Book Presentation: Foundations of the Sciences of Social Communication and Media at the Staszic Palace

On 11 December, at the headquarters of the Polish Academy of Sciences in the Staszic Palace in Warsaw, the 11th meeting of the Committee on Social Communication and Media Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences was held. The event featured a presentation of the book Foundations of the Sciences of Social Communication and Media, accompanied by a scholarly discussion on the condition of the discipline and its directions of development. The meeting brought together the authors of the volume and researchers representing diverse academic traditions, becoming an important forum for reflection on the integration of subdisciplines within the sciences of social communication and media.

The meeting was opened by the Chair of the Committee, Prof. Iwona Hofman, who welcomed the Committee members participating in the session as well as invited guests. The event was especially enriched by the presence of the volume’s authors, including the scientific editors of the publication, Prof. Janusz W. Adamowski and Prof. Jadwiga Woźniak-Kasperek, as well as chapter authors Prof. Iwona Hofman, Prof. Bożena Koredczuk, and Dr Sabina Cisek.

During the presentation, the authors of the individual parts of the publication discussed the issues addressed in their chapters, highlighting their significance for the coherence of the entire work. Topics included theoretical and metatheoretical frameworks, the methodology of information science, and issues in bibliology and media studies, with particular attention paid to their historical contexts, research objects, and fundamental concepts related to contemporary communication processes.

It was emphasized that the publication constitutes a synthesis of existing scholarly achievements, encompassing both the historical foundations and development of individual subdisciplines as well as current concepts, research objectives, and applied methods. The editors noted that one of the principal aims of the book is to build a shared conceptual apparatus and a common research identity for the sciences of social communication and media.