2021 Aquila Polonica Prize Winner Announced

LOS ANGELES - Dec. 9, 2021 - PRLog -- Jessica Robbins, Associate Professor, Wayne State University, has won the 2021 Aquila Polonica Article Prize.

The biennial Aquila Polonica Article Prize is given to the author of the best English-language article published during the previous two years on any aspect of Polish studies. Administered by the Polish Studies Association ("PSA"), which appoints the independent judges, the award carries a $500 honorarium donated by Aquila Polonica Publishing.

About the Winning Article:

Jessica C. Robbins, "Expanding Personhood beyond Remembered Selves: The Sociality of Memory at an Alzheimer's Center in Poland," Medical Anthropology Quarterly, Vol. 33, Issue 4, 483–500, ISSN 0745-5194, online ISSN 1548-1387.

The prize committee was deeply impressed with Robbins's examination of a case study of elderly Poles being treated for memory loss. Robbins observed treatment that encouraged the recall of common national memory as opposed to individual memories, with salutary effects on the patients. Her argument about what she calls the "sociality of memory" offers a way forward for the care of those with Alzheimer's disease, but also offers broader insights about the social position of the elderly, nationalism, memory, and modern Poland.

In addition to the winner, the committee also awarded honorable mention to the following two articles:

Tomasz Grusiecki, "Close Others: Poles in the Visual Imaginary of Early Modern Amsterdam," Slavonic and East European Review 98, no. 4 (2020): 654–89.

Oliver Zajac, "The Map as a Political Manifesto: The Case of Karta dawnej Polski and Hôtel Lambert's Concepts of the Polish State and Nation," In Zeitschrift für Ostmitteleuropa-Forschung/Journal of East-Central European Studies 69, no. 3 (2020): 327-54. ISSN 0948-8294.

"It is our very great pleasure to congratulate Professor Robbins and our two honorable mentions, Professor Grusiecki of Boise State University and Oliver Zajac of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, for their outstanding work on three wide-ranging topics," said Aquila Polonica president Terry Tegnazian. "I also wish to thank this year's prize committee, which consisted of Jadwiga Biskupska and Janine Holc, for their hard work and thoughtful commentary."

PSA president Keely Stauter-Halsted commented, "Overall, the committee was quite impressed with the quality of the submissions. The state of publishing in Polish studies (in all disciplines) appears to be quite strong, and the existence of this prize helps to highlight the accomplishments of our membership."

About Aquila Polonica Publishing
Aquila Polonica is an award-winning independent publisher based in Los Angeles, specializing in publishing, in English, the WWII experience of Poland. A member of Association of American Publishers and the Independent Book Publishers Association, its books have garnered rave reviews in major media such as the New York Times, New Republic and Atlantic, won awards, been translated to foreign languages and licensed as audiobooks. See more at: www.AquilaPolonica.com.