Equal Opportunity
As a Cluster, we uphold equal opportunity as an ethical imperative and as an asset. We aim to be aware of, dismantle, and wherever possible eliminate structural obstacles to participation in research that individuals face due to their gender identity, sexual orientation, ethnic or religious affiliation, nationality, age, socio-economic status and dis-/ability, as well as to racist bias. We consider this effort key to achieving not only excellence in research, but also personal and social wellbeing, growth, and resilience within and beyond academia.
Our equal opportunity work builds on and aims to expand both the DFG Research-Oriented Equity and Diversity Standards and our University’s commitment to equity, diversity, and sustainable development.
It centres inclusive practices and expansive and emancipatory initiatives that generate structural shifts in the ways we do research and nurture research communities – those at our Cluster, those with whom we collaborate locally and globally, and those our young scholars will join, shape, and lead in the future.
For us, inclusion is about ensuring that all feel respected and valued and are supported to thrive within our scholarly communities. It is also about opening up research and scholarship to a multiplicity of voices, perspectives, ways of knowing and belonging, social and cultural projects, and stakeholders.
Many of us have long-term connections in communities whose interests, epistemologies, and methodologies have been under severe pressure for the past several centuries, and we all work on precisely the kinds of material artefacts that were often translocated during colonial encounters. We are thus in a unique position to push for changes in global research practices and we have a responsibility to lead in this field.
Accordingly, we strive to put equal opportunity at the core of all we do at the Cluster, from recruiting members, training them, supporting them financially and responding to their needs, to designing our projects, collecting and handling data, writing up and sharing our findings, developing software, organising events, and engaging communities and publics beyond academia.
Not least in order to assess the impacts of these initiatives, we will soon start monitoring our members’ experiences and needs through dedicated surveys, research-field specific meetings, and meetings for young researchers. In the hope that this contributes to increasing awareness of equal opportunity issues within our community, we plan to share our findings with the entire Cluster at the end of every semester.
If you have questions about the equal opportunity initiatives described on this page or would like to suggest new ones, please contact our Equal Opportunity Coordinator, Mariapaola Gritti.
Please also get in touch with our Equal Opportunity Coordinator if you are a member of the Cluster and are experiencing work conditions that negatively affect you, including hostility, discrimination, or harassment of any kind. The Coordinator can help to find a solution, including through connecting you to relevant advising services and ombudspersons within the university.
You can also contact our Coordinator if you would like us to help you navigate difficult passages in your training or career – for example, balancing work and family life, coping with physical or psychological impairments or disabilities, and adjusting to a new cultural/linguistic/academic context.
We will do our best to understand your needs and help you set up or access relevant support structures.