Jan Farfal

I am a doctoral candidate in Area Studies (Russia and East Europe) at Wolfson College, University of Oxford. My project examines the ways in which émigré journals addressed their home societies behind the Iron Curtain. The focus of the project will be placed upon the most prominent Polish, Czechoslovak and Yugoslav democratic centre-left émigré journals in the postwar period including their legacies in the post-socialist transition. My broader interests include intellectual history related to the ‘Iron Curtain’ and the contemporary identity disputes experienced in the former Eastern Bloc. 

I am researcher in the project ‘Europe in a Changing World', led by Professor Timothy Garton Ash and Professor Paul Betts, at the European Studies Center at the University of Oxford. Alongside, I work as a Teaching Assistant at the Faculty of History and the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Oxford; and contribute to Europaeum Scholars Programme, a two-year policy and leadership course aimed to address major challenges facing Europe. 

Before starting my doctoral studies, I worked in Public Affairs sector and was awarded an MPhil in Russian and East European Studies at the University of Oxford (2016-2018). I have received my BA in History at University College London. I am a Bona Fide, European Forum Alpbach 2022 Scholar, and have been awarded with the Mary Starun Scholarship in Polish Studies. 

College: 

Hertford College 

Supervisors: 

Professor Paul Betts 

Dr Nicolette Makovicky