2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

20 years of ZFG – a reason to celebrate!

The ZFG at the University of Oldenburg played a pioneering role in establishing Gender Studies: it was opened on 17 May 2001 as the first centre of its kind in Lower Saxony and one of the first in Germany, and has since made a significant contribution to enriching the research landscape. Supported by the then Office for Women’s Equality, the University Management and the University Senate, as well as the Lower Saxony Ministry of Science and Culture, twenty professors, research assistants and scholarship holders were involved in the founding process. Prof. Dr Heike Fleßner played a key role as a founding member and long-standing director; sadly, she passed away in February.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the anniversary conference was postponed by a year – but the celebrations will go ahead!

The ZFG’s activities continued online in 2021 – again restricted by the pandemic, but with no less commitment:

Winter semester 2020/21: Series oflectures: “Gender Research – Gender Activism. Inter- and transdisciplinary perspectives on gender studies”
As part ofthe series of lectures, researchers and activists from Germany and abroad were invited. The event, organised by the BA in Gender Studies, was organised and run in co-operation with the ZFG and, in part, as part of the series: “Where Gender Matters: The Current Relevance of Gender Studies in Academia, Culture and Society”:

3 January 2021: Lecture by Katharina Hoffmann (Oldenburg): “Gender Justice and Social Movements”
Dr Katharina Hoffmann is a freelance historian and lectures at the University of Oldenburg.

20 January 2021: Lecture by Almut Höfert (Oldenburg): ‘Gender before modern biology: biological sex in the Middle Ages’

Prof. Dr Almut Höfert is Director of the ZFG and works at the Institute of History at the University of Oldenburg.

27 January 2021: Lecture by Ikhlas Nouh Osman (Omdurman, Sudan): “Feminist Activism during the Sudanese Revolution and Current Developments” ( “Where Gender Burns”)

Prof. Dr Ikhlas Osman works at Ahfad University for Women in Omdurman, Sudan, specialising in gender studies, feminism and activism.

27 January 2021: Lunchtime talk “Digital Gender Studies – and what next?” ( “Where Gender Burns”)

Discussion on current topics and, in particular, on teaching during the previous semesters, which was affected by the pandemic.

11 May 2021: Lecture by Esra Ummak (Oslo, Norway): “Untangling the Relationship between Internalised Heterosexism and Psychological Intimate Partner Violence Perpetration: A Comparative Study of Lesbian and Bisexual Women in Turkey and Denmark”

Dr Esra Ummak works at the Institute of Psychology at the University of Oslo. The lecture, part of the “Where Gender Burns” series, took place in co-operation with CMC Oldenburg and Scholars at Risk, the nationwide support organisation for refugee academics.

8 June 2021: Lecture by Kristina Novy (Oldenburg): “Gender Equality Policy at Universities. Developments and dynamics linking ‘gender’ and ‘diversity’ from a decentralised perspective”
Kristina Novy works at the Institute of Educational Sciences and is the decentralised Gender Equality Officer of the School. Her lecture took place as part of a series of lectures on “Inter- and Transdisciplinary Perspectives”.

2–3 July 2021: Current focus “QUE(E)RULIERT!

at the Institute of Art and Visual Culture’s conference ‘QUE(E)RULIERT! Practices of Disruption in Art / Media / Academia’ from 2–3 July 2021 (online) at the University of Oldenburg.

Panels and roundtable discussions featuring Cornelia Bartsch (Dortmund), Ulrike Bergermann (Braunschweig), Atlanta Beyer (Rhein-Waal), Antke Engel (Berlin), Natascha Frankenberg (Bochum), Rena Onat (Berlin), Claudia Reiche (Bremen), Andrea Seier (Vienna), Andrea Sick (Bremen), Helene von Oldenburg (Rastede/Hamburg), Silke Wenk (Berlin) and Alexander Henschel, Katharina Hoffmann, Barbara Paul, Sylvia Pritsch, Rahel Puffert, Lüder Tietz (Oldenburg).

