Research Center on Antigypsyism
Research Center on Antigypsyism (RCA)
About us
The interdisciplinary institution is Europe's first and so far only university research centre on the topic of antigypsyism. Since its foundation in 2017, it has been located in the heart of Heidelberg's Old Town.
Research
Sinti and Roma are among the largest minorities in a socially diverse Europe. However, members of these communities are subject to massive discrimination. This is based on persistent stigmatisation, which has a long history that has received little attention to date, but is still effective today.
Knowledge transfer
The RCA makes its research findings available to the public, society, politics and prevention work in the form of publications, workshops, (online) lectures, educational materials and counselling. We also attach particular importance to communicating our main areas of focus in the context of university teaching.
Critical Film & Image Hub
Films and images shape our perception of the world and play an essential role in the formation and manifestation of prejudices. The Critical Film & Image Hub is a project at the Research Centre on Antigypsyism (RCA) at Heidelberg University.
An interdisciplinary team investigates the mechanisms of visual and media antigypsyism and makes antigypsyist narratives, motifs and aesthetic patterns visible. Through educational materials and anti-discriminatory counterstrategies, the Hub promotes critical media literacy and a reception and production of visual media that is critically aware of antigypsyism. The project is part of the ‘Cooperation Network against Antigypsyism’ in the federal programme ‘Live Democracy!’ of the German Federal Ministry for Education, Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (BMBFSFJ).
Promoting young academics
Two doctoral scholarships and the annual ‘Romani Rose Fellowship’ serve to continuously promote young academics. Other dissertation projects, bachelor's and master's theses supervised at the RCA open up new subject areas and sources.
