The science and technology sociologist Dr. Hannah Fitsch has held the international and interdisciplinary Klara Marie Faßbinder Visiting Professorship since September 2022. She will devote her teaching and research period at Mainz University of Applied Sciences to the topic of sexuality in the digital (socialization) space and the question of how the technical conditions of social media shape and clarify how young people conceive of themselves. As part of the visiting professorship and in cooperation with Professor Dr. Julia König from JGU Mainz, Hannah Fitsch will be organizing the queer-feminist festival DE/LUXE: Who decides what is seen as normal? at the LUX Pavilion of Mainz University of Applied Sciences, which will run from October 18-27, 2022. In panel discussions, workshops, movie nights and much more, the topic of sexuality in the digital space will be approached further. With the keynote speech Verführerische Sirene oder rettender Mast? Ein Blick auf Sexualität im digitalen (Sozialisations-)Raum aus kommunikationstechnologischer Sicht (Seductive siren or a pylon to the rescue? A look at sexuality in the digital (socialization) space from a communication technology perspective) on 10/18/22 at 6 pm, Hannah Fitsch will both open the festival as well as begin her time at Mainz University of Applied Sciences. The festival takes place as part of the seminar offered to students of Mainz University of Applied Sciences and JGU Mainz, Who decides what is seen as normal? Sexuality in the digital (socialization) space.
The visiting professorship has been sponsored by the Ministry of Education, Science, Further Education and Culture of Rhineland-Palatinate (now: Ministry of Science and Health) since the 2001/2002 winter semester and rotates every semester among the state's universities of applied sciences. Its aim is to promote women's and gender studies in Rhineland-Palatinate, to improve the range of courses offered in the field of women's and gender studies, strengthening the reputation of this forward-looking area of research and teaching.
The professorship’s namesake Klara Marie Faßbinder was born in Trier in 1890 and is considered one of the most important activists of the German women’s and peace movement. In addition to her work as a professor at the Pädagogische Akademie Bonn, she also worked as a French translator. Throughout her life, however, she was always a political woman: During the Cold War, for example, she campaigned for an East-West reconciliation, was one of the co-founders of the West German women’s peace movement, and was also involved in party politics in the Christian-Pacifist-oriented Gesamtdeutscher Volkspartei.
In the 2022/23 winter semester, Dr. Hannah Fitsch and Professor Dr. Julia König from JGU Mainz will honor Klara Marie Faßbinder’s spirit of educational reform by exploring the question of sexuality and gender ambiguity in the digital (socialization) space in a variety of event forms.
Queer-feminist festival DE/LUXE: Who decides what is seen as normal?
The festival runs from October 18 to 27, 2022
For more details and the schedule, go to https://deluxemainz.wordpress.com/
Inaugural public lecture by Dr. Hannah Fitsch followed by a discussion:
Verführerische Sirenen oder rettender Mast? Ein Blick auf Sexualität im digitalen (Sozialisations-) Raum aus kommunikationstechnologischer Sicht (Seductive siren or a pylon to the rescue? A look at sexuality in the digital (socialization) space from a communication technology perspective) (in-person event)
When: October 18, 2022, 6 pm
Register for online attendance at: Gastprofessur-Geschlechterforschung (at) hs-mainz.de
Where: LUX Pavillon of Mainz University of Applied Sciences, Ludwigsstraße 2, 55116 Mainz
Hannah Fitsch is a feminist sociologist for science and technology with a focus on neuroscience, image knowledge/image practices, aesthetics, and feminist theory. Along with her theoretical research, she always chooses to work in other forms of expression and communication, such as in museums, theater, video, audio, and/or visual works. In 2022, she received the Emma Goldmann Snowball Award.
Julia König is an assistant professor at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) and a recognized expert in the fields of child sexuality, generational difference in sexual development, and historical sexuality research.