29 October 2021. Current focus: “Queer(ing) Belongings in the Indian Nation-State. In/Visibilities in digital and physical spaces”. An online series of LISTENING, TALKING & VIEWING ROOMS on post/decolonial theories and concerns
Part I: Following an introductory overview by the organisers Yashka Chavan (Mumbai/Münster), Baldeep Grewal (Mumbai/Potsdam), Katharina Hoffmann and Sylvia Pritsch (Oldenburg), two presentations with discussions took place:

Rohit Dasgupta (School of Culture & Creative Arts, University of Glasgow): “No vernacs, speak proper English – Class, Caste and Privilege in Digital Queer India”

Vikramaditya Sahai (New Delhi): “What does it take to survive? Towards a practice of abolition of transphobia”.

Part II 10 November 2021: Public film screening at Cine K: “Papilio Buddha” ( Jayan K. Cherian, 2013)

14 November 2021: Support for the reading “This is my story. Women in conversation about fleeing and arriving”
In the book: “This Is My Story: Women in Conversation about Flight and Arrival”, seven conversations between women about their lived experiences, their flight and their arrival in Germany are presented. The reading took place on 14 November 2021 at CineK in Oldenburg.

17 November 2021: Lecture by Ulrike Koopmann (Oldenburg):“Refugee Women and ‘Integration’ – Measures, Critical Questions and Needs”
Dr Ulrike Koopmann works at the Institute of Educational Sciences at the University of Oldenburg. On 17 November 2021, she gave a lecture as part of a series of lectures “Inter- and Transdisciplinary Perspectives in Gender Studies” organised by the BA in Gender Studies.

26 November 2021: 11th Gender Studies Day
Discussion on current research projects; held online again this year, with a focus on journalism, safe spaces and non-binary identity.

1 December 2021: Lecture by Ikhlas Nouh Osman (Omdurman, Sudan): “Feminist Activism during the Sudanese Revolution and Current Developments”

Prof. Dr Ikhlas Osman works at Ahfad University for Women in Omdurman, Sudan, specialising in feminism and activism. Her lecture, delivered as part of the series of lectures “Inter- and Transdisciplinary Perspectives on Gender Studies” and the event series “Where Gender Burns”, addressed the latest developments since the start of the year.

8 December 2021: Lecture by Lüder Tiez (Oldenburg): “Two-Spirit: LSBT*I*/Q in Indigenous North America”.
Dr. phil. Lüder Tiez works at the Institute of Material Culture at the University of Oldenburg and gave his lecture as part of a series of lectures “Inter- and Transdisciplinary Perspectives on Gender Studies” organised by the BA in Gender Studies.

15 December 2021: Film screening of “Tunten zwecklos – The Secret Life of Hamburg’s Bollenmädels” (Jutta Riedel/Mirek Balonis 2021)
The film will be screened as part of a series of lectures “Inter- and Transdisciplinary Perspectives on Gender Studies”, followed by a discussion with the filmmakers.

Winter semester 2019/20: Series of lectures: "Changes. Inter- and transdisciplinary perspectives on gender studies"
Researchers and artists from Germany and abroad have been invited. The event of the BA Gender Studies is organised in co-operation with the ZFG.

23 January 2020: Lecture by Corinna Bath (Braunschweig)
^{Profin Drin-Ingin} Corinna Bath, Maria Goeppert-Mayer Professor of Gender, Technology and Mobility at TU Braunschweig and Ostfalia University of Applied Sciences, gave a lecture on 23 January 2020 on "Artificial Intelligence and Digitalisation. Staying 'responsible' in times of automated decisions". The event was part of the series "Where gender burns".

26 May 2020: Lecture by Sheila Meintjes (Johannesburg/South Africa)
Prof. Dr Sheila Meintjes from the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg/South Africa gave a lecture on "Current Debates in South African Feminism" on 26 May 2020. The event was part of the video lecture series "Transnational Feminisms in India, South Africa, Morocco" organised by the BA Gender Studies in co-operation with the ZFG event series "Where Gender Burns".

