The Center for International Gender Studies (CIGS) aims to promote exchange on gender-related issues in research, teaching, and knowledge transfer, to strengthen interdisciplinary cooperation at the University of Münster, and to support international networking. Below you will find further information on the objectives of CIGS as well as its predecessor, ZEUGS.
Gender and gender relations form an inherent part of individual identities, life realities and social structures. Notions about gender, gender relations, and gender differences shape how people understand themselves and the collective order in society, politics, law, and all other spheres of social life. As such, gender stands as a key category through which power and inequality are structured at local and global levels. This also applies to research itself, as gender perspectives shape how research is conducted and knowledge is produced. Yet, gender can never be considered in isolation but must be understood intersectionally – that is, in relation with additional social categories such as sexuality, class, “race”, ethnicity, nationality, religion, age, education, and/or ablism. These interwoven structures of privilege and discrimination shape social positions, influence individual lived experiences, and inform societal orders in various ways.
The Center for International Gender Studies (CIGS) contributes to critical gender studies that engages theoretically and empirically with gender relations, interrogates social developments, structures, and norms, and analyzes dynamics of power and inequality along with their causes. The aim of CIGS is to promote exchange on gender-related issues in research, teaching, and knowledge transfer, strengthen interdisciplinary cooperation at the University of Münster, and facilitate international networking. To this end, CIGS serves as an inclusive space for discussion, bringing together scholars across the University of Münster and beyond.
The CIGS was initiated in September 2025 as part of the University of Münster’s Faculty 6 – Educational and Social Sciences. It is based at the Institute for Political Science, where it is led by Ulrike Krause, Professor of Political Science with a Focus on the Constitution and Politics of Gender Relations together with her team.
The CIGS follows the former Center for European Gender Studies (ZEUGS), which was led by Professor Gabriele Wilde from 2011 to 2023.