Introduction to GEXcel

By Stine Adrian on 10 Aug | 0 comments

Centre of Gender Excellence

In 2006, the Swedish Research Council granted 20 million SEK to establish a Centre of Gender Excellence (GEXcel), at the inter-university Institute of Thematic Gender Studies, Linköping University & Örebro University for the period 2007-2011. Linköping University has added 5 million SEK as matching funds, while Örebro University has added 3 million SEK as matching funds.  GEXcel is created as a temporary (5 year), collegium-like excellence centre for Advanced Gender Studies. A core activity of GEXcel is a Visiting Fellowship Programme organized and defined by a number of thematical foci.

Overall Research Theme

The overall research theme of GEXcel is defined as transnational and transdisciplinary studies of changing gender relations, intersectionalities and embodiment. We have chosen a broad and inclusive frame in order to attract a diversity of excellent scholars from different disciplines, countries and academic generations. Specificity and focus is also given high priority, via annually shifting thematical foci.

Generally, GEXcel research will put focus on currently pressing theoretical and methodological challenges.

By the keyword “transnational” we underline that GEXcel research should contribute to a systematic transnationalizing of research on gender relations, intersectionalities and embodiment, and, in so doing, develop a reflexive stance vis-a-vis transnational travelling of ideas, theories and concepts, and consciously try to overcome reductive one-country focused research as well as pseudo-universalizing research that unreflected takes e.g. “Western” or “Scandinavian” models as norm.

By the keyword “changing” we aim at underlining that it, in a world of rapidly changing social, cultural, economic and technical relations is crucial to be able to theorize change, and that this is of particular importance for critical gender research due to its liberatory aims and inherent focus on macro-, meso- and microlevel transformations.

By the keyword “gender relations”, we aim at underlining that we define gender not as an essence, but as relational, plural and shifting processes, and that it is the aim of GEXcel research to contribute to a further understanding of these processes.

By the keyword “intersectionalities”, we stress that a continuous reflection of meanings of intersectionalities in gender research should be integrated in all GEXcel research. In particular, we will emphasize four different aspects:

a) intersectionality as intersections of disciplines and main areas (humanities, social sciences and medical and natural sciences);

b) intersectionality as intersections between macro-, meso- and microlevel social analyses;

c) intersectionality as intersections between social categories and power differentials organized around categories such as gender, ethnicity, race, class, sexuality, age,nationality, profession, dis/ablebodiedness etc);

d) intersectionality as intersections between major different branches of feminist theorizing (eg. queerfeminist theorizing, Marxist feminist theorizing, postcolonial feminist theorizing etc.) 

Finally, by the keyword “embodiment”, we aim at emphasizing yet another kindof intersectionality, which has proved crucial in current gender research - to explore intersections between discourse and materiality and between sex and gender.

The Visiting Fellowship Program

The Visiting Fellowship Programme is open for excellent senior researchers and promising younger researchers both from Sweden and abroad. Fellows will normally stay at GEXcel from 1 week and up till 12 months. The Fellowship Programme functions primarily via applications within the framework of the annually shifting thematical foci. The visiting fellows are taken in after application and a peer-reviewed evaluation of the applications.

 The fellows carry out GEXcel research activities together with the core GEXcel staff of six professors and also other relevant members of the research staffs (professors, PhD students, postdocs etc.) from the universities of Linköping and Örebro, who meet the selection criteria of research excellence within the given thematical focus.

Expectations of the Fellows

While staying at GEXcel, the primary task of the fellows will be to devote their time to GEXcel research along the lines of the given thematical foci, including the production of publications and contribution to research conferences. But, while residing at GEXcel, they will also, to some extent, be expected to contribute to relevant seminar series. A mentoring scheme for younger researchers will also  be implemented as part of GEXcel.