The Kerstin Hesselgren Visiting Professorship 2025 has been awarded to Manuela Boatcă, Professor of Sociology at Albert Ludwig University Freiburg in Germany.

During her time at Södertörn University, she will be affiliated with Gender Studies and the Centre for Baltic and East European Studies (CBEES). She will participate in the provision of doctoral courses, present her research and organise seminars and workshops.

“We want to help drive the development of research on post-socialist countries in the Baltic Sea region, and we believe that Manuela Boatcă will contribute a great deal to the development of our research environment,” says Teresa Kulawik, professor of gender studies at Södertörn University.

At the CBEES research centre, Manuela Boatcă will participate in a summer school for doctoral students about the transnational perspective on Eastern Europe and the Baltic Sea region.

“We are very happy that she wants to participate, as her research concerns transnational perspectives, and she also has a gender perspective that is particularly interesting to us,” says Yulia Gradskova, research coordinator at CBEES and organiser for the summer school.

While she is in Sweden, Manuela Boatcă will also visit Linköping University, Lund University and Uppsala University, where she will participate in seminars and workshops in several subjects.

"During every one of my brief visits to Swedish universities in the past years, I have had very inspiring exchanges with like-minded colleagues and have learned immensely. I am very much looking forward to having ample time to explore more of our common ground on both gender studies and research on the European East in an interdisciplinary environment at Södertörn and to develop concrete joint projects and publications that reflect our dialogues", says Manuela Boatcă.

The installation of Manuela Boatcă will take place on 4 March at Södertörn University. It is open to the public. Registration is required. For the programme and registration, please see the calendar.