Another RGPP Alumni Success! Recently we shared that Rufat Demirov, RGPP alumni has started his PhD at CEU. Now we want to share about another brilliant RGPP alumna, Maria Dumitru Ruiz and her journey. We are proud to announce that Maria has started her PhD program at MF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society!
Maria’s PhD project, “The enslaved female,” is integrated into the international research project MEMOROBIA, based at the MF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society. Maria will be expanding the MEMOROBIA’s focus on the historical legacy of Roma enslavement (including internalized racism, antigypsyism/ anti-Roma racism and racialized poverty) and its memorialization (civil society movements for historical justice and reparations, integration in education and curricula) to include the aspects of gender and intersectionality, with a central focus on the enslaved female.
Maria will be working closely with Magda Matache, Delia Grigore, Solvor Lauritzen and Jan Selling.
She says that “this is a huge opportunity to research such an understudied topic as the Roma slavery, especially from a gender perspective.”
Maria finished RGPP in 2018. Afterwards she has completed her MA studies in Critical Gender Studies at CEU. Shortly after with the support of the Roma in European Societies (RES) internship funds, she completed an internship with the Salvation Army.
When asked about her path, Maria shared that RGPP was instrumental in her successes.
“Without RGPP I would have never had the change to study in an international university and build such a strong network that I build through RSP.”, Maria said.
Because of the strong support Maria got, she also encourages young Roma with BA degrees to apply to RGPP:
"My Romani fellows, achieve your full potential and apply to an international program. For me, was the best opportunity I ever had.”
Warm congratulations to Maria! We are excited to follow her journey.
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Are you an RSP alumni and you are interested in/pursuing/hold your PhD? We would love to keep you informed about opportunities! Contact us at rgpp@ceu.edu.