Prestigious PhD Award for Marija Đokić

On 2 March 2019, Marija Đokić, an Alumna of the Graduate School, received an award from the Fritz and Helga Exner Foundation for her innovative doctoral dissertation that was defended in July 2018 at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University (LMU) Munich. With this award, the Foundation, which is affiliated with the Südosteuropa-Gesellschaft e.V. [Southeast Europe Association], honors special achievements in Southeastern Europe research. In her dissertation, Đokić examined the theatre landscape of Belgrade in the years 1841-1914 and thereby explored the entanglement of national and European theater practices.

The prize was awarded to Đokić at the Annual General Meeting 2019 of the Südosteuropa-Gesellschaft e.V. in Bamberg. The laudatory speech was given by Professor Dr Wim van Meurs (Nijmegen), Vice President of the Südosteuropa-Gesellschaft e.V.

Marija Đokić initially completed a diploma degree in history in Belgrade. In 2013, she was awarded the Master's degree after completing the interdisciplinary Elite Graduate Program for East European Studies at LMU Munich. Between the end of 2013 and spring of 2018, she was a doctoral student at the Graduate School for East and Southeast European Studies in Munich. Her dissertation will be published in the winter of 2019/20 under the title "Eine Theaterlandschaft für Belgrad. Zur Verflechtung nationaler und europäischer Theaterpraktiken, 1841-1914" [A Theater Landscape for Belgrade. On the Entanglement of National and European Theater Practices, 1841-1914] in the Graduate School's book series "Schnittstellen" with Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.

Another winner of this years Prize of the Fritz and Helga Exner Foundation was Johannes Gold from the University of Jena, who has written a dissertation on "Multiethnicity in Everyday Life and Conflict: Appearance and Reality of Identity Constructions in the Balkan City of Prizren".