2 June 2020: Lecture by Paula Banerjee (Kolkata/India)
Prof. Dr. Paula Banerjee from the University of Calcutta in Kolkata/India gave a lecture on "Women's Activism in India (Bengal)" on 2 June 2020. The event was part of the video lecture series "Transnational Feminisms in India, South Africa, Morocco" organised by the BA Gender Studies in co-operation with the ZFG event series "Wo Gender brennt".

16 June 2020: Lecture by Fatima Sadiqi (Fès/ Morocco)
Prof. Dr Fatima Sadiqi from Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University in Fès/ Morocco gave a lecture on "Feminist Achievements in Morocco" on 16 June 2020.
The event was part of the video lecture series "Transnational Feminisms in India, South Africa, Morocco" organised by the BA Gender Studies in co-operation with the ZFG event series "Wo Gender brennt".

30 June 2020: Online Round Table "Gender on/under Fire: Transnational Feminist Perspectives on the Corona-Pandemic"
On 30 June 2020, the Online Round Table "Transnational Feminist Perspectives on the Corona-Pandemic" took place as a current focal point of the series "Where Gender burns" and as the conclusion of the video lecture series "Transnational Feminisms in India, South Africa, Morocco". The speakers were Prof Dr Sheila Meintjes (Johannesburg, South Africa), Prof Dr Paula Banerjee (Kolkata, India), Prof Dr Fatima Sadiqi (Fez, Morocco), Dr Lydia Potts (Oldenburg), Brigitte Boomgarden (Oldenburg) and Pia Schlechter (Oldenburg); the event was moderated by Dr Sylvia Pritsch (Oldenburg).

July 2020: Online survey: "How did you fare during the coronavirus lockdown?"
In summer 2020, the ZFG conducted an online survey on the topic of "How did you feel during the coronavirus lockdown?". Over 90 participants, including students and lecturers from Gender Studies and other disciplines, took part.

8 July 2020: Gender Studies lecturer-student meeting
On 8 July 2020, an online meeting of Gender Studies lecturers and students took place to discuss the current situation of studying, teaching and researching under coronavirus conditions. In addition, the first results of the survey "How did you fare during the Corona break" were presented.

11-13 September 2020: Open-topic workshop of the Women's and Gender Studies Section of the Gesellschaft für Musikforschung
From 11-13 September 2020, Prof. Dr Cornelia Bartsch and PD Dr Katharina Hottmann from the Institute of Music organised the open-topic workshop of the Women's and Gender Studies Section of the Gesellschaft für Musikforschung in co-operation with the ZFG online.

4 December 2020: 10th Gender Research Day
The Gender Research Day took place for the tenth time on 4 December 2020. To mark the anniversary, an online round table was organised with former speakers from the last nine years. Fifteen speakers from various German universities contributed diverse contributions from the cultural and social sciences, psychology and medicine.

Winter semester 2019/20: Series of lectures: "Gender research - gender activism. Inter- and transdisciplinary perspectives on gender studies"
Researchers and activists from Germany and abroad were invited. The event of the BA Gender Studies is organised in co-operation with the ZFG.

Publications

Barbara Paul; Corinna Bath, Silke Wenk (eds.): "Geschlechterwissen in und zwischen den Disziplinen"
In August 2020, Prof. Dr Barbara Paul (Oldenburg), ^Prof . ^Dr Corinna Bath (Braunschweig) and Prof. Dr Silke Wenk (Oldenburg) published "Geschlechterwissen in und zwischen den Disziplinen. Perspectives on the Critique of Academic Knowledge Production". It summarises the most important results of the joint research project of the same name. It is the tenth volume in the series Studien Interdisziplinäre Geschlechterforschung of the ZFG, published by transcript Verlag.

AG against discriminatory language behaviour: Flyer "Gendersensible Sprache rund um die Uni"
In order to contribute to more diversity in language at the University of Oldenburg, the working group against discriminatory language behaviour has produced the flyer "Gendersensible Sprache rund um die Uni". The working group was founded because the University of Oldenburg does not offer any centralised guidelines for gender-sensitive language. The flyer was created in the context of a course of the BA Gender Studies, which was initiated and carried out by Renata Kutinka and Pia Schlechter as part of their activities at the ZFG.

