Halina Pelc

Prof. Dr. Halina Pelc is a distinguished faculty member at the Institute of Polish Philology, Faculty of Philology, Maria Curie-Skłodowska University (UMCS) in Lublin. With a career spanning over five decades, she holds a PhD (1982) and habilitation (1995) in linguistics, earned her professor title in 2002, and has shaped academic programs and research agendas through roles such as Deputy Director of the Institute of Polish Philology (2000-2004), Vice-Dean for Student Affairs (2005-2012), and Head of the Department of Polish Language History and Dialectology (2010-2017).

• Education:
  • MA in Polish Philology (1974)
  • PhD in Linguistics (1982, supervised by Prof. Teresa Skubalanka)
  • Habilitation in Linguistics (1995)
  • Professor of Humanities (2002)

Research Focus: Her work bridges dialectology, sociolinguistics, and ethnolinguistics, examining the linguistic and cultural heritage of the Lublin region. Key themes include Polish-East Slavic linguistic relationships, axiological aspects of rural language, lexical interference, and oral history documentation. She emphasizes geographical and cultural perspectives in dialect analysis, addressing how civilizational changes reshape rural linguistic behavior.

Academic Contributions: Her 16 monographs and over 200 articles focus on Lublin dialects, including the monumental Dictionary of Lublin Region Dialects (12 volumes, 2012–2023). As a supervisor, she has guided 3 PhD candidates and trained 260 MA and 42 BA students. She led major grants like the National Program for the Humanities (2018–2023) for Regional Linguistic Heritage and contributed to Euroregion Bug projects.

• Scientific Awards:
  • Silver Cross of Merit (2000)
  • Gold Cross of Merit (2012)
  • Medal of the 700th Anniversary of Lublin (2017)
  • Diploma of Recognition from Lublin Voivodeship Marshal (2019)

Organizational Leadership: She chaired committees for Doctoral Theses (2001–2017), served on the Senate Committee for Didactics and Education, and co-founded the Dictionary of Lublin Region Dialects project. Her affiliations include the Polish Language Institute (2023), International Slavists Congress, and Polish-Ukrainian Cultural Relations Commission.