Gender Lab

Research at MaJaC

The Marie Jahoda Center aims to create a stimulating research environment for gender studies at RUB. The interdisciplinary research profile, which is particularly rooted in the field of cultural and social sciences, is clearly outlined and consistently used for collaborative projects. The next generation of scientists also play a major role at the Marie Jahoda Center.

Here you find further information.

Maximiliane Brand, M.A.
Coordination Gender Lab
Universitätsstraße 105, E1 Raum 08
Telefon: +49 (0)23432-26646

Marie Jahoda Fellowship Programme

With the Marie Jahaoda Fellowship Programme, the Ruhr University is continuing the tradition of the Marie Jahoda Visiting Professorship, which was established in 1994 and is regarded as a beacon for RUB Gender Studies. The aim of the fellowship programme is to promote international exchange on research and teaching in the field of gender studies as well as the establishment of sustainable international cooperation – and this in close connection with the research priorities of the Marie Jahoda Center for International Gender Studies. The fellowship programme is aimed at both established academics and the next generation of academics.

We were delighted to welcome Dr Hongwei Bao as a Marie Jahoda Fellow at Ruhr-Universität Bochum for the winter semester 24/25.

Dr Hongwei Bao is Associate Professor of Media Studies at the University of Nottingham, UK, where he co-directs the Centre for Critical Theory and Cultural Studies. At RUB, Hongwei Bao has worked in particular with Prof Änne Söll from the Institute of Art History (KGI).

Past events with Dr Hongwei Bao:

November 28, 2024: Film Screening: Drag Up! Documentary
December 4, 2024: MaJaC Colloquium: ‘Art of the Cool Kids’: Locating Queer Art in China
December 4-5, 2024: Workshop: Queer Avantgarde

Further information on Hongwei Bao’s stay can be found here.

Here you have the possibility to listen to lectures of the Marie Jahoda Fellows.

Contact:

Maximiliane Brand

Marie Jahoda Visiting Professors and Visting Fellows since 1994

Visiting Researchers

© RUB, Marquard

Dr. Olga Matveieva
Universitätsstraße 105
Raum 1/02
E-Mail: olga.matveieva@rub.de

The research focuses on the societal and democratic implications of digitalization in Eastern Europe, particularly examining the cooperation between local governments and civil society organizations. It employs a gender lens to analyze how digital environments impact processes of societal democratic transformation, with a specific emphasis on outcomes related to gender mainstreaming.
Disciplines (visiting professorship within DAAD, 2025): “Civic activism as a cultural phenomenon”; “Socio-Cultural Transformations in Eastern Europe”.
Fellowship program (2022-2025): “Democratic transformations in Ukraine driven by technologies: analysis of the gendered impact of the digitalisation reforms on the society and public management.”

Dr. Mehtap Tosun
Universitätsstraße 105
Raum 1/02
E-Mail: mehtapttosun@gmail.com

Research areas: Gender Studies, Memory Studies, State & Political Violence, Ethnicity and Identity Politics, Labour History and Sociology of Work.
Fellowship program: Humboldt Research Fellowship.

Dr. Olimpiada Usanova
Universitätsstraße 105
Raum 1/12
Email: olimpiadausanova@yahoo.com

Research areas: gender based violence, gender equality and political regime.
Fellowship program: Alexander von Humboldt Foundation/ Philipp Schwartz Initiative.

Dr. Sharon Adetutu Omotoso
Universitätsstr. 150
Raum GB 1/37
Email: sharon.omotoso@ruhr-uni-bochum.de
        sa.omotoso@ui.edu.ng
        sharonomotoso@gmail.com

Discipline: African Studies | Focus: Gender and Media Studies
Fellowship program: Georg Forster Research Fellowship for Experienced Researchers

MaJaColloquium

The MaJaC Colloquium aims to present the diversity of research projects related to gender studies at Ruhr-Universität Bochum and to raise awareness of the importance of gender in various areas of society. The focus is on interdisciplinary exchange, intersectional perspectives and stimulating discussions between the speakers, interested parties from the university and Bochum’s society. The public event took place for the first time in the winter semester 2023/2024 and has been offered three times per semester since then. Traditionally, an impulse is given by the respective Marie Jahoda Fellow in the winter semester. Professors, research assistants and graduates (of Gender Studies) provide insights into their current research.

