Extraordinary General Meeting of Minding Animals Norway to be held

An extraordinary General Meeting of Minding Animals Norway has been called. The meeting will take place via Skype on February 1st. Hopefully a new board will be elected at the meeting. Other items on the agenda includes revision of the statutes or, if a new board is not elected, dissolving the organisation.

Peer-review for PJOS

At some point this autumn I did a peer-review for the Public Journal of Semiotics (PJOS).

Interview in Vårt Land published

On December 28th a 6-page feature story was published by the Norwegian national daily Vårt Land, a Christian newspaper, entitled "For dyrenes skyld" [For the sake of the animals] and featuring interviews with me and three others (under the vignette "Tema: Dyrevelferd" [topic: animal welfare]). I did the interview in the name of Minding Animals Norway and University of Stavanger.

There was a note on the story on the front page, reading "Flere bryr seg om dyrene" [More people care about the animals].

3rd and final abstract deadline for NASS X

The final abstract deadline for the 10th conference of the Nordic Association for Semiotic Studies, to be held in conjunction with the 13th World Congress of Semiotics in Kaunas, Lithuania, June 26-30th 2017, is January 31st. See the NASS webpage for more info.

4th Norwegian EMP seminar held at UiS

The 4th and final Norwegian research seminar of the Estonian-Norwegian research project "Animals in changing environments: Cultural mediation and semiotic analysis" was organised at University of Stavanger December 15-16th. 7 of the 9 scheduled talks were held, as two researchers cancelled their participation in the last minute. 

50 exam papers graded

A few days ago I finished grading 50 home exam papers in Examen Philosophicum at University of Stavanger´s Department of social studies.

CFP for Biosemiotics special issue on the Extended Synthesis

A Call For Papers has been issued for a special issue of Biosemiotics guest-edited by Andrew Winters and titled "Semiotic aspects of the Extended Synthesis" - see the Biosemiosis blog. Paper proposals are due January 31st.

Search image paper to appear in special issue on code biology

My paper in process "The search image as a link between sensation, perception and action" is partaking in plans for a special issue on code biology. A special issue proposal submitted to Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B (Biological Sciences) was turned down, following quite positive peer reviews but lacklustre editorial feedback. However, Biological Theory now plans to publish the special issue.

Cognitive semiotics book to appear in January

I have been informed by the editors that Meaning, Mind and Communication: Explorations in Cognitive Semiotics, edited by Jordan Zlatev, Göran Sonesson and Piotr Konderak, will appear on Peter Lang in January, with 2016 as official publication year. It is currently in production, and slightly delayed. I contribute with one of the chapters, on agency in biosemiotics and enactivism.

Interviewed by Vårt Land

Today I was interviewed by Vårt Land, a Norwegian, Christian national daily newspaper, on the increasing interest in animal welfare.

Meeting at publishing house

Today I attended a meeting in Oslo at Vega forlag, a publishing house, about a book on wolves that I will co-write. A good meeting. Among other things, I got to meet one of my co-authors, Petter Bøckman.

See also:

To contribute to book on wolves

Data crash

Late last Thursday my Mac crashed (the same happened in mid-September, with my other Mac). Today I recovered a backup of my files, by the help of Elkjøp Forus. I still have to fix or replace the Mac´s harddisk.

NfR evaluation of final Young Research Talents application

A few days ago I got the formal reply on my research application "Umwelt theory for our time", sent to Research Council of Norway´s Young Research Talents scheme. Overall grade was 5 (out of 7); with grades A+A+A+B+B and 5+5+6, including a 6 for Project leader.

Final Steering Committee meeting attended, at UiS

On Friday December 16th I attended the final Steering Committee meeting of the Norwegian-Estonian research project "Animals in changing environments: Cultural mediation and semiotic analysis", chaired by Timo Maran, in person at University of Stavanger, with some more involved researchers sitting in.

Two books featured in UiS book exhibition

Our books Thinking about Animals in the Age of the Anthropocene (Lexington Books 2016) and Animal umwelten in a changing world: Zoosemiotic perspectives (Tartu University Press 2016) were included in the annual University of Stavanger book exhibition on Friday December 16th during the Christmas end-of-term event at Kjell Arholms hus. After what I´ve heard, there were some 20 books in the exhibitions, all featuring UiS scholars.

