Julia Kossowska

Julia is a researcher of cultural exchanges and Classical Reception, focusing on the early modern Italy and Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Their current work analyzes the place of Rome and the many receptions of it within Polish culture as means to create an early modern Polish identity connected to Western Europe and its history. Throughout the sixteenth and into the seventeenth century, ancient and contemporary Rome were constant themes in Polish imagery, influenced by classical education, Jesuit presence in the Commonwealth, and various travel narratives; with connection to Italian influences of Renaissance and Counterreformation, Rome was ever-present in shaping people’s perception of the world, be it through literary depictions, personal experience, or education. Through this research, Julia looks at both the ancient and the contemporary Rome, introducing an interdisciplinary perspective on cultural, religious, and political spheres of the 16th- and 17th-century Commonwealth.

In the past, Julia has also worked on legal and cultural approaches to sexuality in Renaissance Tuscany, as well as completed their undergraduate dissertation on the topic of Roman Britain under Septimius Severus.

Advisor

Prof. Ronnie Hsia

Academic Service

2024-2025 President of the History Graduate Student Association, Penn State

2024-2025 Delegate to the Graduate Council, J. Jeffrey and Ann Marie Fox Graduate School, Penn State

2023-2024 Vice-President of the History Graduate Student Association, Penn State

2023-2024 College of the Liberal Arts Representative for Graduate and Professional Student Association, Penn State

2020-2021 MA Representative for Cabinet of Curiosities, University of York

Research Interests

Global and transnational history, Classical Reception, cultural exchanges, history of sexuality