Johanna Kantola was invited to a three year position as a Distinguished Visiting Professor in Gender and EU Studies at the Universität Tübingen, the Institute for Political Science (2022-2025).
The position involves one or two week research visits to Tübingen each year, teaching a course on gender and the European Union, and public research talks.
Kantola held her Inaugural Visiting Professor Lecture at the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences 11th May 2022 and it was titled ‘Holding up democracy and equality? Democratic and gendered practices of European Parliament’s political groups in times of populism and backlash’. The lecture was followed by a reception in the institute’s garden. Kantola’s research visit also included teaching an intensive MA level course on “Party Politics and Gender Equality in the European Parliament”.
As a visiting professor, Kantola works closely with Professor Gabriele Abels. They undertook joint teaching on the EU legislative triangle and gendering trilogues, and on the Conference n the Future of Europe from a gender perspective. Their research collaboration includes organizing a workshop “Gendering the Conference on the Future of Europe” in Scuola Normale in Florence in October 2022 together with Emanuela Lombardo. Abels, Kantola and Lombardo are also working on a co-edited volume evaluating the work of Ursula von der Leyen’s Commission from a gender perspective and are hoping to host a workshop on the topic in Tübingen during Kantola’s next year’s research visit in June 2023.