Jerzy George Kossek is a nationally and internationally recognized educator, blues theorist, and blues promoter who has actively promoted blues music in Poland over the past three decades. Known to many as Doctor Blues, Kossek has been teaching African-American history, culture, literature, and blues music since 1979, when he started his first American Club in collaboration with the American Consulate General in Krakow, Poland, under communism. His courses expose students to blues research, blues journalism and literature, blues performances, blues organizations, blues charities, and more. In his courses, Kossek teaches about African-American history and the role the blues played in that history. At the same time, he focuses on blues theory, ways to preserve the blues, and how to incorporate the blues in educational activities. He actively promotes creative writing of blues texts and poetry at Blues Poetic Caf, held yearly. Kossek founded the European Academic Blues Center at the Academy of Business in Dabrowa Gornicza, Poland, which researches all aspects of the blues as a cultural phenomenon, and the Ethnic Studies Center in Katowice, Poland. Kossek has been involved in organizing educational conferences and seminars focusing on the blues. He hosts a weekly blues-oriented radio show, and he has been awarded a 2015 Fulbright grant to research the blues at six major U.S. universities.
