Gisela Mettele (Germany)  holds a Chair in Gender History at the Friedrich-Schiller-University in Jena, Germany. Her research interests include the gender history of urban and suburban spaces from late eighteenth to early twentieth century, gender history of the middle classes, gender and religion in modern societies, as well as transnational gender history. Prior to her professorship at the University of Jena she spent four years in the USA. From 1999 to 2000 on a research fellowship at Harvard University, and from 2005 to 2007 working with the German Historical Institute in Washington DC, of which the last year was as the interim director. From 2007 to 2009 Prof. Mettele had a lectureship at Leicester University in the UK. She is the official representative of the German national committee to the IFRWH and is highly interested in further developing the interests of the IFRWH.