CENTRE The Centre for Interdisciplinary Women's and Gender Studies is an interfaculty research institution affiliated with School III - School of Linguistics and Cultural Studies at the University of Oldenburg. It sees itself as a forum for inter- and transdisciplinary gender studies, which makes productive use of the interconnection of research perspectives and serves as a central point of contact on issues of gender studies for researchers, lecturers and students.

The work of the ZFG is characterised by significant contributions to basic research and its strong international focus, which is reflected in research projects from two long-standing research clusters: KNOWLEDGE – INSTITUTION – MEMORY and TRANSCULTURALITY – MIGRATIONS. The focus on cultural studies is complemented by inter- and transdisciplinary projects. The ZFG’s remit also includes a commitment to research-based teaching and raising the profile of the BA degree programme in Gender Studies.

HISTORY
The ZFG was founded in 2000 as an inter-faculty academic research institution – the first of its kind in Lower Saxony and one of the first two in Germany. Supported by the Office for Women’s Equality, the University Management and the University Senate, as well as the Lower Saxony Ministry of Science and Culture (MWK) with a ten-year funding period, twenty professors, research assistants and scholarship holders were involved in the founding process. On 17 May 2001, the directors and staff from the fields of education, social sciences and cultural studies began their work, together with members from all status groups on the newly established Centre Council.

As early as July, the first major international conference took place, laying the foundations for co-operations – some of which have lasted for many years – under the title ‘Societies in Transition – Challenges to Women’s and Gender Studies’ (Fleßner/Potts (eds.) 2002). Visiting professorships, secured through the Maria Goeppert Meyer Programme run by the MWK from 2001 until the programme’s discontinuation in 2010, also contributed to the Centre’s international profile. Female academics from Eastern Europe, the USA and New Zealand, as well as from South Africa and Yemen, enriched the work of the ZFG.

At a regional level, a ‘Cooperation Network for Gender Studies in the North-West Region’ was established with the Oldenburg/East Frisia/Wilhelmshaven University of Applied Sciences (FH OOW), a “Cooperation Network for Gender Studies in the North-West Region” was established, which developed and implemented numerous projects between 2004 and 2009, including in the areas of gender in higher education teaching and male socialisation.

The focus on social and educational sciences was expanded from 2003 to 2009 through a junior professorship, which established the field of ‘Gender, Biotechnologies and Society: Discourses on the Body and Gender Constructions’ for research and teaching. Regrettably, this line of research, with its interconnection of gender studies and the natural sciences, could not be continued following its discontinuation. During this period, the international dimension was expanded through DAAD-funded projects: ‘Politics and Gender’ with South Africa, Uganda and Yemen, and, as part of the German-Arab University Dialogue, with Morocco, Lebanon and Yemen.

From 2009/10 onwards, the ZFG’s profile shifted towards a focus on cultural studies, which coincided with a change in directorship and its affiliation with School III - School of Linguistics and Cultural Studies. The 10th anniversary was celebrated in style under the motto: “TEN TO THE POWER OF THREE – Ten Years of the ZFG and a New School”. The commemorative lecture by Prof. Dr Cornelia Klinger (Tübingen), ‘The Category of Gender between Nature, Culture and Society’, highlighted the overarching continuity of the centre’s research interests.

The reorganisation of the ZFG was also accompanied by changes to the staffing situation. Overall, in its 2013 evaluation report on the state of gender studies at universities in Lower Saxony, the Lower Saxony Scientific Commission issued a certificate stating that the centre had achieved a “successful generational transition” and served as a “beacon” for Lower Saxony.

In 2011, the annual Gender Studies Day was also introduced, at which members of the university and the wider region present their research projects in the fields of gender and queer studies for discussion. In the years that followed, the ZFG was able to host annual conferences (KEG/FG 2011, LAGEN 2013), and expand its co-operations, such as with the Erasmus Mundus degree programme ‘European Master in Migration and Intercultural Relations’ (EMMIR) ( since 2011), the Helene Lange Kolleg ‘Queer Studies and Intermediality: Art – Music – Media Culture – Music – Media Culture (2013–2016) and LAGEN, including the conference ‘Queering Migration Studies’ (Oldenburg 2014).

Of particular significance is the development of interdisciplinary and transnational collaborative research projects: the project ‘Gender Knowledge within and between Disciplines: Critique, Transformation and “Dissident Participation” in (Academic) Knowledge Production’ (2015–2019) examined the conditions under which gender knowledge has been produced from the 1970s to the present day through an interdisciplinary comparison of biology, Computing Science, and art and cultural studies. The research network ‘Gender, Refugee Movements, Reception Policies: Processes of Gendered Inclusion and Exclusion in Lower Saxony’ (2016–2020) analysed reception and integration policies in Germany from a gender-theoretical perspective. The teaching and research project “Transnational Perspectives in Gender Studies” (2019–2022) brings together (trans-)national perspectives on a teaching and learning platform.

REGULAR ACTIVITIES
Events: Various perspectives on gender studies are regularly presented and discussed in public. Since 2017, these have been brought together in the three-part event series “Where Gender is a Hot Topic: The Current Relevance of Gender Studies in Academia, Culture and Society”, comprising lectures, round-table discussions, half-day conferences and lunch talks. The range of topics has spanned from the current threats to gender studies – particularly in individual countries such as Turkey – through to perspectives on interdisciplinary postcolonial approaches in gender studies, and on to current developments during the pandemic.

Gender Studies Day: Aimed specifically at supporting early-career researchers, this annual event provides an opportunity to exchange project ideas and research findings.

Publication series: The ZFG publishes two series: *Studies in Interdisciplinary Gender Research* (since 2002, transcript Verlag, Bielefeld) and *Oldenburg Contributions to Gender Research* (since 2004, BIS-Verlag, Oldenburg)

FLYER on the history of the ZFG (2001–2021) available for download as a PDF (in English)