"Thinking about animals..." book of the month

Our book Thinking about Animals in the Age of the Anthropocene is "book of the month" (månedens bok) at the university library of Stavanger´s page for social work.

Estonian guests; 4th EMP151 research seminar

Yesterday five Estonian researchers arrived for the 4th and final Norwegian research seminar of the Estonian-Norwegian research project "Animals in changing environments: Cultural mediation and semiotic analysis", which takes place today and tomorrow at University of Stavanger.

Book review published at Salongen.no

I have just had a book review published. Reference:

Tønnessen, Morten 2016. En ny teori om alt? Drude von der Fehr (red.), Den levende kroppen: Mot en ny forståelse av menneske og natur. Vidarforlaget 2016. Bokanmeldelse. Salongen – nettidsskrift for filosofi og idéhistorie (Salongen.no). Published December 15th 2016. URL: http://www.salongen.no/?p=11352

Guest lecture in environmental history master course

I will give a guest lecture in the University of Stavanger master course «Miljø- og vannhistorie - Et historiografisk perspektiv» [Environmental history and history of water - a historiographic perspective] (course code MHI335_1) Spring 2017, on March 20th at 9.15-11.00. I will cover the Anthropocene and related discussions.

Department Christmas lunch

Today I will attend the Christmas lunch of University of Stavanger´s Department of social studies, at City Bistro.

Dissemination article on wolves and sheep

I have just composed a chronicle of sorts, entitled "Ulv og sau - et naturlig par?" [Wolf and sheep - a natural couple?], submitted to Norwegian daily newspaper Aftenposten for their Innsikt section.

To teach in MSO121

I have been asked, and agreed, to lecture in the course MSO121, Velferdsstaten - politikk og teori [The welfare state - politics and theory] at University of Stavanger´s Department of social studies. Some of my teaching will be joint for MSO121 and the Erasmus Mundus course MEM110, but I will also give a 3-hour lecture in Norwegian (on autonomy etc.).

ZfS special issue on biosemiotic ethics delayed; appearing soon

Our special issue of Zeitschrift für Semiotik on biosemiotic ethics is somewhat delayed due to changes in the regular editorial and typesetting staff. The journal´s homepage says the special issue will appear as issue 1-2/2016 but only appear Spring/Summer 2017 (I think Spring is most likely). We received commented files from the regular editors about a week ago, and will quickly proceed to typesetting, around Christmas.

Book "Animal umwelten in a changing world" featured on IASS webpage

The book Animal umwelten in a changing world, which I have co-authored and co-edited, is featured in a post on the webpage of International Association for Semiotic Studies (IASS).

Book "Animal umwelten in a changing world" freely available as PDF; for sale in print

The recently published book Animal umwelten in a changing world, co-authored and co-edited by me, is freely available for PDF download at the Directory of Open Access Books, and for sale (print copy, 23 EUR) at Tartu University Press.

See also:

New title; full reference for forthcoming book "Animal Umwelten in a changing world"

Extended abstract deadline for NASS X

The deadline for abstract submission to the 10th conference of the Nordic Association for Semiotic Studies (NASS), to be held in Kaunas, Lithuania in conjunction with the 13th world congress of semiotics, has been extended to December 20th. See the webpage of NASS.

Reimbursement work

I have spent some of the last two work days doing paper work related to getting reimbursed for two conference trips (covered by Department of social studies) and the last COST action meeting (GroupHouseNet) in Belgrade. Altogether I have some 34.000 NOK to be reimbursed.

At office 5 days a week

After moving to Stavanger around November 30th, a new work routine has started, with 5 days a week in the office at University of Stavanger´s Department of social studies. Occasionally, later on (once all my three kids are in kindergarten, starting next autumn), I expect to stay at home some days to write in full concentration. Next Spring will be somewhat different, with plans for 50% graded parental leave.

10 vacation days left over

I have 10 unused vacation days that I have now applied for transferring to 2017.

Reference for wolves and sheep article in PJoHS

Here´s the reference for my forthcoming article on wolves and sheep.

Tønnessen, Morten 2016. Historicizing the Cultural Semiotics of Wolf and Sheep. Pakistan Journal of Historical Studies 1(2) (Special Issue on “Emotions, Humans and Animals”): 76–101. doi:10.2979/pjhs.1.2.03.

