Welcome to the ninth issue of our Cluster Magazine DEPENDENT, an edition dedicated to Research Area E: Gender and Intersectionality
The lead article, a collaborative work by ten BCDSS scholars, explores new insights into our core concept of Strong Asymmetrical Dependencies by looking through the lens of Intersectionality and widening the gaze beyond the still prevalent triumvirate of class, race, and gender. Following on, Lisa Hellman and Julia Hillner examine Segregation and Asymmetrical Dependency, with a special focus on gender-based segregation, thus prompting a revaluation of both, the concept of ‘segregation’ and ‘gender’. Thirdly, in her opinion piece Otherness and Gender, Birgit Münch argues that gender is part of the broader conceptualization of ‘otherness’. She advocates an interdisciplinary analysis of its intersectional relationship with other aspects of alterity over time and across the Arts and Humanities. To round off our special focus, we take a little tour of the cluster to reveal the role of Gender and Intersectionality in the research activities of individual cluster members.
We also take the opportunity to celebrate the research activities of a special group of cluster members, namely all those who have successfully defended their PhD theses by now! Some of our first PhD graduates agreed to provide a little glimpse into their research projects. Together their research on strong asymmetrical dependencies spans 2800 years and multiple civilizations across the globe: from Etruscan Visual Arts and Classical Roman Law to Contemporary Nigerian Literature, a Global-Historical Comparison of Elite Bodies, and the analysis of the current Rohingya Refugee Situation in Bangladesh and Malaysia.
Elsewhere in our News section, we would like to draw attention to some important additions to our website: the new web pages dedicated to Mental Health and Wellbeing at the BCDSS and a new online resource that connects us with the World of Roman Bonn. For more on the above and further news, including a list of who is New at the Cluster, check out chapter four (pp. 44 ff.).
As always, we shed light on recent research trips by BCDSS scholars, this time taking us to Italy, Ireland, Brazil and Malaysia, and we report from conferences and workshops, such as on Monumentality in Southern Central America or Why Words Matter in Academia. We cover a vast range of topics and regions from multiple perspectives when we continue to explore our concept of strong asymmetrical dependencies.
Enjoy the read!
Cécile Jeblawei