Professor Susanne M. Klausen has won a 15,000 euro ($23,000 CAD) research scholarship from the Gerda Henkel Stiftung. The foundation, established in 1976, is dedicated to the promotion of science and the humanities, especially history and archeology. Klausen won the scholarship in support of her SSHRC-funded research into the criminalization of inter-racial sexual relationships in South Africa, “Forbidden Desire: Interracial Intimacy in South Africa during Apartheid, 1948-1994.” The scholarship will allow Klausen to purchase teaching release in Winter term and to undertake an additional research trip to South Africa in February.
“I am thrilled and grateful to win this award,” Klausen says. “The grant gives me precious time for writing. I have accumulated a great deal of evidence over the past few years from conducting archival research, newspaper searches, and interviews with individuals who were directly affected by the application of the law criminalizing sex across the colour line in South Africa. The generous grant from the Gerda Henkel Stiftung will enable me to begin writing up my findings in what will become the manuscript for my next book.”