The Chicago-Poznan and Columbia-Poznan University Connections

Abstract

In spite of the tendency of national culture societies and individuals to be protective about products identified as of their own creation, the cosmopolitan community of scholars has developed along many lines, even in the pre-email and Internet times. This study traces one such line, initiated by one scholar interested in knowledge of another society who personally went to it, met another scholar and entered into a joint venture. Their product became a classic and the contacts extended over the years and involved increasing numbers of students and scholars who crossed national, even continental boundaries. I have limited myself here to the contacts of scholars between two universities in America and one university in Poland. The initial lines of connection have been followed by other scholars into other centers, resulting in numerous contributions to scholarly knowledge.