Joanna Spyra

PhD candidate
Department of Archaeology, History, Cultural Studies and Religion, University of Bergen, Norway
In her project, Joanna wants to analyze the experience of Jewish women immigrants within the historical context of gender relations and sexuality in Argentina, in a specific time framework and through the lens of different Jewish organizations and the state of Argentina. This study seeks to make a systematic examination of the understanding of the female psyche, body, and sexuality through a setting that defined the women’s behaviors as social and medical pathologies. Using contemporary feminist theory as a tool for studying Latin American history will offer a new perspective on and approach to the discourse of diaspora experiences of female bodies that highlights issues such as gender, sexuality, transnationalism, identity, (dis)ability, mental health, and psychiatry. Her research will help to understand the role of the Jewish female body in transnational space between Eastern Europe and Argentina.