On 6 December, the official announcement of the results and presentation of awards in the first edition of the mayor’s competition for the best master’s or doctoral theses on the history and contemporary life of our city took place at the Wedding Palace in Bolesławiec. The competition covered theses defended during the 2005/2006 and 2006/2007 academic years at all public and private universities in Poland.
The results of the first edition of the competition were announced by the chair of the Jury, Jerzy Zieliński. The first prize went to Monika Rutyna for her master’s thesis, “GIS as a Tool for Supporting Data Organisation and Its Application in the Revitalisation Process Using Bolesławiec as an Example.” The thesis supervisor was Jadwiga Brzuchowska of Wrocław University of Technology.
“I wanted to create a practical thesis,” the competition winner told Boleslawiec.org. “I received a great deal of data from the Municipal Office concerning residents, unemployment and crime. I linked this data with address data. This allowed me to analyse the social situation in Bolesławiec and the state of housing.” Through her research, the winner identified the most degraded area in our city, which the city authorities should take into account in the revitalisation plan. Indeed, the practical value of Monika Rutyna’s thesis is difficult to overestimate. “In return for receiving the data, I wanted to create a database that the city could later use and make available online,” the winner added.
The second prize went to Katarzyna Maczel for her master’s thesis, “The Old Theatre in Bolesławiec: Yesterday and Today.” The thesis by the second-place winner, written under the supervision of Janusz Degler (State Higher School of Theatre in Kraków, Wrocław Branches, Puppet Theatre Faculty), presents the history of the Bolesławiec theatre—from the first Passion plays, through the pre-war period, to the present day. According to the winner, Bolesławiec needs a permanent theatre group. “We have very talented young people. But there is no centre that would develop their artistic senses,” said Katarzyna Maczel.
The third prize went to Andrzej Olejniczak for his master’s thesis, “The Wartime Burden on the Western Part of Lower Silesia during the Napoleonic Campaigns of 1806/07 and 1813,” written under the supervision of Marek Czapliński (University of Wrocław, Faculty of Historical and Pedagogical Sciences, Institute of History).
“I wrote about the wartime burdens imposed on the population of Lower Silesia, particularly its western part, during the Napoleonic campaigns,” said the third-place winner. It is worth adding that the thesis is innovative. While there were countless studies on military operations during that period, no one had previously examined more broadly the attitude of the Silesian population towards Napoleonic troops.
Andrzej Olejniczak spent several years collecting material for his master’s thesis. “I regret that the pre-war Bolesławiec archive was lost. There would certainly have been much more data concerning Bolesławiec. Most of what I managed to find came from Bolesławiec chronicles,” the winner noted.
The Jury of the Competition, appointed by the mayor of Bolesławiec, included representatives of academic and teaching staff: Jolanta Góralczyk, Robert Masztalski and Grzegorz Strauchold, as well as representatives of the Municipal Office: Jerzy Zieliński and Jacek Dudyński. Here are the reasons for the Jury’s decisions:
First prize: “Monika Rutyna’s thesis is an excellent tool enabling research into areas designated for inclusion in the Local Development Plan and, through the author’s creation of a computerised database, the identification of crisis areas and those showing the highest degree of degradation. By applying sociological, demographic and statistical methods, the thesis gives the city the opportunity to conduct further research. In the Jury’s opinion, it is the most interesting study among the submitted works.”
Second prize: “Katarzyna Maczel’s thesis presents the history of Bolesławiec’s theatrical life in an impressive manner, with particular emphasis on an analysis of the theatre’s post-war history, significantly enriching knowledge of these events. The thesis provides a basis for the revitalisation of the theatre institution in the city and Bolesławiec County. The Jury members decided that the nature of the thesis allows it to reach a wide audience. Therefore, it was decided that this particular thesis was best suited for publication.”
Third prize: “Andrzej Olejniczak’s thesis is a successful attempt to document events in Lower Silesia during the Napoleonic Wars. It presents interesting facts from the history of the western part of Lower Silesia, including Bolesławiec, during that period, from the perspective of the wartime burdens endured by the civilian population. It is pioneering in its field, as previous works devoted to this subject have focused mainly on military campaigns. The study is of considerable value, but exceeds the Competition’s established framework because of its weaker connection with the implementation of the city’s development plans.”
The awards were ceremonially presented to the winners and their supervisors by Bolesławiec Mayor Piotr Roman and Janina Piestrak-Babijczuk, chair of the City Council. The ceremony was attended, among others, by the winners’ parents, friends and acquaintances.
In addition to letters of congratulations, the winners received financial prizes of PLN 3,000 (first prize), PLN 2,000 (second prize) and PLN 1,000 (third prize). The financial awards for the supervisors amounted to PLN 2,000. Moreover, the thesis by second-place winner Katarzyna Maczel will be published.
The Next Edition of the Competition Begins
Bolesławiec Mayor Piotr Roman announced the next edition of the competition for the best master’s or doctoral thesis on the history and contemporary life of Bolesławiec, defended during the 2006/2007 and 2007/2008 academic years at all public and private universities in Poland. Entries must be submitted by post by 20 September 2008. Detailed information about the competition can be found on the Municipal Office website.
(UM/GA information)