Program for 4th and final "Animals in changing environments" research seminar

The program for the 4th and final Norwegian research seminar of the Estonian-Norwegian research project "Animals in changing environments: Cultural mediation and semiotic analysis" is now available online, at the webpage of the project (in English and in Norwegian).

Copied here:

4th Norwegian research seminar of ”Animals in changing environments: Cultural mediation and semiotic analysis” (EMP151)

Venue: Lecture room KA-U-020 (Kjell Arholms hus)

Thursday December 15th

10.00-10.20 Morten Tønnessen (UIS): Welcome

10.20-11.00 Kadri Tüür (University of Tartu): ”The Semiotics of nature representations”

11.00-11.40 Kristin Armstrong Oma (AM/UIS): ”Living with animals in the Bronze Age”

11.40-12.20 Laura Kiiroja (University of Tartu): "Socialization of wolves"

12.20-13.20 Lunch break

13.20-14.00: Nelly Mäekivi (University of Tartu): ”Semiotic analysis and modelling of zoological gardens: an overview of PhD thesis”

14.00-14.40: Paul Thibault (University of Agder): ”Multimodal cultural thematic analysis of the interview data”

14.40-15.20 Riin Magnus (University of Tartu): ”The semiotics of guide dog work”

15.20-15.30 Break

15.30-16.30 General discussion

 — Ideas about theoretical synthesis, developing research programs

 — Future plans, possible collaboration

Friday December 16th

10:00-10.40 Silver Rattasepp (University of Tartu): ”Animals and the empirico-transcendental doublet”

10.40-11.20 Timo Maran (University of Tartu): ”Premises and lineaments of a general research model in Zoosemiotics”

11.20-12:00 Morten Tønnessen (UIS): ”The semiotics of predation and the nature of human beings”

UiS action plan for ethical trading 2017-21 approved

On December 1st, the board of University Stavanger had a board meeting where in case US 109/16 issues settled by rector Marit Boyesen were reported. On November 22nd she, by mandate, approved of the action plan for ethical trading 2017-2021 (RF 41/16) that I have helped prepare as a member of the UiS work group on ethical trading. The plan also includes a procurement strategy.

Google Scholar: 155 citations; i10-index of 4

According to Google Scholar my academic work has by now been cited 155 times (up 20 since september), 41 of which in 2016 (vs. 43 in 2015). I now have an i10-index of 4 (the fourth text to be cited 10 times is my PhD dissertation (2011), now cited 14 times), and still have a h-index of 7 (meaning that 7 of my texts have been cited at least 7 times; in comparison 12 of my papers have been cited 5 times or more).

CFP for 17th gathering in biosemiotics (Lausanne)

A Call For Papers for the 17th International gathering in Biosemiotics (Lausanne, Switzerland June 6-10th 2017) has appeared. Abstract deadline is February 15th.

Work meeting on Erasmus Mundus course attended

Today I have attended a work meeting on long-term course description revisions for the MUNDUS course currently called "Welfare state and welfare policy" (MEM110), in connection with an upcoming application to be sent in December.

Book bath on green economics moderated

On October 31st I moderated a "book bath" organized by the Green Party of Stavanger, featuring Svein Hammer and Eivind Hoff-Elimari, both of whom have this year authored books dealing with green economics. Some 20 people attended.

Three journals suggested as publication channels

A few days ago I suggested a few new publication channels to Cristin, the Current Research Information System in Norway - all academic journals:

Environmental Philosophy

Pakistan Journal of Historical Studies

lo Squaderno

Course description revised; new course code for master course for paramedics

A little while ago I revised the course description for the course «Philosophy of Science and Health Care Ethics». The course, previously run by UiS EVU, is now administered by University of Stavanger´s Department of health studies, and therefore has a new course code, MPH130_1 (the previous course code was FXPSH100).

Two abstracts accepted for peer-review

I have been notified by the International Semiotics Institute that my abstracts "Uexküllian phenomenology" (submitted to NASS X) and "Umwelt theory revisited – contemporary Uexküllian thought in 10 points" (submitted to the 13th world congress of semiotics) have been accepted for peer-review.

Abstract for World Congress of Semiotics (Kaunas): "Uexküllian phenomenology"

Today I composed and submitted an abstract for the session "Biosemiotics in dialogue" at the 13th world congress of semiotics, entitled "Uexküllian phenomenology".

