Paweł Baran

PhD Candidate in Literary Studies at the University of Szczecin Doctoral School

 

Hello, my name is Paweł, and I come from Szczecin, Poland. I started my education at the University of Szczecin Doctoral School in October 2025 and will be coming to Alberta to conduct my research as part of the 2026/2027 Wirth Institute Polish Doctoral Research Fellowship.

Before taking up doctoral studies, I graduated from the University of Szczecin in June 2025 and defended my MA thesis, titled “Transmediality and Memory: The Image of the Vietnam War in Traditional and New Media.” For my thesis, I was named a finalist for the 2025 PAAS (Polish Association for American Studies) MA Thesis Award.

My doctoral research deviates from my previous research, as I am currently working in the field of game studies. While my MA thesis touched on games about the Vietnam War, in my PhD thesis I delve into a subject that has always been close to my heart—digital games. My dissertation aims to reconfigure the gameplay/narrative paradigm present in thinking about interactive entertainment. I want to rethink current systems, models, and methods of looking at games and reconcile their storytelling and ludic aspects. The shift in focus in my research does not mean abandoning the topic of war. I am still interested in researching how war morphs in media, and I plan to further my research on the Vietnam War in a more comprehensive manner in the distant future.

Apart from strictly research-related work, I am a member of PAAS and the “Morphing Cultures” Research Team at the University of Szczecin. I closely cooperate with the “Cultura Popularis” Student Research Club at the University of Szczecin, which is my scientific birthplace of sorts.

Privately, I love (if you haven’t already noticed) playing video games, watching football, climbing and bouldering, and watching films.