2023 M.A. Thesis Award
PAAS Award for Best MA Thesis in American Studies
We proudly announce the results of the 13th annual Polish Association of American Studies Award for the Best MA Thesis in American Studies, written at a Polish university in the academic year 2022/2023.
The members of this year’s jury, consisting of (chair) dr hab. Joanna Ziarkowska (University of Warsaw), prof. Wiesław Kuhn (Adam Mickiewicz University), and dr hab. Michał Choiński (Jagiellonian University), read and evaluated each of the seven anonymized MA theses, assigning points on a scale from 1 to 10 in four categories. Based on the results, the jury decided to award two first places ex aequo to:
Maja Piskadło, the author of “Let’s Raise the Mothership’s Roof: Afrofuturist Audiotopias,”written under the guidance of dr hab. Anna Pochmara-Ryżko at the Institute of English Studies, University of Warsaw. The jury emphasized the original subject matter of the thesis, ensuing from the fact that the author followed her musical passion. Her engagement is apparent on every page of the thesis, which is a fascinating account of a culturally coherent and self-sustaining Black community.
and
Kastor Ornowski, the author of “Queerness in and of gothic: Examples from 1890-1950 American gothic texts,” written under the guidance of dr hab. Paulina Ambrozy at the Faculty of English Studies, Adam Mickiewcz University, Poznań. The jury praised the ambitious and sustained argumentation that structures this thesis, illustrated with original and unexpected examples, as well as the fact that the author draws interesting connections between the gothic aesthetic and queer theory.
The jury also emphasized the high quality of the work submitted on behalf of this year’s five finalists (listed in alphabetical order):
1. Karolina Dziubińska, the author of “Orientalization of Asians in the Selected Works of American Literature and Culture,” written under the guidance of dr Iwona Filipczak at the Department of English Philology, University of Zielona Góra,
2. Marcel Głowacki, the author of “Analysis of Selected Works by David Foster Wallace in Light of Theories of Boredom,” written under the guidance of dr hab. Aneta Dybska at the Institute of English Studies, University of Warsaw,
3. Aleksandra Julia Malinowska, the author of “It Is Time to Retrieve Women’s Radical Thought from the Exile: The Use of Justified Anger and Eloquent Rage in Second Wave Women’s Movement Manifesto,” written under the guidance of dr hab. Karolina Krasuska at the American Studies Center, University of Warsaw,
4. Herman Pańkow, the author of “Bataillean Excesses in Michael Gira’s The Consumer,”written under the guidance of dr hab. Marta Koval at the Faculty of Philology, Univesity of Gdańsk,
5. Katarzyna Prochacka, the author of “Fundamentalist Women on the Internet: Social Media lnfluencers in the Virtual Ekklesia,” written under the guidance of dr hab. Tomasz Basiuk at the American Studies Center, University of Warsaw.
Organizers: Paweł Frelik and Dominika Ferens