Current research projects

TraGS - Transnational Perspectives in Gender Studies
In the TraGS Transnational Perspectives in Gender Studies project, a digital teaching and learning platform is being developed that will enable students to independently develop and deepen transcultural module content in the future - independent of the attendance times of visiting academics. It is being carried out in collaboration with the three participating professors Prof. Dr Sheila Meintjes (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa), Prof. Dr Paula Banerjee (University of Kolkata, India) and Prof. Fatima Sadiqi, Sidi Ben Abdallah University, Fez, Morocco). TraGS is funded by the programme "Innovation Plus. Innovative Teaching and Learning Concepts" programme of the Lower Saxony Ministry of Science and Culture.

Joint project "Gender - Flight - Reception Policies: Processes of Gendered Inclusion and Exclusion in Lower Saxony"
The aim of the research network is to examine reception and integration policies in Germany from a gender-theoretical perspective in view of the increased challenge of accommodating, receiving and, in the broadest sense, integrating the growing number of refugees. The focus is on gendered processes of differential inclusion in the context of reception policies and the discourses that accompany them. These processes are empirically examined in four central areas: voluntary and municipal refugee work, labour market integration, violence prevention and media discourse. This research network (Göttingen, Lüneburg, Oldenburg, Osnabrück) is funded by the state of Lower Saxony.

Winter semester 2018/19: Series of lectures "Diversifying Gender! Inter- and transdisciplinary perspectives on gender studies"
Researchers and artists from Germany and abroad have been invited. The event is organised by the BA Gender Studies in co-operation with the ZFG.

16 January 2019: Lunchtalk* "Generationsof gender studies"
To mark the anniversaries of "100 years of women's suffrage" and "50 years of the autonomous women's movement", a look was taken at older theoretical texts in women's and gender studies, such as those by Ilse Dröge-Modelmog, under the question "Generations of gender studies: do the feminist wheels always have to be reinvented?".

23 January 2019: Lecture by Jodi Bieber (Johannesburg/South Africa)
Photographer Jodi Bieber from Johannesburg/South Africa gave a lecture on "On 'Real Beauty', 'Quiet' Men, 'Women who have murdered their husbands' and other Portraits of the artist" as part of the series of lectures "Diversifying Gender! Inter- and transdisciplinary perspectives on gender studies". In it, she presented three of her portrait series, which were on display from 25 January to 29 March 2019 in the exhibition "Jodi Bieber - Works on Gender" curated by Alejandro Perdomo Daniels at the Vegesacker Geschichtenhaus and in the gallery in the foyer of the Bremen Chamber of Employees.

8 May 2019: Lunchtalk: "Have you seen the story yet? #QueerFeministContent on the net"
A range of queerfeminist stories are disseminated in various formats on social networks. At the Lunchtalk*, participants discussed the specific content involved and reported on their own individual usage behaviour. Various postings that are disseminated by specific # or what certain (queer) feminist users publish were discussed.

21 May 2019: Workshop with Anja Hänsch: "Feminism in Islam - an introduction"
Islam, literature and political scientist Anja Hänsch (Amsterdam) held a workshop on "Feminism in Islam - an introduction". Various currents of Islamic feminism, their specific definitions of "feminism", as well as conflicts and limits were discussed. The event was a current focal point of the event series "Where Gender Burns".

17 June 2019: Round table with Rida Inam (Frankfurt): "Islam and Feminism"
Rida Inam, who teaches and researches at the Academy for Islam in Science and Society (AIWG) at Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, gave a short lecture on "Islam and Feminism? Contested Positions in Science and Activism", which was then discussed in a round table with Lydia Potts.

