Nominated by
- Solveig Aasen, fixed-term Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy, Classics, History of Art and Ideas, Faculty of Humanities
Election platform
I have a braod experiene form academic and administrative work from both the US, Canada, and Norway. I have held temporary positions at Boston College, Boston University, University of Massachusetts, Unversity of Toronto, Lillehammer University College and now the Unviersity of Oslo. When I was doing my PhD at Boston Unviersity I was also the elected co-president of the Boston University graduate student association in the Philosophy department. I am currently a member of ”Emnerådet for Examen Philosophicum” at the University of Oslo. Should I be elected as a member of the board at the Unvieristy of Oslo, I will be very happy to use my experiences from my time in the US and Canada, and now Norway.
Below is a short explanation of the topics I find important to focus on for the board. For those who can read Norwegian, you will find a more detailed explanation on the Norwegian page.
There are three main reason that motivate me to be a memebr of the board at the University of Oslo: (1) to improve the working conditions for those in temporary positions, (2) make sure that the tasks given to those in temporary positions will in fact help their career, and (3) improve the teaching conditions for the teachers and the learning conditions for the students.
1) Working conditions
The univeristy of Oslo has a long tradition in hiring scholars in temporary positions. These positons are often not clearly defined, and many of those in temporary positions find it difficult to know what to expect with regard to their future careers. Many of the tasks that the temporary workers are given are concerned with the tasks that the Unviersity has to provide, as for instance teaching. I would like to contribute to suggestions on how to avoid the insecurity that comes with temporary positions. The university seems to plan on using temporary workers in the future in order to be able to offer the necessary teaching that the Unviersity is obliged to do. I will suggest ways in which the University can make some of these positions permanent given that the need for temporary workers arise in particular due to a shortage of teachers.
2) Career
Temporary workers are working a lot, as for instance with teaching, but often not given the time and resources to prepare themselves for permanent positions. I will suggest ways in which those in temporary positions can be given the resources that are needed in order to prepare themselves for permanent positions, as for instance more research time and resources, as well as more predicatibility. This is particularly important for those who are in temporary teaching positions for many years.
3) Teaching
Teaching is an important part of the activities that the University is undertaking. I believe that it is important that PhD students get good teaching opportunites from the very beginning so that they can develop their teaching skills as early as possible. I also believe that the instructor that is in charge of a particular class be given a lot of autonomy on how to run the class. The rules and administrative challenges should obviously be respected but they should never be more important than the academic and pedagogical considerations of a class.
I also beleive that the grading system shold be improved. I believe that each grade should be a broad reflection on the skills and efforts of each student. This is not always the case today, and an improvement on this issue will benefit both the student and the instructor.