ISS21 Visiting Speaker, Dr. Iva Šmídová, Masaryk University, will hold three research seminars at UCC in June

28 May 2024

Please join us for any or all of the following research seminars:

Perinatal loss: challenging the norms in the Czech context 

Institutions of Ageing Men: Relations of Power, Care, and Lack of Them 

Intersectionality - Beyond gender relations in researching men as men 

Perinatal loss: challenging the norms in the Czech context - Dr. Iva Šmídová, Masaryk University.

Date: Monday 17th June; Time: 3.30-5.00pm; Venue: Brookfield BHSC121 – All welcome

Abstract

Perinatal loss has been explored in this study to fill the knowledge gap on this sensitive issue in the Czech context. The intense experience was analysed using theories of grief, concealment of death and reproductive loss, medicalisation, and relevant normalising practices. Interpretation of narratives of involved actors was inspired by feminist research methods stressing a collaborative, non-exploitative approach. Perinatal loss can help us better understand liminal issues of humanity and change in relations within broader social structures.

This event is jointly hosted by ISS21 and the Pregnancy Loss Research Group.

Institutions of Ageing Men: Relations of Power, Care, and Lack of Them - Dr. Iva Šmídová, Masaryk University.

Date: Tuesday 18th June; Time: 11.00-12.30 – On MS Teams – Register here

Abstract

Societies are ageing, and this process is gendered. Yet, we know very little about the ageing of men as they are often not named as a gendered category. The presentation aims to challenge this approach by addressing the topic critically, providing work-in-progress insight into a research study, an intersectional analysis of social institutions connected to ageing men and masculinities in the context of the Czech Republic. Its design is based mainly on qualitative fieldwork. It addresses the ageing process as a reflected gendered practice along a chosen analytical logic of intersecting power and care relationships. Answers to the research question “How do Czech men do gender, age and ageing in selected social contexts?” provide a better understanding of the dynamics of relations in later lives. Powerful as well as marginalising relations of men as they age are scrutinised together with caring and being cared for.

This event is hosted by the Care21 Research Cluster and the Ageing Research Cluster of the Institute for Social Science in the 21^st Century.

Intersectionality: Beyond gender relations in researching men as men - Dr. Iva Šmídová, Masaryk University.

Date:Wednesday 19th June; Time: 11.30-1.00; Venue: Safari/Carrigbawn Annex – All welcome

Abstract

The presentation, based on a number of research studies by guest speaker Dr. Iva Šmídová, introduces critical approaches to studying men, masculinities, and men´s practices as a way to grasp intersectional inequalities analytically. As a sociologist herself, she thematises men, masculinities, and men´s practices in research studies explicitly as gendered categories inspired by feminist theory and CSMM (Critical Studies on Men and Masculinities). The topics covered include men in environment protection, men on parental leave and at childbirth, men as chief physicians in maternity hospitals, and men as perpetrators of sexualised violence. Let us discuss this puzzle together. Dr Mastoureh Fathi, Department of Sociology  will act as discussant.

This event is jointly hosted by ISS21, Department of Sociology and School of Applied Social Studies.

 BIOGRAPHY

Iva Šmídová is a sociologist, an Associate Professor at the Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social Studies, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic. She has worked in the field of gender studies since the early 1990s in both research and teaching. She is a founding member of the gender studies community at the department. Her long-term research interests include critical studies on men and masculinities, gender relations in the family, sociology of health, illness and medicine, and bereavement studies.
More details, projects and publications are available here: https://www.muni.cz/en/people/7385-iva-smidova/projects

For further information, contact Dr Caitríona Ní Laoire, c.nilaoire@ucc.ie