News
Cluster’s Principal Investigator founds new course of studies
24.10.2019
The Africa Multiple Cluster of Excellence is supporting the newly founded course of studies “Intersectionality and Diversity Competences” established by the Cluster’s Principal Investigator and member of the Research Section “Knowledges” Prof. Dr. Susan Arndt. The unique course of studies includes a lecture series comprising talks by a number of Cluster members.
Cultures and societies are always shaped by their structures of power and leadership that distribute political and economic resources unevenly, thus creating an unjust system of privileges and social participation. Inequality and discrimination are direct consequences. Those structures of powers are usually based on gender, sexuality, race, disabilities, age and economic class. In order to describe the various degrees and interaction of power, discrimination and privilege Kimberlé Crenshaw coined the expression “intersectionality” in the late 1980s.
Complementary studies program
The complementary studies program „Intersektionalitätsstudien und Diversity-Kompetenzen“ founded by the African Multiple Cluster of Excellence’s Principal Investigator Prof. Susan Arndt teaches basic competences and knowledge necessary to recognize the multiplicity of structures of power and governance. Strategies for overcoming discrimination and promoting inclusion and solidarity are also communicated. The range of these competences enriches professional profiles in various fields of work for example human resources and management, education, media as well as in the all areas of research. Such a Studies Programme is only offered at the University of Bayreuth, being unique in Europe and beyond.
Lecture series
It comprises a lecture series which is organized in cooperation with GeQuInDI (Bayreuth university’s network of Gender, Queer, Intersectionality and Diversity Studies) introducing core concepts, pillaring theories and guiding approaches of Intersectionality Studies. In doing the lecture series will feature local and international scholars from different academic disciplines and activism, who have contributed to the field of intersectionality, gender and critical race studies. Many of them are part of the Africa Multiple Cluster of Excellence.
For more details check: www.intersectionality.uni-bayreuth.de (sg)