29-30 June 2019: Workshop: "No more sewing machines! Feminist memory work in India and Germany"
More than 30 years ago, many women's archives and educational institutions were founded both in India and in German-speaking countries. Their work has not lost its topicality even today: gender systems have changed, women's rights have been strengthened, yet anti-feminist backlashes are still taking place, gender concepts have multiplied and various structures of power and oppression are being scrutinised. These topics were discussed with the Indian archive SPARROW (Sound & Picture Archive for Research on Women) and German women's, lesbian and gender archives. The event took place in co-operation with the kreativ:LABOR in the Kulturetage and the cinema cine k, where the film "Global Feminism" (India 2002) was shown.

4 July 2019: Lecture by Anelia Kassabova (Sofia/Bulgaria)
Anelia Kassabova from the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences in Sofia, Bulgaria, gave a lecture on "Sexuality in Film: Anticonformist Feature Films of the 1960s in Socialist States".

Winter semester 2019/20: Series of lectures: "Changes. Inter- and transdisciplinary perspectives on gender studies"
Researchers and artists from Germany and abroad have been invited. The event of the BA Gender Studies is organised in co-operation with the ZFG.

29-30 October 2019: "(Re-)Reading - (Re-)Writing: Postcolonial Theories in Critical Transnational Gender-Perspectives (Indian-German Autumn School)"
At the Indian-German Autumn School "(Re-)Reading - (Re-)Writing: Postcolonial Theories in Critical Transnational Gender-Perspectives", Indian and German academics and activists gave lectures and workshops. They included Debolina Dutta (Dehli), Lydia Potts (Oldenburg), Ranabir Samaddar (Kolkata), Martin Butler (Oldenburg), Akshay Chavan (Münster), Katharina Hoffmann (Oldenburg), Gabriele Dietze (Berlin) and Baldeep Grewal (Potsdam). As part of the series of lectures "Changes. Inter- and transdisciplinary perspectives on gender studies", Ajay Sathjan (Kleve) gave a workshop on "Hegemonic white patriarchy and submissiveness in post-colonial Bollywood". In co-operation with the cinema cine k, the film "Tales of the Night Fairies" (Shohini Gosh, India 2002) was shown.

22 November 2019: 9th Gender Research Day
Eight young researchers from Oldenburg and Bremen presented their projects.

13 December 2019: Current Focus: "Gender, Family and Migration"
In co-operation with the international EMMIR and ACMS (African Center for Migration & Society) conference "African Families: Representations and Renegotiations in Migration Contexts" from 13-14 December 2019, the Current Focus of the event series "Where Gender Burns" took place on the topic of "Gender, Family and Migration". The speakers were Priscilla Afua Agyeman-Duah (Italy), Magdalena Zimmermann (Germany) and Sanjeev Dahal (Nepal); the panel was moderated by Mphatso Kamndaya (South Africa).

Current research projects

TraGS - Transnational Perspectives in Gender Studies
In the TraGS Transnational Perspectives in Gender Studies project, a digital teaching and learning platform will be developed to enable students to independently develop and deepen transcultural module content in the future - independent of the visiting scholars' attendance times. It is being carried out in collaboration with the three participating professors Prof. Dr Sheila Meintjes (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa), Prof. Dr Paula Banerjee (University of Kolkata, India) and Prof. Fatima Sadiqi, Sidi Ben Abdallah University, Fès, Morocco). TraGS is funded by the programme "Innovation Plus. Innovative Teaching and Learning Concepts" programme of the Lower Saxony Ministry of Science and Culture.

Joint project "Gender - Flight - Reception Policies: Processes of Gendered Inclusion and Exclusion in Lower Saxony"
The aim of the research network is to examine reception and integration policies in Germany from a gender-theoretical perspective in view of the increased challenge of accommodating, receiving and, in the broadest sense, integrating the growing number of refugees. The focus is on gendered processes of differential inclusion in the context of reception policies and the discourses that accompany them. These processes are empirically examined in four central areas: voluntary and municipal refugee work, labour market integration, violence prevention and media discourse. This research network (Göttingen, Lüneburg, Oldenburg, Osnabrück) is funded by the state of Lower Saxony.