contact:

Maximiliane Brand

MaJaColloquium in the summer semester 2025

Wed, 30th April 2025, 6 pm, Solmaz Gholami (RUB): Die Antigonen des Iran – Eine symbolische Lesart der Bewegung der Dadkhah-Mütter

Wed, 21st May 2025, 6 pm, Dr. Olga Matveieva (RUB): Wartime Civic Engagement, Technology, and Gender (In)Equality: Insights from the Ukrainian Case

Wed, 18th June 2025, 6 pm, Dr. Stella Nyanzi: Paradoxes of Deploying Public Nudity as Resistance to Rising Conservative Nationalism in Uganda

Past events:

MaJaColloquium in the winter semester 2024/25

Wed, 06th November 2024, 6 pm, Nathalie Eleyth (RUB): Sex(arbeit) auf evangelisch – Theologisch-ethische Perspektiven zu Menschenwürde, Macht und Geschlecht

Wed, 04th Dezember 2024, 6 pm, Dr. Hongwei Bao (Marie-Jahoda-Fellow 2024): The ‘Cool Kids’: Locating Queerness in Chinese Art 

Wed, 22th Januar 2024, 6 pm, Prof. Dr. Laura Bieger (RUB): Notes on Mending One’s World

MaJaColloquium in the summer semester 2024

Wed, 8th May 2024, 6 pm, Laura Jentgens (RUB alumna): Influencerinnen der extremen Rechten – über die Kommunikationsstrategien extrem rechter Frauen online

Wed, 29th May 2024, 6 pm, Dr. Daria Khrushcheva (RUB): Homophobie als Politik des Staates? Fallbeispiel Russland

Wed, 03rd July 2024, 6 pm, Yassir Jakani (RUB): Zwischen ideologischen Verflechtungen und gewaltsamen Manifestationen – eine integrierte Analyse des Antifeminismus und Rechtsterrorismus in Deutschland

MaJaColloquium in the winter semester 2023/24

Wed, 8th November 2023, 6 pm, Prof. Dr. Gunda Werner (RUB): Gender und Theologie – exemplarisch an der Rezeption Judith Butlers in der (katholischen) Theologie

Wed, 13th December 2023, 6 pm, Dr. Julia Habermann (Hanover): Gewalt gegen Frauen – Brücken bauen zwischen den Disziplinen

Wed, 17th January 2024, 6 pm, Princess Sibanda, PhD (University of Fort Hare/Marie Jahoda Fellow 2023): Theatre of/for Disobedience: An African Queer Resistance

WG Masculinities

© Mark Schwindt

Masculinity studies have made great progress in recent years and have not only become more visible within gender studies, but their research field is also currently the subject of sometimes heated public debate. On this basis, the Working Group Masculinities aims to offer an open and collegial forum for academic exchange without committing itself a priori to a particular theoretical or disciplinary approach. The WG Masculinities is thus open to all those who work academically on the phenomenon of ‘masculinity(ies)’, e.g. from the humanities and social sciences, and who are interested in an inter- and transdisciplinary exchange. A particular focus is on the promotion of young researchers, i.e. the constructive discussion of dissertation and habilitation projects as well as the organisation of workshops and conferences.

Responsibility:

Prof. Dr. Änne Söll
Kunstgeschichte der Moderne mit einem Schwerpunkt in der Kultur- und Geschlechtergeschichte 
aenne.soell@rub.de

Prof. Dr. Christian Grünnagel
Romanische Philologie, insbesondere Literaturwissenschaft und Literaturdidaktik
christian.gruennagel@rub.de

Prof. Dr. Henriette Gunkel
Transformationen audiovisueller Medien unter der besonderen Berücksichtigung von Gender und Queer Theory
henriette.gunkel@rub.de

Events:

Lecture series in the winter semester 2024/2025
Conflicting Masculinities
Wednesdays 6.15 pm-7.45 pm
Room EG 14, Universitätsstraße 105

30th October 2024, Prof. Dr. Änne Söll (RUB)/ Prof. Dr. Florian Freitag (UDE)
Kendom statt Kingdom: Post-Autoritäre Männlichkeiten in Barbie

13th November 2024, Carlos Harlaburda, M.A., PhD (University of Chicago)
Latin America’s Queer Anatomy in Belle Époque Paris: Paul Groussac, Gabriel Yturri, and Abject Glamour 
Online event on Zoom: Please register at alina.adrian@rub.de up to one day in advance to receive the Zoom link.

