The Center for European Gender Studies is an interdisciplinary academic institution in Department 6 at the University of Muenster (WWU), in which the constitution of societal gender relations and their solidification in the form of institutional gender order are examined. With its interdisciplinary orientation, the center aims to strengthen the dialogue and cooperation among the disciplines assembled at the University of Muenster, promote research and teaching in the field of gender studies, optimize the education of students by pooling resources and expertise in this field, as well as promote networking, coordination and the implementation of interdisciplinary research projects within and outside the University of Muenster. The center also serves as a forum for the fundamental theoretical and empirical research of the formation and development of gender relations in general and the analysis of democratic gender relations in the context of European integration in particular.
Furthermore, the goal to develop and expand national and international research cooperation with the main focus on European gender studies and the active promotion of women are central tasks for the “ZEUGS.”

Background

Interdisciplinary cooperation has become highly desirable in modern university research and teaching. Relating to the current study of gender relations an interdisciplinary orientation is essential for the acquisition of scientific knowledge, because gender is a social category that characterizes the social order in a cross-sectional manner. The background of the planned center is to promote transdisciplinary dialogue and cooperation on gender-related topics in research and teaching at the University of Muenster for a collection of disciplines. In this way the ZEUGS works towards a networking and substantive cooperation among the humanities, social sciences, law, economics, education, and human and natural sciences. Only in this manner will we be able to cope with the constantly arising new scientific challenges created by the ongoing renegotiation of gender relations.