Joint project: "Gender knowledge in and between disciplines: Criticism, transformation and 'dissident participation' in (academic) knowledge production"
Knowledge is always socioculturally bound, not only in everyday life but also in academic institutions. It is dependent on the locations of speech and the historically changing frameworks of what can be said and what is visible. The conditions and developments in the production of gender knowledge from the 1970s to the present day are being analysed from an interdisciplinary perspective in various areas of cultural, natural and technical sciences. The joint project of the Universities of Oldenburg and Braunschweig is funded by the State of Lower Saxony.

International joint project: "Shifting Families: Interrogating notions of 'family' in a context of contemporary African migration and diverse urban spaces, using multi-sited case studies in South Africa, Morocco, and Germany"
The international joint project examines the effects of different forms and ranges of migration on the understanding of family in a comparison between South Africa, Morocco and Germany. The project is funded by the Volkswagen Foundation.

A look back: 2018 at the ZFG

Winter Semester 2017/18: Series of lectures ‘Responsibilities: Inter- and transdisciplinary Perspectives in Gender Studies’
To what extent are processes of de/gendering and de/sexualisation, and the (academic, political) documentationof these processes, linked to responsibility? What forms and areas of responsibility are involved? Conversely, what responsibilities are attributed to gender/queer studies and queer-feminist movements? Researchers and artists from Germany and abroad were invited to address these and other questions. The event, organised by the BA in Gender Studies, is being developed in co-operation with the ZFG.

24 January 2018: Major meeting of lecturers and students inGender Studies
At themeeting oflecturers, students and organisers inGender Studies, participants reflected together on the past summer semester of 2017. The discussion from the Lunchtalk* on 29 November 2017 was also continued.

31 January 2018: Lecture and workshop by Egemen Kepekçi (Istanbul)
Egemen Kepekçi, a Turkish doctoral candidate from Istanbul, gave a lecture on ‘Queer Cinema/Media as a Means for Collective Action’ and subsequently led a workshop on the topic ‘Political Possibilities of Queer Cinema’.

1 February 2018: Lecture “Double Consciousness – Works and Projects” by Syowia Kyambi (Nairobi/Bremen)
The Kenyan artist Syowia Kyambi from Nairobi, who is currently based in Bremen, gave a lecture on the topic “Double Consciousness – Works and Projects”.

Summer Semester 2018: Co-operation with the series of lectures “Musical Orders of Knowledge” organised by the Institute of Music
The series of lectures explores how knowledge is produced, recognised, stored and disseminated. The centre is on connections between music and knowledge, but also on more general questions concerning artistic, popular and academic knowledge. Our primary focus is on different categories of musical knowledge, in particular on the categorising functions performed by historiography and by gender, ethnicity, nationality and genre (e.g. musical theatre) or media (body, writing, image, music).

In co-operation with the Institute of Music, the ZFG organised the following lectures: ‘From the Knowledge of Dance to Music’ by PD Dr Stephanie Schroedter (Heidelberg) on 9 April 2018, ‘Scholarly, Sociable, Social – The Fabrication of Early Modern Systems of Knowledge’ by Dr Sarah-Maria Schober (Basel) and ‘Values | Truth | Value Judgement. Systems of Knowledge through Structural Analyses of Music from a Feminist Perspective’ by Prof. Dr Annegret Huber (Vienna)

18 April 2018: After-lunch gaming
The Braunschweig Centre for Gender Studies developed the game ‘Identity Lotto’. This was tried out together with students and lecturers as part of an after-lunch gaming session.

What is life like in a different identity, one that I am assigned at random?

Players can take on new identities in a playful way based on the categories of gender, sexual orientation, background, body and education. The aim is to explore various aspects of life through this ‘new’ identity.

25 April 2018: Lecture ‘On the Right to Gender Diversity: Background to the Federal Constitutional Court’s Ruling on the “Third Gender”’ by Prof. Dr Konstanze Plett (Bremen)
What is gender? Is there a gender between or beyond male and female? In autumn 2017, the Federal Constitutional Court provided a clear answer: a third, positively definable category must also be admitted. In her lecture, the advisor, Prof. Dr Konstanze Plett (LL.M./UWisc.; University of Bremen), who was involved in the constitutional complaint in this case, traced the development of this legal case and demonstrated how taboos can be broken down by invoking human rights.

