“This Ain’t the USA” - Monika Borys on Disco polo – September 22, 5pm

Disco polo emerged in Poland in the late 1980s, becoming the unofficial soundtrack of the post-socialist transition. This talk explores what these sweet but trashy love songs reveal about capitalism, class division, and the desires shaping Polish society after 1989. 

Dr. Monika Borys, PhD is an independent researcher and cultural studies scholar. She explores contemporary culture through class, gender, and medium. She earned her PhD with distinction from the University of Warsaw, Poland in 2024. She is the author of the book Polski Bajer : Disco polo i lata 90 (2019) ("Polish Gimmick: Disco polo and the 90s"), the first in-depth study of disco polo music in a social context. She is currently completing her second monograph, Shameless Images: The Working Class in Polish Popular Culture after 1989, due for release later this year.
In 2025, Dr. Borys was a recipient of the Emma Goldman Snowball Award, granted to scholars researching feminism and issues of inequality in Europe.