PhD thesis

Paula’s research focuses on processes of family making and unmaking in Kampala, Uganda. She will conduct ethnographic research to analyse how new forms of family networks have appeared. She will focus on what the family in contemporary Kampala entails; who is part of the (nuclear or extended) family and why(not) and how they do care and support.

Background

Paula Vermuë is a doctoral student at the Anthropology and Sociology Department and research assistant in anthropology within the FamilEA project. Paula did the Bachelor (Honours) Interdisciplinary Social Sciences and the Research Master in Social Sciences at the University of Amsterdam, for which she also studied and conducted ethnographic research in Cape Town. Before starting her position at the Geneva Graduate Institute, Paula was a researcher at the Radboudumc in Nijmegen and a junior lecturer and research assistant at the Anthropology department of the University of Amsterdam. Paula has conducted a study on an informal support systems for survivors of domestic violence and abuse in The Netherlands. She focused specifically on the role of hairdressers in signalling and addressing partner violence amongst their clients.

Publications

Göttgens, Irene, Lina Modderkolk, Paula Vermuë, Sirwan K. L. Darweesh, Bastiaan R. Bloem and Sabine Oertelt-Prigione. 2023. Gender-aware Parkinson’s care: a design-based study of patient perspectives on gender norms and gender-sensitive care. EClinicalMedicine. 65, 102285-.

Vermuë, Paula. 2021. ‘We have nothing to celebrate!’: Fighting gender-based violence in Cape Town, South Africa. Tijdschrift voor Genderstudies. 24(3/4), 243-259.