05.12.2025

2025 teaching prize goes to sociology theater project under the direction of Professor Ursula Offenberger

On December 4, the state of Baden-Württemberg awarded its Landeslehrpreis, the 2025 state teaching prize in Stuttgart. In the “Universities” category, the prize went to the University of Tübingen’s sociological theater project, Drawing Lines – Vom Kampf um gleiche Rechte (The Fight for Equal Rights).  

How can you get students excited about a historical, sociological topic? Put them directly into historical roles, relationships, and social contexts of the respective era. The University of Tübingen’s Professor Dr. Ursula Offenberger, Leonie Holdik, and Dorothee Engbers have achieved this in a unique way: as part of the Master's seminar, “Gender and Diversity in the Beginnings of Empirical Social Research,” they worked with students to develop and stage a theater project. 

The performative project for teaching and learning was based on an interdisciplinary Master's seminar at the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences in winter semester 2023/24, which took a historical and sociological look at the beginnings of empirical social research in the USA. The participants worked together to examine the extent to which women and African Americans made groundbreaking contributions to the development of the field at that time, but were subsequently forgotten, suppressed, and ignored in later historiography on the beginnings of empirical social research. Although the course designed by Prof. Dr. Ursula Offenberger was primarily historically oriented, it also highlighted contemporary references and parallels to racist and sexist thinking. 

From first reading to performance

The first third of the seminar consisted of reading primary and secondary literature in order to familiarize participants with the historical material and to provide them with the necessary background knowledge for understanding the theater manuscript. The ‘game’ of taking on different perspectives and roles was integrated into the seminar at an early stage. It served the dual purpose of familiarizing participants with the material, putting themselves in the shoes of the historical figures and the era from which the respective texts originate, and preparing them for stage work. 

The plot, characters, key scenes, and setting of the stage play were developed collaboratively, with all students participating in the writing process. One of the seminar participants, Leonie Holdik, took the lead in creating a stage version. The preparations for the stage performance and the rehearsal workshops were led by theater educator Dorothee Engbers. The highlight of the project was three performances of the play “Drawing Lines. Vom Kampf um gleiche Rechte” in Tübingen, which were well received.

The teaching award jury praised the current, innovative, and socially relevant orientation of the theater project and its wide reach. The project was partly sponsored with funding from the CIVIS university alliance. In the near future, the project is to be further developed across Europe in cooperation with CIVIS partners. After all, raising awareness of issues such as racism, sexism, and democratic coexistence can make an important contribution to peaceful coexistence not only in Germany but across Europe. The prize money provides valuable support in this regard.

“Motivation – Innovation – Commitment”: The presentation of the Landeslehrpreis (state teaching award) 2025 

“Good teaching, where motivation, innovation, and commitment are evident, benefits both teachers and students alike, and thus contributes significantly to academic success,” said Minister of Science Petra Olschowski at the award ceremony. Teaching is very important to the state government. “We are not only shaping professions and education paths; we are shaping our society.”

The Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Science, Research, and the Arts inaugurated the award to give recognition to the work and commitment of outstanding individuals and their projects at the state's universities. The state teaching award is presented every two years, alternating with the Landesforschungspreis (state research award). The winners each receive €50,000, which is earmarked for teaching purposes. A special prize for outstanding student commitment, worth €5,000, was also presented.

Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Science, Research, and the Arts press release

About the project „Drawing Lines“ (Newsletter Uni Tübingen aktuell 4/2025) 

All 2025 award winners and their projects