ViDSS Forum: Navigating Intersectionalities and Creating Opportunities in Academia
How do you succeed in academia, a system in which marginalised groups rarely make it to the (top) positions? What challenges likely stand in your way as a woman, as a BIPoC, or LGBTQIA+ and FLINTA of colour, or someone who is experiencing “otherness” discrimination based on other identity markers? While the answers to these questions certainly vary according to the individual background and the institutional setting in which you are embedded, those categorised as “others” often face similar challenges when navigating academic life.
The ViDSS Forum Navigating Intersectionalities and Creating Opportunities in Academia offers a platform for the safe exchange of experiences of discrimination and inequality for researchers at the Faculty of Social Sciences. This group provides peer support in dealing with the challenges related to intersecting identities including (non-normative) gender, race or class as an early stage researcher. The Forum also aims at raising awareness for combating racism and discrimination and stands for solidarity, empowerment and support. In addition to the regular meetings, a series of self-organised lectures and tailor-made workshops on these topics will take place.
The platform welcomes all colleagues who feel addressed, want to support and participate.
Organiser: Faime Alpagu
Organising team: Dominique Bauer, Leora Courtney-Wolfman, Zahra Hosseini Khoo, Ahrabhi Kathirgamalingam, Aytalina Kulichkina, Lorena Olarte
If you want to participate in one of the meetings and/or be added to the mailing list, please contact Faime Alpagu.
Next meetings
Endless Horizons: Navigating the Eternal Odyssey of Academic Applications
16 April 2024, 16:00–17:30
We are all familiar with the struggle of constantly searching for new job opportunities, even if we have just started a new position. In this session, we will share our experiences and discuss how we cope with the complexities of academic applications and the job-hunting process. We will talk about the various challenges we face, such as understanding admission criteria, crafting compelling personal statements, navigating complex admission processes and overcoming institutional barriers. Our ultimate goal is to contribute to a deeper understanding of the academic application process and share our experiences to learn from each other and better navigate the academic world.
Venue: online via Zoom (Please contact the organiser Faime Alpagu for the Zoom link.)
15 May 2024, 16:00–17:30
Guest speaker: Ani Baghumyan, Ph.D. candidate, Institute of Communication and Media Studies, University of Bern
11 June 2024, 16:00–17:30
Wrapping up the summer semester and looking out on the upcoming winter semester
Past meetings
Afternoon Tea for Change: Addressing the need for change in academic spaces
18 March 2024, 16:00–17:30
Hybrid format
Venue: Department of Communication, Room 6.58, 6th Floor, Kolingasse 14–16, 1090 Vienna
Christmas Market Get-Together
13 December 2023, 17:30
Venue: Christmas Village at the University Campus
Lunching for Change: Addressing marginalisation in academic spaces
20 November 2023, 12:00–13:30
Hybrid format
Venue: Department of Communication, Room 6.58, 6th Floor, Kolingasse 14–16, 1090 Vienna
Vera Axyonova (REWIRE Postdoc Fellow) will share some impressions from her chapter in the book Migrant Academic’s Narratives of Precarity and Resilience in Europe and we will discuss navigating academia.
General Meeting
23 October 2023, 13:00–15:00
Hybrid format: Please contact the organiser Faime Alpagu for the Zoom link.
Venue: Department of Communication, Room 6.58, 6th Floor, Kolingasse 14–16, 1090 Vienna
“Collected Knowledge” – extractivist knowledge production? On the interrelatedness of Nature, Knowledge and Coloniality (Workshop)
22–25 May 2023
Organised by University of Innsbruck, Doctoral College Dynamics of Inequality and Difference in the Age of Globalisation and Doctoral College Gender Studies, in collaboration with the Forum Navigating Intersectionalities and Creating Opportunities in Academia at the Vienna Doctoral School of Social Sciences
Recht auf Erbe in der Migrationsgesellschaft, book presentation (in German)
23 May 2023, 18:00
Department of Communication, Seminar room 1, 1st Floor, Kolingasse 14–16, 1090 Vienna
More information
General Meeting
15 June 2023, 13:00–15:00
Department of Communication, Seminar room 1, 2st Floor, Kolingasse 14–16, 1090 Vienna