The awarding of the title of Honorary Doctor to Prof. Joanna Jabłkowska was justified by the following words (quoted from the website of JLU Gießen):
Few foreign scientists have made such a significant contribution to the development of Justus-Liebig University in Gießen (JLU) and its Faculty of Language, Literature and Culture as Prof. dr hab. Joanna Jabłkowska, Professor of German literature at the University of Lodz, Dean of the Faculty of Philology (2016–2024) and Vice-Rector of the University of Lodz (2008–2012).
Prof. Jabłkowska is one of the most respected Polish Germanists in Germany. She has received numerous prestigious awards, including the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany for her contribution to Polish-German relations; the Badge of Merit for the City of Lodz for her work on behalf of Jewish and German culture in Lodz; and the JLU Medal for her contribution to the academic partnership between Gießen and Lodz. Joanna Jabłkowska promotes Polish-German student and faculty exchanges, initiates numerous bilateral research projects and study programmes with various German universities, and since 2010 has served as a member of the advisory board of the Deutsch-Polnische Wissenschaftsstiftung (Polish-German Foundation for Science). For her contribution to Polish-German scientific cooperation and the promotion of German studies abroad, the Faculty of Language, Literature, and Culture at JLU Gießen awards this distinguished scholar of German literature an honorary doctorate.
During the ceremony, Prof. Jabłkowska was accompanied by a large delegation from the University of Lodz, including Prof. Katarzyna de Lazari-Radek, the University of Lodz Vice-Rector for the Internationalisation of Science and Education, Prof. Dorota Kaczmarek, Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Philology of the University of Lodz, and the laureate's colleagues from the Institute of German Philology of the University of Lodz. Prof. Jabłkowska honoured the ceremony by delivering a lecture entitled "Un-Ort, traumatischer Ort, Gedenkort. Eva Menasses 'Dunkelblum' (2021)", which thematically combined several research areas: the discourse of memory in literature, Holocaust literature, Austrian coming to terms with the Nazi past and the motif of migration in literature.
We would like to offer our congratulations to Prof. Jabłkowska on this prestigious award!!
Photos: JLU Gießen / Prof. Katarzyna de Lazari-Radek
