Kalliope Prize 2023 for human geographers at TU Chemnitz

The German Emigration Center and the German Emigration House Foundation award the highly prestigious prize for migration research to human geographers from TU Chemnitz.

The Kalliope Prize for Practical Migration Research, endowed with €20,000, honors a research method that examines local history as migration history with a participatory approach on site. The German Emigration House Foundation is thus supporting researchers for the fourth time who want to convey migration (history) in a practical and sustainable manner. The prize money will be used for a cooperation project in which the winning team from TU Chemnitz and the German Emigration House will develop a concept that enables cities to offer guided tours focusing on migration history. This concept will be presented to the public in 2025.

Among the applicants from universities in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and the Netherlands, a team application focusing on the relationship between space, people, and society emerged victorious: Prof. Dr. Birgit Glorius, Dr. Friederike Enßle-Reinhardt, Stephan Schurig, and Hanne Schneider teach and conduct research in the field of Human Geography with a focus on European Migration Research at the Technical University of Chemnitz.

The team takes the prize as motivation for the future: “We are extraordinarily pleased with this award and see it as recognition of our long-standing efforts in practical migration research, which works on an equal footing with the various stakeholders on site. It is a significant concern for us to broaden the often-limited perspectives on migration and participation and to develop solutions for the challenges of migration society. Therefore, we do not see this prize merely as recognition but also as an incentive to continue to be active in this respect.”

© Prof. Dr. B. Glorius

© Dr. F. Enßler-Reinhardt

© H.Schneider

The winners in 2023 (from l. to r.): Prof. Dr. Birgit Glorius, Dr. Friederike Enßle-Reinhardt, Stephan Schurig, Hanne Schneider

This year’s Kalliope Prize invited applicants to explore the question “Providing orientation, remaining critical – to what end and how to argue with migration history?” in an essay and to develop a concept for a cooperation project.

The research approach of the winners examines localities as social spaces significantly shaped by migration in the form of immigration. Involving local citizens allows for a new self-perception in connection with migration. As stated in the award-winning submission, global migration history is “woven into the memory tapestry of a local society,” according to the essay. Under the keyword Citizen Science, citizens are involved in the research on an equal footing, among other things, in the development of city tours around Dessau-Roßlau in Saxony-Anhalt.

On December 9, 2023, the Kalliope Prize will be ceremoniously awarded during a festive event at the Deutsches Auswandererhaus. The prize money of 20,000 euros is donated by the publishing family Ditzen-Blanke.

The Kalliope Prize aims not only to enrich current migration research theoretically, but also to provide practical insights for engaging with the socially contested topic of migration in museums and science through an experimental framework.

The jury 2023 (l. to r.): PD Dr. habil. Maria Alexopoulou, Prof. Dr. Yasemin Karakaşoğlu, Prof. Dr. Hannah von Grönheim, former State Councilor Jörg Schulz, Dr. Simone Blaschka.

Reasoning and Jury

In the jury’s reasoning, consisting of three external members from the academic and cultural institution sectors, along with two members from the Stiftung Deutsches Auswandererhaus, it is positively emphasized that „migration as a fundamentally structuring social and political phenomenon“ is understood both on the micro and macro levels of a city’s history. The jury also praised „the exemplary integration of addressing racism through this form of narration“ as well as the participatory approach.

You can find the complete justification of the jury available for download here

This year’s jurors:

• PD Dr. habil. Maria Alexopoulou
  Center for Antisemitism Research, Technical University of Berlin

• Prof. Dr. Yasemin Karakaşoğlu
  Head of the Education in Migration Society Department, University of Bremen

• Prof. Dr. Hannah von Grönheim
  Professor of Social Work with a focus on Migration and Diversity, Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences

• Former State Councilor Jörg Schulz
  Chairman of the Board of the Stiftung Deutsches Auswandererhaus, Bremerhaven

• Dr. Simone Blaschka
  Director of the Deutsches Auswandererhaus

Previous award winners

The award winners of the past years are:

• 2019: Prof. Dr. Peter Frankopan
  Professor of Global History at the University of Oxford and the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, as well as Director of the Oxford Centre for Byzantine Research

• 2017: Prof. Dr. Christoph A. Rass
  Professor at the Institute for Migration Research and Intercultural Studies at the University of Osnabrück

• 2015: Prof. Dr. Markus Tiedemann
  Professor at the Institute for Comparative Ethics at the Free University of Berlin

More information

More information, especially about the award ceremony in December, will soon be available on the website of the German Emigration House.

More materials for download such as images are available to journalists in the corresponding press release of the DAH. Additionally, images, film and audio materials can be obtained by journalists upon request from the museum’s press office at presse@dah-bremerhaven.de.

Journalists are already warmly invited to register for the upcoming press appointment, which will take place shortly after the awards ceremony, at presse@dah-bremerhaven.deto sign up.

The Deutsches Auswandererhaus Foundation
The Deutsches Auswandererhaus Foundation is a nonprofit organization based in Bremerhaven. It was established in 2006 by the Initiativkreis Erlebniswelt Auswanderung e.V., representatives from the Bremerhaven business community, the operating company of the Deutsches Auswandererhaus, and the city of Bremerhaven, to support the Deutsches Auswandererhaus in major research and exhibition projects and to secure its international presence. This includes support for special exhibitions and publications, the establishment of the archive library, currently housed in the Old Shipping Office Bremerhaven, as well as the “Kalliope Prize for practical migration research.”

The Deutsches Auswandererhaus
The Deutsches Auswandererhaus (DAH) opened on August 8, 2005, and conveys over 300 years of emigration and immigration. Since 2012, visitors have learned not only about the history of emigration from Europe but also the topic of immigration to Germany. In 2021, the museum was renewed and expanded with a special focus on questions and debates in the historical development of migration societies such as the Federal Republic of Germany and the USA. The house operates both comparatively and biographically, particularly focusing on research in the field of biography and mentality history.
The educational work in the museum’s permanent and special exhibitions, as well as the educational programs for youth and adults, is intentionally designed to be inclusive and aims to promote empathy and societal and political communication skills.