Ceremonious Award: Kalliope Prize for Applied Migration Research 2023

The ceremonial award ceremony on December 9th

With their innovative perspective on urban history, human geographers from TU Chemnitz receive 20,000 euros in project funding

In a ceremonial setting: On Saturday, December 9, 2023, the ‘Kalliope Prize for Practical Migration Research’ was awarded for the fourth time at the German Emigration Center in Bremerhaven to a research project that bridges current migration research and its practical application. The human geography team from TU Chemnitz under the direction of Prof. Dr. Glorius is focusing on a concept of urban history as migration history. The upcoming pilot project of the award winners in Dessau-Roßlau will be funded with 20,000 euros in prize money and will be supported by us.

From left to right: Yasmin Polat, Marina Curcic-Sarac, Dr. Simone Blaschka, Hanne Schneider, Prof. Dr. Yasemin Karakaşoğlu, Jörg Schulz, Prof. Dr. Birgit Glorius, Dr. Friederike Enßle-Reinhardt, Stephan Schurig

On the evening of December 9, 2023, it was time: The chairman of the board of the German Emigration Center, former state councilor Jörg Schulz, and our museum director Dr. Simone Blaschka, in the presence of guests from culture, politics, and business gathered from across the region, presented the prize of 20,000 euros to Prof. Dr. Birgit Glorius, Dr. Friederike Enßle-Reinhardt, Stephan Schurig, and Hanne Schneider, who teach and research in the field of human geography with a focus on European migration research at the Technical University of Chemnitz.

Another jury member, Prof. Dr. Yasemin Karakaşoğlu, head of the Education in Migration Society department at the University of Bremen, spoke on the podium that evening. She praised the winners’ concept, particularly for the connection between local and global aspects. The jury had already found much to commend in many other points beforehand.

In her keynote speech on behalf of the winning team, Prof. Dr. Birgit Glorius emphasized, alongside exciting points such as the question of what should be understood as migration history and whether it is even present in the thoughts of the people in a city. She also stated: “Our core thesis is that an argument based on migration history is valid when it does not assume a universal migration history, but rather allows for the diversity of migration stories in their different local contexts.” She highlighted the importance of “shifting the focus from the integration achievements of migrants as ‘the others’ and more strongly considering the host society as an actor in the process of arriving.”

Dr. Simone Blaschka, the director of the Deutsches Auswandererhaus, also reflected that evening on the importance of the question put forth in the call for applications: “Providing orientation, remaining critical – for what and how to argue with migration history?” for the museum, and she thanked once again the publisher, prize endower, and chair of the Deutsches Auswandererhaus Foundation Matthias Ditzen-Blanke, whose family has generously supported the award since its inception.

Due to the pandemic, the Deutsches Auswandererhaus Foundation and the Deutsches Auswandererhaus took a break in 2021 from the biennial application cycle. The prize was established in 2015 with the generous support of the Ditzen-Blanke publishing family, which has enabled the prize money of 20,000 euros since 2019, and it has been awarded to various researchers and universities.

The Kalliope Prize is intended not only to theoretically enrich current migration research but also to provide practical experience within an experimental framework for engagement with the socially contested topic of migration in museums and science.

The ceremony was charmingly moderated by Berlin journalist and author Yasmin Polat. The event was also enriched musically through the collaboration of singer and artist Elshan Gashimi and trumpeter Philipp Püschel, who remarkably blended classical Persian art music with the sound of jazz trumpet and electronic elements.

Afterwards, the invited guests were treated to wine and snacks, during which they engaged in lengthy discussions and conversations.

We thank everyone for a wonderful evening!