Gender Studies Prize 2022 awarded
The winners of the Gender Studies Prize 2022 were honored last Friday at a ceremony held in the former Fritz’ Café in the University of Bonn’s main building. The award recognizes outstanding final and doctoral theses on gender and/or queer studies. The ceremony also provided the opportunity for an introduction to the projects that have been supported by the fund for promoting the structural integration of gender equality in the faculties this year.Exceptional final theses
The Gender Studies Prize has been awarded since 2003 to honor exceptional final and doctoral theses that tackle an issue taken from the field of gender or queer studies. The prize money is ¤500 for the best bachelor’s thesis, ¤700 for all other predoctoral theses and ¤1,000 for the best doctoral thesis. The prize presented to the following three graduates from the University of Bonn this year:
- Luis Kumpfmüller for his bachelor’s thesis entitled "Der Männerbund, das Eigene und das Andere. Fremdzuschreibungen und Othering in Männerbunddiskursen um die Jahrhundertwende."
- Laila Riedmiller for her master’s thesis entitled "Geschlechterkonzeptionen im rechten Verschwörungsdenken. Potentiale und Grenzen einer geschlechtsspezifischen Analyse."
- Michaela Doutch for her doctoral thesis entitled "Women Workers in the Garment Factories of Cambodia. A Feminist Labour Geography of Global (Re)production Networks."
With a total of 15 submissions from 12 different subjects, a broad spectrum of research was represented this year. The jury comprised Professor Nadine Marquardt (Geography), Professor Marion Gymnich (Department of English, American, and Celtic Studies) and Professor Andreas Krebs (Department of Old Catholic Studies).
Project funding at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences and the Faculty of Catholic Theology
The two projects being funded by the Gender Equality Office’s resources for the structural integration of gender equality in the faculties were also on show this year. The project promoting family-friendly conferences in the geosciences intends to use its funding to develop guidelines for appropriate measures and a sustainable usage strategy in order to make it easier for female early-career scientists to juggle conferences and family life.
Meanwhile, the project by the Research Group for Theological Gender Studies at the Faculty of Catholic Theology would like to use its grant to create a "Theological Gender Research" module, which will make issues of theological gender research and gender equality a prominent and mandatory part of the curriculum for all Catholic Theology courses. The decision to present information on the funded projects was geared toward making gender equality measures in the faculties more visible and encourage more applications in the coming years.
"The Gender Studies Prize has been awarded for many years now and is still extremely relevant to the visibility of gender and queer studies at the University," explains Sandra Hanke, the Central Gender Equality Commissioner at the University of Bonn. "The variety of topics and subjects covered in the theses submitted make it clear that these branches of research are established University-wide, even though it has not yet been possible to reinforce them at institutional level by creating corresponding professorships, for example." In addition, she says, embedding gender equality measures at the University consistently and for the long term is a key priority for the Gender Equality Office. "So we’re delighted by how many people from the faculties take part whenever we issue a call for proposals for the funded projects. With the fund for promoting the structural integration of gender equality, we have set up an instrument that allows creative ideas for breaking down the barriers that female researchers still face at the University to become a reality."
More information on the awards is available on the Gender Equality Office web page: https://www.gleichstellung.uni-bonn.de/de/angebote-und-beratung/unterstuetzungsmassnahmen-und-programme/gender-studies-prize.
Further details on the funded projects being supported are available here: https://www.gleichstellung.uni-bonn.de/de/angebote-und-beratung/unterstuetzungsmassnahmen-und-programme/fonds-zur-strukturellen-verankerung-von-gleichstellung.