GRK 2650:  Experiencing Gender. Constitution and Transformation of Being in the World

• Subject Area: Social Sciences ; Literary Studies
• Term: since 2021
• Website: Homepage
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 432521237

This Research Training Group (RTG) will investigate the experiences people have with theirgender in any given societal context. The central focus will be on the bodily-lived experiences ofgendered being in the world. How do people experience their gendered mode of existence? How isgender constituted in lived experiences and in its entanglement with other dimensions of existence(class, ethnicity, nationality, sexuality, health, age, religion)? Because subjects experiencethemselves as gendered through this bodily-lived dimension, to what extent does this dimensionpresent itself as a condition for the transformation of gender orders? A division between so-called‘deconstructivist’ and ‘essentialist’ approaches has long been established within gender studies.Contrary to this development, this RTG would like to place corporeality and the complex sphere ofexperience of gender at its focus. The topic and research program of the RTG traverse theestablished disciplines: as such, subject fields that have so far largely worked separately ongender research will cooperate in this planned research network (American Studies, GermanLiterary Studies, Health Sciences, Sociology, Sports Science, Political Science).The two-pillaredresearch program consisting of: the lived bodily constitution of gendered modes of existence(research pillar I) and the transformation of the gender order thereby made possible (research pillarII) allows for each individual research project to systematically interrelate the empirical givennessof gender, on the one hand, with the theoretical conditions of the category of gender, on the other.The main goals of the qualification concept are to foster the timely completion of high-qualitydoctoral dissertations and prepare doctoral students for (international) careers within and beyondacademia. The concept is tailored to the research program, and yet can rely on existing structuresand long-standing experiences in such qualification at Bielefeld University. The training programsystematically allows for doctoral students to acquire disciplinary competencies vital to pursuingsuccessful careers in academia while simultaneously picking up interdisciplinary perspectives andquestions. Special working formats ensure that junior scholars can engage in innovative researchand the development of socially relevant topics and projects for gender research, the scientificcommunity, and the general public.

• DFG Programme: Research Training Groups
• Applicant Institution: Universität Bielefeld
• Spokesperson: Professorin Dr. Tomke König
• Participating Researchers: Professor Dr. Walter Erhart; Professor Dr. Oliver Flügel-Martinsen; Professorin Dr. Valerie Kastrup; Professorin Dr. Petra Kolip; Professorin Dr. Diana Lengersdorf; Professorin Dr. Julia Roth; Professor Dr. Rainer Schützeichel (†); Professorin Dr. Heidemarie Winkel; Dr. Benedikt Wolf