Uexküllian phenomenology 

Abstract

We are located at the junction of nature and culture, and of semiotics and phenomenology. Can they be reconciled? More particularly, can subfields such as biosemiotics and eco-phenomenology be mutually enriching? I, for one, believe that they can. Uexküllian phenomenology is derived from the Umwelt theory of the Baltic-German biologist Jakob von Uexküll (1864–1944). Its basic premise is that we can assume the universal existence, in the realm of life, of a genuine first person perspective, i.e., of experienced worlds. This assumption characterises Uexküllian phenomenology and makes it a genuine perspective within phenomenology. In this paper I prepare the ground for such a phenomenology by treating the notion of phenomenology, the relation between semiotics and phenomenology, Husserl’s notion of Lebenswelt, and finally the notion of Uexküllian phenomenology. The purpose is to make the case that Uexküllian phenomenology is justified, and to situate it within phenomenological and semiotic thought at large. 

Reference

Tønnessen, Morten 2015. Uexküllian phenomenology. Chinese Semiotic Studies 11(3): 347–369. 

Abstract for NASS X: "Umwelt theory revisited – contemporary Uexküllian thought in 10 points"

Today I have submitted my abstract "Umwelt theory revisited – contemporary Uexküllian thought in 10 points" to NASS X, held in conjunction with the 13th world congress of semiotics (Kaunas, Lithuania, June 26-30th 2017).

Umwelt theory revisited – contemporary Uexküllian thought in 10 points

Abstract

Key elaborations of Jakob von Uexküll´s (1864–1944) Umwelt theory can be summarised in 10 points:

1. Uexküllian phenomenology represents a unique phenomenological perspective.

2. The ontological niche of a being can be defined as the set of contrapuntal relations it takes part in. 

3. Not all Umwelten are species-specific. 

4. Not all Umwelten can be meaningfully studied in isolation.

5. Umwelten undergo Umwelt transitions.

6. In many cases, it makes sense to refer to the Umwelten of different life stages, or to acknowledge that species-specific developmental patterns determine the character of the Umwelt.

7. An Umwelt trajectory represents an aggregate, collective equivalent of Uexküll’s notion of the Umwelt-tunnel.

8. Umwelt mapping results in ontological maps.

9. The tripartite Umwelt model distinguishes between Umwelt objects as encountered, anticipated and conceptualized.

10. An Umwelt ethics rests heavily on fundamental features of the Umwelt theory. 

Reference

Maran, Timo, Morten Tønnessen, Kadri Tüür, Riin Magnus, Silver Rattasepp and Nelly Mäekivi (2016). Methodology of zoosemiotics: concepts, categorizations, models. In Maran, Tønnessen and Rattasepp (eds), Animal Umwelten in a changing world – Zoosemiotic perspectives (Tartu: Tartu University Press 2016), 29–50.

Moved to Stavanger

Today I have moved to Stavanger. I went by train with my son Matias (4). Our things arrived yesterday, received by my wife, with our twins Cecilie and Alexander (1).

Revision of family policy chapter

Today I have gone another round with revising parts of "Familie og fridom. Norsk familiepolitikk i lys av liberal politisk filosofi", a chapter I am co-writing with Svein Tuastad. Today´s task mostly involved adding references to official information about Norwegian family policies.

Sic

Moving preparations: Yesterday I packed 24 kg of semiotics. 2.400 years of semiotic history did not fit in the box.

To contribute to book on wolves

I have agreed to contribute to a book on wolves that is to be published next year by Vega forlag, a small Norwegian publishing house. Some details remain to be agreed on and/or clarified.

Von der Fehr book review revised

Today I have revised and expanded my book review "En ny teori om alt?", of Drude von der Fehr (ed.), Den levende kroppen: Mot en ny forståelse av menneske og natur (Vidarforlaget 2016), which is to appear in Salongen.no.

Minding Animals Norway: General meeting held, no board elected

Today Minding Animals Norway held its annual General Meeting. Six people were present, five of whom current board members. No financial report or budget was prepared for the meeting. An annual report and an action plan was decided on, however. Election of board members was discussed for an hour or two before it was decided that an extraordinary General Meeting will be held on February 1st to elect a new board. This was because two people wants to quit the board and two more were ambivalent with regard to continuing.

