2025 M.A. Thesis Award
We are pleased to announce the results of the 15th Annual Polish Association of American Studies Award for the Best MA Thesis in American Studies, written at a Polish university in the academic year 2024/2025.
The members of this year’s jury—Dr. Elżbieta Wilczyńska (Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań), Chair; Prof. Elżbieta Rokosz (University of Rzeszów); and Dr. Tomasz Jacheć (University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn)—read and evaluated each of the nine anonymized MA theses, assigning points on a scale of 1 to 10 in four categories (see Dr. Elżbieta Wilczyńska’s report on the jury’s proceedings in the attachment).
Following this evaluation, the jury unanimously awarded first place to Dominik Jaszczuk for the MA thesis entitled “Embodying the Unknowable: Formless, Feminine, and TransLovecraftian Monsters in Bloodborne and Elden Ring,” written under the guidance of Prof. Karolina Krasuska at the American Studies Center, University of Warsaw.
Additionally, the jury decided to award three distinctions (listed in alphabetical order by surname):
- Kacper Kusio for “From Bomb Squads to Wharves and Bandanas: Modern Representation of Postcolonial Hip-hop Identity in the Works of billy woods and Mach-Hommy,” written under the guidance of Prof. Justyna Włodarczyk (University of Warsaw).
- Piotr Matczak for “Productivity of Space in Selected Los Angeles Novels from the 1960s: Joan Didion, Charles Bukowski, Christopher Isherwood,” written under the guidance of Prof. Paulina Ambroży (Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań).
- Julita Wróblewska for “‘If Nothing Comes Up, You Don’t Bring It Up’: Identity, Racial Passing, and Intersectionality in Nella Larsen’s Passing, Philip Roth’s The Human Stain, and Brit Bennett’s The Vanishing Half,” written under the guidance of Dr. Jarosław Hetman (Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń).
As organizers of the competition, we join the jurors in congratulating the authors and advisors of all nine excellent MA theses. Here are the remaining finalists:
1. Paweł Michał Baran, the author of “Transmediality and memory: The image of Vietnam War in traditional and new media,” written under the guidance of Prof. Beata Zawadka (University of Szczecin)
2. Anna Kobylowska, the author of “Reparative Reading of LGBTQ+ Young Adult Literature: Gender, Sexuality, and Memory in Malinda Lo’s Young Adult Historical Fiction,” written under the guidance of Prof. Mateusz Świetlicki (University of Wrocław)
3. Kamila Kraut, the author of “Moral, Sociological, and Cosmological Crime: Facets of Lovecraft’s Forensic Sensibility,” written under the guidance of Prof. Zofia Kolbuszewska (University of Wrocław)
4. Michał Nadolski, the author of “Slowness As a Means of Protest, With a Focus on Slow Cinema Through the Lens of Jim Jarmusch and Kelly Reichardt,” written under the guidance of Prof. Arkadiusz Misztal (University of Gdańsk)
5. Julia Wajdziak, the author of “Verse as Protest: Political Poetics in the Works of Eileen Myles,” written under the guidance of Prof. Tomasz Basiuk (American Studies Center, University of Warsaw)
The winner of the first prize, Dominik Jaszczuk (ASC), is encouraged to publish a paper based on his MA thesis in the Polish Journal for American Studies.
Our warmest congratulations to the participants and their advisors! We look forward to receiving next year’s submissions and we encourage PAAS members to serve as Jurors.
Best regards,
Edyta Frelik and Justyna Wierzchowska
Competition Organizers