Her research formed part of her PhD project and provided an opportunity to work with archival and other source materials relevant to her field of study. In an interview with Sarah Cramsey, she reflects on her research stay, the insights she gained, and the value of the stipend for her academic work.
You used the Austria Centre Leiden Research Stipend for summer research in Romania. What did you do there and where did you travel?
I traveled to Cluj and Sibiu to participate in two intensive Romanian language summer schools, at the Babeș-Bolyai University and the ROLANG school, respectively. When I wasn't in language class, I visited national museums, ethnographic collections, and archives to try and uncover material traces of the care of very young children. I had eye-opening conversations with researchers, archivists, and collectors to begin the long process of understanding how processes of care shifted throughout varying national and political regimes in 20th century Romania. One of the most fascinating items I came into contact with was a traditional menstrual garment at the Poarta de su' Feleac ethnographic museum, outside of Cluj. The curator of the collection explained that this garment was heated on a fireplace and then wrapped around the stomach to help with menstrual cramps. While menstruation, childbirth, and the care of infants are not often considered important enough to document in mainstream recordings of history, seeing this material proof of innovative methods of dealing with menstrual cramps was a powerful reminder how reproductive processes have existed throughout changing historic contexts.
How has being attached to the Austria Centre Leiden impacted your graduate student at Leiden? (Is it supposed to be time as a graduate student here?)
Through attending events organized by the Austria Centre, I have learned about fascinating subjects, from the flower carpet tradition of German minorities in Hungary to the use of emotion in a revolution in Habsburg occupied Brabant. For better or for worse, these far-reaching subjects are connected through the legacy of the Habsburg empire in central and eastern Europe. The people I've met at these events are interdisciplinary in their interests and eager to engage with subjects outside of their research scope.
The support of the Austria Centre has also made me particularly attentive to the history of German and Saxon minorities throughout Romania and led to a deep engagement with an archival fond in the Sibiu National Archives documenting the Evangelical Women's Association's fight for German speaking midwives in interwar Transylvania. The dedication that the Lutheran Women's Association dedicated to advocating for German speaking midwives provides a clear case study for examining how early child care, starting as early as birth, was essential for cementing and reproducing national identity.
What do you look forward to communicating about Romania to academic and public audiences?
I think there's still an image of poverty and repression that comes up when Romania is mentioned in a Western context like The Netherlands. Particularly when studying the care of very young children, images of abandoned children under communism are often the first thing that come to mind (read my interview with the Museum of Abandonment
