The Presidential Board of Paderborn University has awarded the"Prize for Outstanding Dissertations" to Kirsten Behr's doctoral thesis! The award ceremony took place during the New Year's Reception 2026 at Paderborn University.

Convinced that gendered representations of disasters not only document facts, but also cement inequalities, Kirsten Behr used lines of argument from feminist disaster research to analyze novels from the French-speaking Caribbean in her dissertation. In her laudatory speech, Prof. Dr. Annegret Thiem (University of Paderborn) praised: "The dissertation triggers displeasure and discomfort, because it shows in an uncomfortable way the metaphorically cemented gender roles, which urgently need to be changed in the face of a world that increasingly relies on aggressiveness. Thanks to an extremely perceptive approach, this dissertation does not leave us readers untouched, but involves us in the process of constructing images and dealing with other cultural contexts, clearing up our images of the Caribbean." The full laudation can be read here.

The doctoral thesis was reviewed by Prof. Dr. Annegret Thiem (University of Paderborn) and Prof. Dr. Agnieszka Komorowska (University of Kassel). It was published in September 2025 under the title "Female Disasterscapes: Frauen im Naturkatastrophenroman der französischsprachigen Karibik" by DeGruyter in the Mimesis series.