19 June 2018: Panel discussion ‘Gender on/under Fire: A Public Conversation on Gender-Based Violence with Perspectives from South Africa, India and Germany’
Gender-based violence is currently a controversial topic globally: e.g. femicides and ‘corrective rape’ in South Africa, various forms of rape in India, but also the gender dimensions of the displacement of the Rohingya, violence against women in the public and private spheres in Germany, and the controversy surrounding refugee and migration issues. What and who makes these topics the key issues? What are the effects of political, media or feminist interventions? What do we learn or unlearn from comparative or multi-sited gender analyses and from international academic exchange?

With Prof. Dr Paula Banerjee (Vice-Chancellor, Sanskrit College and University, Kolkata), Prof. Dr Sheila Meintjes (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg) and Dr Lydia Potts (Migration – Gender – Politics, Oldenburg), moderated by Daniela Arias Vargas (EMMIR, Oldenburg).

20 June 2018: Gender Studies staff and student meeting
Staff, students and organisers of the degree programme met to discuss the current situation in Gender Studies. Requirements for and various forms of assessment were also discussed.

25 June 2018: Current Focus: ‘Music & Gender/Politics’
Do sounds have no gender? This prejudice persists in academia and everyday understanding. Sounds generate images that tell a different story across all disciplines and genres: From more subtle gender politics in music theory and music historiography to more obvious forms in videos and performances, or subcultural ‘instrumentalisation’ through right-wing populist music trends. But queer-feminist counter-currents are also making themselves heard.

The event aims to show how gender constructions and politics recur, shift and transform across a wide variety of musical fields. In co-operation with the Institute of Music and Prof. Dr Annegret Huber and Assoc. Prof. Dr Rosa Reitsamer (both mdw/Vienna). Followed by dancing to queer-feminist music with DJ schnurrzigall.

24 October 2018: Lecture ‘Global Designs and Diversity Literacy’ by Alois S. Baleni (Johannesburg)
Alois S. Baleni (EMMIR/Oldenburg) is a doctoral candidate at the Society, Work & Politics Institute (SWOP) and the African Centre for Migration & Society (ACMS) at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Winter Semester 2018/19: series of lectures “Diversifying Gender!? Inter- and transdisciplinary perspectives in gender studies”
This event, organised by the BA in Gender Studies, is being developed in co-operation with the ZFG.

23 November 2018: 8th Gender Research Day
At this year’s ZFGGender Research Day, 13 researchers presented their current projects in the field of gender and queer studies.

23 November 2018: Lecture ‘Sustainability and Gender: 1. Potential insights and ambivalences 2. Current findings on the clothing sector’ by Prof. Dr Ines Weller (Bremen), moderated by Norbert Henzel (Oldenburg)
Ines Weller’s research focuses on sustainable consumption and production patterns, sustainability and gender, and socio-ecological research; she is Deputy Spokesperson for the artec Research Centre for Sustainability (University of Bremen).

14 December 2018: Focus: “Gender on/under Fire: Multi-sited Enquiries in the U.S. and India”
As part of the EMMIR conference “Linking Scholarship and Activism in Migration Societies: Critical Inquiries”, held from 13–15 December 2018, the ZFG organised the panel “Multi-sited Enquiries in the U.S. and India” on 14 December 2018, featuring Purna Banerjee (Presidency University, India), Brian Fehler (Texas Woman’s University, USA), Apala Kundu (independent researcher, India), Preeshita Biswas (Calcutta Research Group, India) and Kathleen Irwin (Texas Woman’s University, USA).

14 December 2018: Workshop “Researching Sex Work: Post-colonial, Feminist and Legal Predicaments” with Debolina Dutta
Debolina Dutta (University of Melbourne, Australia) presented her research on sex work in North Kolkata (India). The workshop also served as preparation for the lecture that Debolina Dutta delivered on 15 December 2018 as the keynote speaker at the EMMIR conference “Linking Scholarship and Activism in Migration Societies: Critical Inquiries”: “Working Through the Double-Binds: Refractions on Research with Sex Workers in India”.

