Potter College News

Men Out of Focus by WKU faculty member Marko Dumančić received the Svetlana Boym Best Book in Cultural Studies from the American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages (AATSEEL).

Reviewers have praised the book as having "the potential to make a major contribution to available scholarship" and for being "a fascinating piece of work, meticulously researched and detailed, yet thoroughly accessible." 

The book, published in 2021 by Toronto University Press, explores masculinity in Soviet cinema and popular media during the liberal period – often described as "The Thaw" – between the death of Stalin in 1953 and the invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968. (Read more about the book at https://utorontopress.com/9781487505257/men-out-of-focus/)

“Winning this award is all the more meaningful because it justifies the support and encouragement the History Department and PCAL have shown for this book project,” said Dr.  Dumančić, Associate Professor of History.

"This book is special to me because so much of it was (re)written in the company of thoughtful and supportive colleagues in Cherry Hall as well as downtown Spencer's coffee shop. Although the book is about the Soviet Union in the 1950s and 1960s, it came together on WKU's campus and downtown Bowling Green so that it embodies the spirit of our university,” said Dr.  Dumančić, who also serves as Assistant Provost for Faculty Development and Student Success and Director for the Center for Innovative Teaching & Learning.

Men Out of Focus was one of eight winners of AATSEEL’s 2022 Book Prizes announced on February 19.

AATSEEL, founded in 1941, exists to advance the study and promote the teaching of Slavic and East European languages, literatures, and cultures on all educational levels -- elementary through graduate school.

Contact: Marko Dumančić, marko.dumancic@wku.edu