Bozena Cierlik

Dr. Bozena Cierlik is a lecturer in the School of History, University College Cork, with a specialisation in modern Polish and East Central European (ECE) history. Her research interests include Irish - Polish connections, nationalism, migration, research methodologies and sustainable education. 

Polish and ECE studies align directly with Irish national research priorities on informed public policy and supporting societal development by equipping graduates with the cultural, analytical, and geopolitical understanding needed to operate effectively within the European Union and in the context of migration, integration, and regional security, all areas where ECE/Polish historical studies deliver measureable value.

Polish and wider ECE communities have become essential contributors to Ireland's contmeporary identity, representing far more than demographic change, offering opportunity for inclusive, engaged and community centred research. ECE serves as a laboratory for understanding of modern identity politics, populism, and nationalism. Understanding political transformations, democratisation or autocratisation in these countries is central for shaping EU foreign policy and safeguarding European stability.

Dr. Cierlik is actively engaged with Polish community, together with Polich cultural and charity organisations, Polish ambassy in Dublin and Cork City Council.

She was awarded the Bene Merito honorary distinction by the Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs. 

Latest Publications include:

• Dziedzictwo polityczne de Valery - neutralność w polityce zagranicznej Irlandii, in Irlandia de Valery, Wydawnictwo Arcana (2025)
• Polish students in University College Cork after the Second World War, Wydawnictwo KUL (2023)
• Polish and Irish struggles for self-determination. Living near dragons, Cambridge Scholars (2020)

Dr. Cierlik's research and interests align with national research priorities (IMPACT 2030: Ireland's Research and Innovation Strategy).

Her research interests include the following topics:

• East Central European history
• Polish history after WWI
• Polish Irish relations, and nationalism
• Understand identity, belonging, and transnational citizenship
• Roots of contemporary crises, including migration and war
• Democracy, and engaged scholarship

HI3200 Seminar -God's playground or the world's headache? History of Poland from 1918;

HI2048 1989 Revolutions. Poland and East Central Europe - module coordinator;

HI3004 East Central Europe in the 20th century. The road to “Common European Home”- module coordinator;

HI2105 Sources and Methods in History;

HI2024 Balkans from WWI to Kosovo