5th Norwegian Animal Ethics Conference held

Today the 5th Norwegian Animal Ethics Conference was held at Litteraturhuset in Oslo. About 130 people attended. In addition to being a key member of the 4-person organizing team (along with Kristian Ellingsen in particular), I chaired the panel featuring Bjørn Ramberg, Marit Emilie Buseth, Odd Vangen, Ingrid Olesen, Marianne Kulø and Une Aina Bastholm. The conference was formally organized by Minding Animals Norway and the Norwegian Council for Animal Ethics.

4th Norwegian EMP151 research seminar to be held December 15-16 at UiS

The 4th and final Norwegian research seminar of the Estonian-Norwegian research project "Animals in changing environments: Cultural mediation and semiotic analysis" will be held at University of Stavanger December 15-16th. A program, which will include presentations by nine researchers, will appear online soon.

Review of Vetlesen´s The Denial of Nature

My review of The Denial of Nature has now been published.

Reference:

Tønnessen, Morten 2016. Arne Johan Vetlesen. The Denial of Nature. Environmental philosophy in the Era of Global Capitalism. Routledge 2015. Book review. Environmental Philosophy 13(2): 319–322.

Grading of 201 digital MC exam papers

Today I have conducted the (automatically calculated) grading (pass/not passed) of 201 Multiple Choice exam papers in Examen Philosophicum at University of Stavanger´s Department of social studies. For the first time, this exam was digital this year.

CFP: Session "Biosemiotics in dialogue" at 13th World Congress of Semiotics

CFP for the session “Biosemiotics in dialogue”

IASS/AIS 13th World Congress of Semiotics “Cross-Inter-Multi-Trans” (Kaunas, Lithuania, 26-30 June 2017)

Conceptually, biosemiotics is the semiotic study of living systems. In essence, biosemiotics is already more-than-semiotic as well as more-than-biological – it is interdisciplinary in nature, and builds on synthesis between ideas and theories from various fields. In this session, we will look at the history as well as future of biosemiotics in its relating to various fields.

More specifically, we look for answers to the following questions: What are the historical, methodological and conceptual ties between biosemiotics and neighboring disciplines? How can fruitful theoretical synthesis in form of biosemiotics best be achieved? How can biosemiotics draw on ideas and perspectives from neighboring fields of endeavor? What can other fields in semiotics and beyond learn from biosemiotics? How can biosemiotics in the best way take part in solving essential scientific problems of our time?

For participating, please register to the World Congress with indication of participation in the session “Biosemiotics in dialogue” and send your abstract also to timo.maran [@] ut.ee. Please note that the registration deadline is November 30, 2016.

With kind regards,

Kalevi Kull,

Morten Tønnessen,

Timo Maran

Assessment guidelines composed

This week I have composed brief "assessment guidelines" for the Multiple Choice exam in Examen Philosophicum at University of Stavanger´s Department of social studies, and somewhat longer assessment guidelines for the home exam.

Exam questions composed

This week I have composed exam questions for the home exam in Examen Philosophicum at University of Stavanger´s Department of social studies. The exam starts November 25th.

Three times revision of course description

About a week ago I conducted course description revision (with minor changes, applicable Autumn 2017 and later) for three courses at University of Stavanger´s Department of social studies (course codes BBABAC, SVEXPHIL10, MEM110).

Book review of Den levende kroppen written

About a week ago I finished my book review "En ny teori om alt? Drude von der Fehr (red.), Den levende kroppen: Mot en ny forståelse av menneske og natur. Vidarforlaget 2016", which is to appear in the online Norwegian philosophy journal Salongen – nettidsskrift for filosoofi og idéhistorie.

Urban corvids article proof-read

Today I have proof-read my forthcoming brief article "Urban corvids - A bird’s-eye view of towns and cities".

MC exam questions prepared

Yesterday I composed Multiple Choice exam questions for Examen Philosophicum at Department of social studies. The MC exam takes place November 21st, for some 200 students.

4 more hours of teaching

Today I have taught for 4 hours in Examen philosophicum at Department of social studies - two seminars. This completed my teaching this autumn.

PhilPapers

On PhilPapers I am listed with some 22 papers.

6 hours of teaching

Today I have taught for 6 consecutive hours in Examen Philosophicum at Department of social studies. First the 12th and last lecture, then two seminars. Today´s topic included summing up and a course in academic writing.

