozwój Polskich Uczelni Fundusz Stypendialny i Szkoleniowy” (project financed by EEA and Norway Grants from Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway as well as national funds); role in the project: coordinator.
Major publications
Editing/Co-editing 13 issues of “Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne”: 5 issues between 2015 and 2020, and 8 issues (semi-annual) between 2021 and 2024: https://journals.us.edu.pl/index.php/SEIA/issue/archive
Szalbot, M. H. (2023). Rewitalizacja dziecięcych gier i zabaw tradycyjnych Śląska Cieszyńskiego. Łódzkie Studia Etnograficzne, vol. 62, pp. 255–268, https://doi.org/10.12775/LSE.2023.62.15.
Szalbot, M. H. (2022). „Games” Using Old Photographs in the Time of the Pandemic: Archival Photographs in Museum Education. Muzeologia a Kulturne Dedicstvo, vol. 10, 3, pp. 61–79, https://doi.org/10.46284/mkd.2022.10.3.4.
Szalbot, M. H. (2021). Photographs from Digital Archives of the Polish Ethnographic Atlas as a Source of Knowledge About Rural Children’s Toys and Games in the Years 1954‒1971. Etnografia Polska, vol. 1, 1, pp. 147–167, https://doi.org/10.23858/EP65.2021.2645.
Szalbot, M. H. (2019). Toys Within the Collections of Selected Cieszyn Silesia Museums as a Source of Knowledge of the Former Ludic Culture of the Youngest Inhabitants of the Region. Muzeologia a Kulturne Dedicstvo, 2, pp. 63–76.
Szalbot, M. H. (2017). “Taming” Borders: Actions Taken Within the Border Areas in Selected European Twin Cities. Prace Etnograficzne. Zeszyty Naukowe Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego, 2, pp. 255–275.
Collaboration with other academic institutions/centres/stakeholders
Lectures and workshops on traditional games for local schools of various levels.
Collaboration with Cieszyn Silesian museums – conducting research, questionnaires, and educational projects.
Supervisor of field and professional training periods for the students of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology – collaboration with museums, open-air ethnographic museums, cultural centres, community centres (and other institutions/stakeholders).