ACC Dissertation Prize Winners
Among the first initiatives of the ACC’s Foundation Programme was the creation in 1996 of a series of dissertation prizes to encourage scholarly work in the field of Austrian Studies at Canadian universities. These included the sponsorship of a Ph.D. Thesis prize of $1000 or M.A. Thesis prizes of $500 (up to a total of $1,500 in the field of Austrian literature, or comparative literature with an Austrian dimension, and a Ph.D. Thesis prize of $1000 or M.A. Thesis prizes of $500 (up to a total of $1,500) in the field of “Austrian Studies” (that is, all social sciences, humanities and related fields). An academic adjudication committee consisting of three eminent senior Canadian professors of Austrian Studies was established to assess the applicants.
2008 Winner: Dr. John Wiebe
Thesis Title: “Carl Czerny – Mass No. 2 in C Major: A Biedermeier Composition in Life and in Practice”
“In his dissertation Dr. Wiebe examines the life of Carl Czerny as a performer, teacher and composer, focusing specifically on Czerny’s contribution as a composer of church music and placing these contributions within the cultural context of the Biedermeier era in Austria. The main body of the work consists of a modern performance edition of Czerny’s Mass No. 2, based on archival manuscripts held by the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna. This not only presents the work for the first time to modern audiences, but also provides an exposition of the work’s uniqueness and strengths that will have the effect of bringing a neglected Austrian musical genius the prominence he deserves. It is a work of musical archaeology that has unearthed the tip of a yet to be excavated larger treasure.”
– from the Report of the Selection Committee
2005 Winner: Dr. Marc-Oliver Schuster
Thesis Title: “H.C. Artmann’s Structuralist Imagination: A Semiotic Study of his Aesthetic and Postmodernity”
2002 Winner: Dr. Alexandra Heberger
Thesis Title: “Der Mythos Mann in ausgewählten Prosawerken von Elfriede Jelinek”
1998 Winner: Dr. Jill Scott
Thesis Title: “Electra after Freud: Death, Hysteria and Mourning”
The committee finds that “the breadth and depth of the coverage of this intellectual dissertation is quite astonishing.” It further goes on to say: “The presentation of the theoretical background and the methodology is impressive as is her highly analytical, evaluative discussion of the relevant technical literature. But the dissertation really shines in the original, creative application of the insights of others to her own themes.”
1997 Winner: Dr. Brigitte Gerdes
Thesis Title: “Johann Nestroy’s Der Talisman: An English Performance Translation”
1996 Winner: Dr. Jürgen Heizmann
Thesis Title: “Antike und Moderne in Hermann Brochs Tod des Vergel: Über Dichtung und Wissenschaft, Theorie und Ideologie”