Ceremony in Braunschweig to Award the Georg Eckert Research Prize 2016
The Georg Eckert Institute for International Textbook Research honoured two scholars for their exceptional work in the field of international educational media research at a prize-giving event on 11 November 2016 in the Braunschweig Old Town Hall, attended by Stephan Weil, the state premier of Lower Saxony and Gabriele Heinen-Kljajic the Minister for Science and Culture.
‘Open-mindedness, a focus on values and high academic quality are the trademarks of the GEI. We are proud to have a research institute in Lower Saxony that contributes internationally to peace and reconciliation’ said state premier Stephan Weil in his welcoming speech.
The Georg Eckert Research Prize 2016 is endowed with 5000 euro and is sponsored by the Westermann Group. This year’s recipient is Dr Anja Kirsch for her dissertation Weltanschauung als Erzählkultur (Ideology as narrative culture) which investigates the relationship between religion and socialism in civics studies books from the former GDR. The work pays close attention to the role of narrative in the construction of a socialist memory culture. During her research Anja Kirsch visited the GEI four times. She completed her work at the Philosophical and Historical Faculty at the University of Basel and it has been published by Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht in their series Critical Studies in Religion / Religionswissenschaft.
This year’s award for young academics is awarded to Anna Heym for her master’s thesis on digital educational media and the factors that influence the strategies of textbook publishers (Digitale Bildungsmedien – welche Faktoren beeinflussen die Strategien der Schulbuchverlage). Her work examines the commercial aspects that affect the production and development of digital educational media. Anna Heym considers textbooks in their economic context, analyses the strategic focus of the textbook publishing companies and attempts to anticipate how digital media will develop in the future.
‘These prizes are a clear sign that the region can not only achieve success in technology and the ‘hard’ sciences but also produces outstanding research in cultural and social sciences’ declared Professor Eckhardt Fuchs, Director of the Georg Eckert Institute.
Ralf Halfbrodt, managing director of the Westermann Group highlighted the socio-political significance of educational media, describing it as the basis for the lively exchanges that have taken place over many years between the Georg Eckert Institute and the publishing group: ‘We are linked by a mutual and vital task; that of quality assurance in educational media’.
This is the fourth time the Georg Eckert Institute has awarded the prize for outstanding research in the field of international educational media research. The prize honours monographs, dissertations and habilitations. The first young academics’ prize for an exceptional student thesis was awarded in 2014. The award for young academics is endowed with 500 euro.
For further information and pictures contact:
Catrin Schoneville
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Georg-Eckert-Institut Leibniz-Institut für internationale Schulbuchforschung
Tel.: +49 (0)531 / 59099 -504
Mobil: 0151 / 62842664
E-Mail: schoneville@leibniz-gei.de
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