During the winter semester 2004/05 and the summer semester 2005, the sociologist PD Dr Ingrid Oswald (St Petersburg) held the visiting professorship, which had been secured by the Institute of Political Science. Dr Oswald’s research focus is on migration and ethnic relations, as well as gender relations, using Eastern Europe as an empirical case study. She taught courses on the following topics: ‘Migration and transnational social spaces in Eastern (and Central) Europe’, ‘Changes in everyday life in the post-socialist era’ and ‘Teaching and research: a script for a village history’.

In the 2003 summer semester, Dr Amatalrauf Al-Sharki held the international visiting professorship. The interrelated themes of ‘Western modernity – Islam – the public sphere – gender’ form a central area of research for Dr Al-Sharki, who can be described as arguably the most prominent Yemeni scholar in the field of women’s studies. The Women’s Studies Centre at the University of Sana’a was conceived and directed by Dr Al-Sharki. Alongside her teaching, she was extensively involved in journalism across the Arab world and, in particular, in her home country of Yemen. She taught courses on the following topics: “Gender in/and Media” and “Islamic Feminists – Islamic Feminism?”. The wide-ranging contacts she made during her tenure as a visiting professor led, amongst other things, to joint research projects with Prof. Dr Ellwanger and Dr Lydia Potts. The Gender Centre at the University of Sana’a (as it is now known) is involved in the project “German-Arab University Dialogue: Politics and Gender”, conceived by Dr Lydia Potts and Martina Kamp.

During the summer semester of 2002, Prof. Dr Bozena Choluj (Warsaw), a literary and cultural studies scholar, served as a visiting professor as part of the doctoral degree programme in Cultural Studies and Gender Studies. Since 1996, Prof. Dr Choluj has headed the ‘Gender Studies’ subject at the University of Warsaw and also holds a professorship in Comparative Central European Studies at Viadrina University in Frankfurt (Oder). Her research focuses on the body, politics and gender; the textual reproduction of gender power relations; the women’s movement in Poland; and religion and gender. Prof. Dr Choluj has taught courses on the Polish women’s movement, on literary constructions of the body in Polish and German texts, and on the political instrumentalisation of motherhood under fascism and communism.

The Centre for Interdisciplinary Women's and Gender Studies at the Carl von Ossietzky University (ZFG) was awarded an international visiting professorship for Women's and Gender Studies by the Nieders. MWK was made available. The ZFG was able to recruit Dr Sheila Meintjes, political scientist and Director of the Gender Studies Programme at the Graduate School of the Humanities and Social Science at the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, for this position.

One of her research focuses is on "gender and violence": political violence, violence in and after armed conflicts and its specific impact on women. Her work on "Politics and Gender" relates on the one hand to a scientific critique of Western political theory and political philosophy, but also to the documentation of the discriminatory effects of public policy on women using the example of South Africa and the identification of opportunities to defend oneself against this discrimination. Dr Sheila Meintjes has conducted research on various forms of protest by women. Her basic thesis is that women's civil rights are based on a "sexual contract" with bourgeois society that has become second nature to them.

A combination of research with women's and socio-political commitment characterises the academic profile of her work. She was politically active during the apartheid era as one of the founders of the "United Women's Organisation in Western Cape" and in the "Women's National Coalition". At the beginning of this year, she was nominated by the Women's National Commission as a member of the Commission for Gender Equality at the South African Ministry of Justice.

As part of her various teaching and research activities, Dr Sheila Meintjes held the following events during her 2-month stay at the University of Oldenburg:

• 1 Seminar:
  Gender based violence in South Africa
• 2 colloquia:
  Body Politics in South Africa: Is citizenship still a sexual contract?
  Engaging the state: Women organising against violence against women
• 2 lectures:
  for interested parties from the university and the region and in co-operation with the Centre for Feminist Studies (ZFS) in Bremen
  A History of Women's Struggles for Gender Equality in the 1990s
  in South Africa
• Extensive participation in the international conference 'Societies in Transition - Challenges to Women's and Gender Studies' as advisor for the focus on South Africa

The seminar was very well received by the students. The various colloquia and lectures also met with broad interest. Building on the fruitful collaboration during the visiting professorship, further co-operation projects are planned for the future. A two-semester seminar cycle on 'Social Policy and Gender in newly integrated Countries' is currently being planned, which will be offered in parallel at the CvO University of Oldenburg and the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. It serves as preparation for research stays and internships in the other country. For the winter semester 2002/2003, a group of South African students will be offered a stay in Oldenburg. In the summer semester 2003, students from Oldenburg will then have the opportunity to study in South Africa. It is assumed that the group will consist of approx. 10 students, who should preferably be in the final phase of their studies. The financing of this project is still open. (If you are interested, please contact . Overall, Dr Sheila Meintjes' stay and academic commitment provided inspiring impetus for the ZFG's further work in research and teaching. Both the courses offered by the International Visiting Professorship in Women's and Gender Studies and the follow-up project 'Student Exchange' will deepen an international perspective within women's and gender studies.