20th November 2024, Dr. Christian Drobe (Halle)
Männlichkeit und Technologien. Roger Hiorns’ Werke im Kontext postdigitaler Kunst

27th November 2024, Prof. Dr. Katja Sabisch (RUB)/ Prof. Dr. Mona Mokatef (TU Dortmund)
Männlichkeiten und Care

11th December 2024, Prof. Dr. Christine Morgenstern (RUB)/ Prof. Dr. Gunda Werner (RUB)
Von schweren Jungs, harten Hunden und Verletzlichkeit: Der Justizvollzug als Männerwelt

18th December 2024, Prof. Dr. Gregor Schuhen (RPTU Landau)
Prekäre Männlichkeiten in Nicolas Mathieus „Leurs enfants après eux“ und Joseph Ponthus’ „À la ligne“
Online event on Zoom: Please register at alina.adrian@rub.de up to one day in advance to receive the Zoom link.

15th January 2025, Prof. Dr. Julia Bee (RUB)/ Prof. Dr. Henriette Gunkel (RUB)
Digitale Gewalt und Misogynie

29th January 2025
Podiumsdiskussion „Conflicting Masculinities“: Autoritäre Strukturen, Privilegien, Gewalt: Forschungen über Männlichkeit

Lecture series in summer term 2024:

Fri, 07th June 2024, 12.00 pm -2.00 am, GB 7/60 and Zoom: Prof. Dr. Gregor Schuhen (RPTU): Prekäre Männlichkeiten in Nicolas Mathieus  „Leurs enfants après eux“ und Joseph Ponthus’ „À la ligne“.

Fri, 21th June 2024, 12.00 pm – 02.00 am, Uni 105 E/14 and Zoom: Prof. Dr. Carlos Halaburda (Universität zu Köln): Latin America’s Queer Anatomy in Belle Époque Paris: Paul Groussac, Gabriel Yturri, and Abject Glamour.

Gender Studies in the Ruhr Area

By taking part in the initiative “Gender Studies at the Universities of the University Alliance Ruhr” (GeFoR), the three participating universities have set themselves the goal of pooling and linking their research foci and study opportunities more closely.

At the Ruhr University Bochum (RUB), the TU Dortmund (TU DO) and the University of Duisburg-Essen (UDE), about 80 scientists are currently working with research and teaching interests in the field of gender research. The range of subjects on offer extends from medicine to sports science, from social and cultural sciences to Protestant theology.
At the Ruhr University Bochum (RUB), the TU Dortmund (TU DO) and the University of Duisburg-Essen (UDE), about 80 scientists are currently working with research and teaching interests in the field of gender research. The range of subjects on offer extends from medicine to sports science, from social and cultural sciences to Protestant theology.
The project “Gender Studies at the Universities of the University Alliance Ruhr” is funded by MERCUR (Mercator Research Center Ruhr).

Contact:

Dr. Beate von Miquel

Gender Research at the Partner Universities of the UA Ruhr

Young Gender Scholars

The Marie Jahoda Centre also plays an important role for young academics. At RUB, the doctorate in Gender Studies is carried out at the Faculty of Philology. All doctoral students at Ruhr-Universität Bochum are automatically members of the RUB Research School. Here, doctoral candidates will find a wide range of opportunities for the best possible realisation of their research project as well as a continuous exchange with other doctoral candidates. This is supplemented by programmes offered by the Research Academy Ruhr. Further networking in the UA Ruhr also takes place within the framework of GeFoR.

The event series Young Gender Scholars meet … brings together students, doctoral candidates, rising stars of gender studies and established researchers in an intensive research dialogue. The series offers an insight into the everyday university research life of our early career researchers. As part of YGSM, they report on their own research projects and results. In addition, current theoretical and methodological developments and debates are discussed.

YGSM was launched in 2018 by Dr Anike Krämer and Maximiliane Brand. The series was originally funded as a project by the Foundation for Cultural Studies and organised by an interdisciplinary group of doctoral students with a focus on the category of ‘gender’.

The series will be continued as part of the Gender Lab. Once a semester, doctoral students present their dissertation projects in a workshop that is open to all status groups. The workshop is supplemented by a public lecture by established academics invited by the doctoral students.