GroupHouseNet work group meetings, galla dinner attended

The last two days I have been attended work group meetings of the COST action GroupHouseNet in Belgrade, Serbia, at University of Belgrade´s Faculty of agriculture. I also attended a galla dinner yesterday, in the same part of Belgrade, Zemun.

Book chapters proof-read

Today I have proof-read my contributions to the forthcoming book Animal Umwelten in a changing world: Zoosemiotic perspectives.

New title; full reference for forthcoming book "Animal Umwelten in a changing world"

The forthcoming book previously work-titled Animal Umwelts in a changing world – Semiotic studies of human-animal relations will be titled Animal Umwelten in a changing world – Zoosemiotic perspectives. Full reference:

Timo Maran, Morten Tønnessen, Kristin Armstrong Oma, Laura Kiiroja, Riin Magnus, Nelly Mäekivi, Silver Rattasepp, Paul Thibault and Kadri Tüür, forthcoming, 2016. Animal Umwelten in a changing world – Zoosemiotic perspectives (Tartu Semiotics Library 18). Edited by Timo Maran, Morten Tønnessen and Silver Rattasepp. Tartu: Tartu University Press.

GroupHouseNet MC meeting attended in Belgrade

Today, in Belgrade, Serbia, I have attended the 3rd Management Committee meeting of the COST action "Synergy for preventing damaging behaviour in group housed pigs and chickens" (GroupHouseNet). Some 22 countries were represented at the meeting.

Book review proof-read

A few days ago I proof-read my book review of Arne Johan Vetlesen´s The Denial of Nature, forthcoming in Environmental Philosophy.

Webpage for NASS X (Kaunas)

As the webmaster of the Nordic Association for Semiotic Studies, I have just moved the NASS IX subpage of the NASS webpage, and established a new subpage for the upcoming conference, NASS X (Kaunas June 2017, abstract deadline November 30th).

"Urban corvids" article finished

Yesterday I finished writing the brief article «Urban corvids: A bird's-eye view of towns and cities», for a special issue of Lo Squadron on urban animals.

Work lunch for welfare state and policy course

Today I have attended and co-organised a work much for teachers in the MUNDUS-course "Welfare state and welfare policy".

11th lecture given

Today I have given the 11th lecture in Examen Philosophicum at Department of Social Studies. The topic was various approaches to knowledge and science, and ethics of care.

No "Young Research Talents" grant

A notification reads that candidates for "Young Research Talents" grants from the Research Council of Norway have now been invited. I have received no such invitation, and am therefore not considered for funding with my project "Umwelt theory for our time". This was my last chance to get a "Young Research Talents" grant, since I have turned 40.

2016 project budget

Recently I have organised, by help of an accountant/economist, the 2016 budget for the Norwegian part of the Norwegian-Estonian research project "Animals in changing environments" (EMP151). There was some uncertainty concerning the calculation of overhead related to the 2015 conference "Animals in the Anthropocene", but this has now been resolved, so I know how much funds are left to use by New Year.

House bought; commuting about to end

We are in the process of moving from Kristiansand to Stavanger, and yesterday we took over the house we have bought in Gausel/Forus. I´ve spent the night there, and will use it for accommodation the next few weeks - and then we move.

Child welfare meeting attended

Today I attended a planning/coordination meeting in the child welfare education at UiS´ Department of social studies.

10 hours of teaching

Yesterday and today I have taught altogether 10 hours in Examen Philosophicum at University of Stavanger´s Department of social studies (one lecture and four seminars).

Theme and time of 5th Norwegian Animal Ethics Conference

The theme of the 5th Norwegian Animal Ethics Conference (Dyreetikkonferansen), to be held at Litteraturhuset in Oslo November 23rd at 10.00-15.00, is "Ekstrem forvandling: Avle alt alltid" [Extreme transformation: Always breed everything?]. The program is now just about finalized.

Minor change in MEM110 course description

A couple of weeks ago or so I conducted a minor revision of the course description for the international master course "Welfare state and welfare policy" (MEM110) for next Spring (change of readings).

"Where I end and you begin" article now online

My article "Where I end and you begin: The threshold of the self and the intrinsic value of the phenomenal world" is now available online via my Academia.edu.profile.

To attend GroupHouseNet MC meeting etc in Belgrade in November

I have been summoned to participate in the 10-11 November Management Committee meeting and Work Group meetings of the COST project GroupHouseNet ("Synergy for preventing damaging behaviour in group housed pigs and chickens"), in Belgrade, Serbia. This will be my second MC meeting and second trip to Belgrade.

