One of the best equipped classrooms for teaching, lecture halls with modern fittings, animated and enthusiastic students, an experienced group of lecturers-Pu速usk School of Humanities (WSH) is one of the most rapidly developing private universities in Poland.

In a ranking of private universities prepared in April 2003 by Perspektywy monthly and Rzeczpospolita daily, the WSH was recognized as the "best non-state university." This extremely active institution is constantly thinking about the future, and celebrates its 10th anniversary next year.

History
Four hundred and thirty one years passed before the idea of establishing an academic center in Pu速usk became a reality. The idea was first put forward at the Sejm in Piotrk闚 in 1563; in 1994 the WSH opened its first academic year. The minister of education entered the School in the register of colleges, giving it permission to offer baccalaureate degrees in the following courses: Polish, history and education.

The School was established thanks to the efforts of the Atena Academic Association, which groups many professors from Warsaw University and the Polish Academy of Sciences. In accordance with its statute, the School is based in Pu速usk and Ciechan闚.

The School did not want to limit itself to just three courses. In 1995 the Ministry of Education gave the WSH permission to open more departments: administration, political and social sciences, as well as environmental protection. It obtained the right to confer master's degrees in 1996.

In the first academic year, 1994/95, a total of 2,150 students started their first year. The next year, the School had 6,000 students and over 1,100 academic lecturers, including 235 professors and assistant professors and a number of members of the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN) and the Polish Academy of Learning (PAU).

In 2001 the National Commission for Scientific Titles and Degrees (CKTNiSN), having obtained the positive opinion of the Main Council for University Education, gave the WSH's History Department the right to confer doctorates in history.

In 2002 the WSH was named the Aleksander Gieysztor Pu速usk School of Humanities. Professor Gieysztor, a world-renowned academic, was one of the School's founders and a lecturer there.

The School is constantly developing. In 2002 the CKTNiSN gave the Political Sciences Department the right to confer doctorates in political science. The WSH is an active member of the Conference of Polish University Rectors, the European University Association and the Compostela Group of Universities.

Today
At present, the WSH offers full- and part-time three-year BA courses in administration, Polish, history, political sciences and pedagogics. It also has a program of two-year MA courses and postgraduate studies. The School fulfills the requirements of the Bologna Declaration signed in 1999 by ministers from 29 European countries, recommending a uniform three-stage system of higher education. The WSH's degrees are equivalent to the degrees conferred by public universities.

In 2003 the WSH applied for permission to start new majors: tourism and recreation. In today's five departments, students can choose from more than 70 specializations, and the number grows every year.

The School listens to its students too. In response to their interests and expectations, the WSH established the Institute of Archeology and Anthropology. Thanks to this, numerous excavation research projects are carried out in the region.

In the 2002/03 academic year there was a total of 12,448 students at the Pu速usk School. This number has remained stable for the past few years. The number of graduates, has been growing-over 25,000 have obtained BA or MA degrees to date.

The School boasts an output of 108 published books, and also publishes periodicals: Dzieje Najnowsze (a quarterly on 20th-century history), Rocznik Nauk Politycznych (a political sciences annual) and, since 2000, Rocznik Mazowiecki (Mazovia Annual), Landscape Ecology, and Silva Rerum Pultusiensis.

For many years the WSH has been cooperating actively with many universities abroad, including the Belarusian State University, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of G飆eborg and schools in Moscow, Lithuania and Germany.

Napoleon in Pu速usk
The Study Center of the Napoleonic Period (OSEN) was established in 2000. It was near Pu速usk that Napoleon Bonaparte led his soldiers into one of his many battles with Russian forces.

The Center aims to combine research work with the promotion of the Napoleonic tradition and places related to Napoleon's stay in Mazovia, Mazuria and Warmia. The Center has invited outstanding academics specializing in this field, representatives of museums, and local government officials from towns and counties linked to the Napoleonic tradition to take part in its work. The Center receives support from the Napoleonic Foundation in Paris; the honorary chairman of the OSEN Program Council is Florian Walewski, a descendant of Napoleon and Maria Walewska.

The Center is one of the organizers of an annual historical event called "Napoleon in Pu速usk." The students also enjoy taking part in this project. Dressed in the uniforms of Russian and French soldiers, each year in January they reenact scenes from the battle that was fought near Pu速usk.

The library
Besides its excellent technical facilities, the WSH has a computerized Main Library with over 120,000 volumes. The spacious and comfortably fitted reading-room offers students and lecturers over 100 places, and there are 15 places in the professors' reading-room.

The university campus includes a number of specialty bookstores, including branches of Warsaw's University bookstores. They provide all the necessary textbooks and other literature as well as source materials.

University life
The WSH is full of life thanks to its students. They have turned Pu速usk into a young town. Ever since the School was established, the town is visited regularly by representatives of the political, economic and cultural communities, often at the invitation of the students themselves.

One of the largest events in Pu速usk is the annual Juvenalia organized by the Student Self-Government. In 2003 the festivities gathered an unprecedented number of students and Pu速usk residents.

The Theater of 5 Atmospheres is one of the student organizations with the greatest achievements for the School and the town. In May 2003 it organized a Student Theater Festival for the first time in Pu速usk, which was popular not only among students. Other active organizations include the Memento Film and Photography Club, which holds meetings for artistic photography aficionados and those who enjoy good films. The proximity of the Narew River and the beautiful areas around Pu速usk are conducive to sports, including kayaking and swimming as well as horse riding and rifle shooting.

Organizations promoting the idea of a united Europe are also very active at the WSH: Europa i My (Europe and Us), M這de Centrum (Young Center), Pro Europa and the Student European Forum. The huge European Festival was organized largely thanks to Pu速usk's student organizations.

The School is an institution offering great opportunities; nobody could be bored here. Students and lecturers together work on its image as an active academic center offering a high standard of education.