Publications

Barbara Paul, Josch Hoenes et al.: “Perverse Assemblages. Queering Heteronormativity Inter/Medially”
Barbara Paul, together with Josch Hoenesand others, edited the anthology “Perverse Assemblages. Queering Heteronormativity Inter/Medially”, which was published by Revolver Publishing (Berlin).

LAGEN (eds.): “Restore – Interrupt – Change? Politics of (Re-)Production”
The State Working Group of Institutions for Women’s and Gender Studies in Lower Saxony has published the volume “Restore – Interrupt – Change? Politics of (Re-)Production”, to which Sylvia Pritsch (ZFG/Gender Studies) contributed the chapter “Gendering of Knowledge and Institutions”. Smilla Ebeling and Anja Zimmermann contributed the chapter “Inside, Outside and In-between: Inter_disciplinary Positioning of Feminist Art History and Feminist Science Studies”. The volume summarises the findings of the LAGEN conference “Politics of (Re)production”, held from 27 to 29 March 2017, and addresses key issues in women’s and gender studies concerning the production and reproduction of gender and societal gender relations. Drawing on a broad understanding of reproduction, the five clusters – ‘Biographies’, ‘Care’, ‘Humans and Machines’, ‘Spaces’ and ‘Knowledge and Institutions’, various aspects of this (re)production of social gender relations are examined in all their contestedness and contradictions – each from an interdisciplinary perspective.

Corinna Onnen, Susanne Rode-Breymann (eds.): “Restore – Interrupt – Change? Politics of (Re-)Production”. L’AGENda, Volume 3. Opladen, Berlin, Toronto: Barbara Budrich, 2018.

Further information on the publisher’s website: shop.budrich-academic.de/produkt/wiederherstellen-unterbrechen-veraendern-politiken-der-re-produktion/?v=3a52f3c22ed6.

Michaela Koch: “Discursive Intersexions. Daring Bodies between Myth, Medicine, and Memoir”
Michaela Koch has published the volume “Discursive Intersexions. Daring Bodiesbetween Myth, Medicine, and Memoir” with transcript Verlag as part of the “Practices of Subjectivation” series. www.transcript-verlag.de/978-3-8376-3705-2/discursive-intersexions/

Current research projects:

Joint project “Gender – Refugee – Reception Policies: Processes of Gendered Inclusion and Exclusion in Lower Saxony”
The aim of this research network is to examine reception and integration policies in Germany from a gender-theoretical perspective, in light of the increased challenges posed by the accommodation, reception and, in the broadest sense, integration of the growing number of refugees. The focus is on gendered processes of differential inclusion in the context of reception policies and the accompanying discourses. These processes are being empirically investigated through a division of labour across four key areas: voluntary and local authority work with refugees, labour market integration, violence prevention and media discourse. This research network (Göttingen, Lüneburg, Oldenburg, Osnabrück) is funded by the State of Lower Saxony [homepage].

Joint project: “Gender Knowledge within and across Disciplines: Critique, Transformation and ‘Dissident Participation’ in (Academic) Knowledge Production”
Knowledge is always socio-culturally embedded, not only in everyday life but also within academic institutions. It depends on the contexts in which it is articulated and on the historically changing frameworks of what can be said and seen. The conditions and developments in the production of gender knowledge from the 1970s to the present day are being examined from an interdisciplinary perspective across various fields of the humanities, natural sciences and engineering. The joint project between the Universities of Oldenburg and Braunschweig is funded by the State of Lower Saxony [project description].

International joint project: “Shifting Families: Interrogating notions of ‘family’ in a context of contemporary African migration and diverse urban spaces, using multi-sited case studies in South Africa, Morocco, and Germany”
This international joint project examines the impact of different forms and scales of migration on the understanding of family, comparing South Africa, Morocco and Germany [homepage]. The project is funded by the Volkswagen Foundation