Contact:

Maximiliane Brand

Past events:

Summer semester 2024

Public lecture on 13.06. by Prof. Dr. Melanie Groß (FH Kiel): Intersektionale Perspektiven auf Mädchenarbeit
Workshop on 14.06. with Anne Rauber (FH Bielefeld): Verhütung als Sorgearbeit von Mädchen

YGSM_Young-Gender-Scholars-Meet_SoSe-2024-1Herunterladen

Winter semester 2022/23

Public lecture on 19.01. by Dr. Ines Böker (University of Paderborn): Gendermythen avant la lettre: Zum Verhältnis von Ambiguität und Mythentransformation
Workshop on 20.01. with Barbara Bollig (RUB): Der Sonne Enkelin, der furchtbaren Hekate Tochter – Zeitgenössische Arbeit an Medea-Stoff und Weiblichkeitsmythen

Abstracts_YGSM_Workshop-und-Vortrag_WiSe-22_23_MaJaC-1Herunterladen

Onlinejournal kultur & geschlecht

The onlinejournal ‘kultur & geschlecht’ (culture and gender) is a transdisciplinary forum for the next generation of scientists at the Ruhr University Bochum who are researching gender issues and their contexts. It is published by Astrid Deuber-Mankowsky and Jasmin Degeling under their professorial chair of ‘Media Publicity and Media Players with Special Consideration for Gender’ at the Ruhr University Bochum’s Institute of Media Studies, and is sponsored by the Faculty of Philology and the rectorship of the RUB.

The aim is to make projects, more comprehensive term papers, bachelor’s and master’s theses, conferences and workshops with innovative approaches and questions on gender studies accessible to a wider public. The focus is on current gender and queer studies within cultural studies.

The online journal ‘kultur & geschlecht’, which is published twice a year, offers the next generation of academics, who are transitioning from masters to doctorate level, the opportunity to publish their first work and also to gain expertise in reviewing, editing and publishing publications.

Ausgabe #31 (Juli 2023)

The other side of the counter

© Daniela Rüther

Female clerks in food retail stores in the first half of the 20th century

© Daniela Rüther

During the corona crisis, female clerks in the food retail sector have experienced an unprecedented level of social recognition. The role that sales staff played in the rise of today’s large and dominant supermarket chains during the 20th century has not yet been researched. In Germany, the success story of large-scale food retailing, considered to be a pioneer in the development of mass consumerism, focuses on the efficiency and profitability of this business model and ignores the elementary factor: the women behind the counter.

The research project presented here aims for the first time to deconstruct the still prevailing narrative of mass-market retail. Empirical analysis of female sales staff is intended to generate insights not only into a more differentiated picture of the saleswoman, but also of female employment in general. In this respect, the research project contributes to the newly revived history of the world(s) of labor in Germany.

Contact: Dr. Daniela Rüther, Ruhr-University Bochum, Faculty of History, Early Modern History & Gender History, E-Mail: Daniela.Ruether@rub.de

Viscourses of adolescent masculinities in the global North since 1960

Since the 1960s, emancipated, pluralistic and independent youth cultures are on the rise, particularly in Western Europe and the USA. Through a combination of sociological and art historical approaches, we will develop a visual sociology (viscourse) of adolescent masculinities, examine their function in creating knowledge about male adolescence and its visual representation. In four interlocking parts, this project develops an interdisciplinary methodology, which aims to use and realign the method of viscourse analysis.

The Sections are divided as follows: Section 1 “Masculinities in the Sociology of Youth – On the Non-simultaneity of Science and Photography from the 1960s onwards in the USA and Germany”, Section 2 “Photography as a method in art and sociology – Participant Photography and Photovoice as emancipation strategies of male adolescence?”, Section 3 “Sport/Initiation/Vulnerability – Photography as a sociology of adolescent homosociality”, and Section 4 “Intersections of queer adolescence: Masculinities between sexualization and dis:identification in research and art”.

CfP Workshops_ Viscourses of adolescent masculinities in the global North since 1960Herunterladen

Project management: Prof. Dr. Änne Söll, Prof. Dr. Katja Sabisch
Research staff: Christian Wandhoff M.A., Jule Fischer M.A.
Research assistants: Felix Vofrei B.A., Şenay Heupel