UiS profile page updated

My profile page at University of Stavanger has been updated with a more contemporary profile picture, as well as updates research interests, publication list, current office number etc.

Wolves and sheep article - proof queries

I have just responded to proof queries in the third round of editing of my article "Historicizing the Cultural Semiotics of Wolf and Sheep", forthcoming in Pakistan Journal of Historical Studies.

Work meeting

Today I had a writing-focused work meeting with a colleague.

Guest lecture by Svein Gjedrem attended

Today I attended a guest lecture at University of Stavanger Business School by Svein Gjedrem, former Central bank governor in Norway. the topic was Norway´s sovereign wealth fund and its relation to the federal budget.

9th lecture

Today I have given the 9th lecture in Examen Philosophicum at University of Stavanger´s Department of social studies. The topic was "justified knowledge", various notions of empirical data, and hermeneutics.

12th newsletter of Minding Animals Norway made and sent

I have just composed and distributed the 12th newsletter of Minding Animals Norway (6 pp), including a call for the general meeting 2016 and info on the 5th Norwegian Animal Ethics Conference.

Annual meeting of Minding Animals Norway 2016

The 2016 annual meeting of Minding Animals Norway will be held November 23rd at 18 o´clock on the eatery Git Bit in Oslo, the board of Minding Animals Norway decided today.

Minding Animals board meeting

Today I attended and chaired the bimonthly board meeting of Minding Animals Norway, via Google Hangouts. Among the topics were practical tasks during the 2016 Norwegian Animal Ethics Conference. The annual research seminar was cancelled (2016) due to a lack of willingness in the board to take responsibility for organizing it.

NASS board meeting attended, chaired

On October 10th I attended - and chaired, and wrote the minutes of - the board meeting of the Nordic Association for Semiotic Studies (NASS). The main topics concerned deciding on and planning the 10th conference of NASS, which is to be held in June 2017 in Kaunas, Lithuania.

ISI link

I have added a link to the International Semiotics Institute in the right-hand sidebar titled "Some related academic links".

NASS X held in conjunction with 13th World Congress of Semiotics; abstract deadline November 30

The 10th Conference of the Nordic Association for Semiotic Studies (NASS), "Nordic-Baltic links, networks and domains in semiotics and beyond" will be held in conjunction with the 13th World Congress of Semiotics (Kaunas, Lituania, June 26-30th 2017). The Call for Papers, with abstract deadline November 30th, is featured in the 9th newsletter of NASS (now online).

4 hours of teaching

Today I have been teaching for 4 hours - two seminars in Examen Philosophicum at University of Stavanger´s Department of social studies.

9th newsletter of NASS finished

Today I have taken part in finishing the 9th newsletter of the Nordic Association for Semiotic Studies, which I edit along with Inesa Sahakyan.

6 hours of teaching

Today I have taught for 6 hours in Examen Philosophicum at University of Stavanger´s Department of social studies (first a lecture, then two seminars). The topic was epistemology/philosophy of science.

Fourth biosemiotic glossary article on "semiotic threshold" - survey now online

The forth survey in the biosemiotic glossary project has just been released online, via Google Forms/Google Docs - here. The key term for the fourth survey is "semiotic threshold". The fourth review article in the project is being written and researched by Kalevi Kull and Claudio J. Rodríguez H.

Speakers confirmed for 5th Norwegian Animal Ethics Conference

Program entries are starting to be confirmed for the 5th Norwegian Animal Ethics Conference, which will be held Wednesday November 23rd at Litteraturhuset, Oslo, with the theme "Ekstrem forvandling: Avle alt alltid?" [Extreme makeover: Always breed everything?]. Confirmed speakers include Marit Emilie Buseth, Ingrid Olesen (NOFIMA), Bjørn Ramberg (UIO) and Odd Vangen (NTNU).

Interviewed on background of Norwegian wolf conflict on national radio

Yesterday, October 12th, I appeared on national public radio in NRK P2´s program "Ekko", in the story "Hvorfor er vi så redde for ulven?" [Why are we so afraid of the wolf?], along with biologist Barbara Zimmermann (HiH) and sociologist Ketil Skogen (NINA). We were interviewed by Rikke Eckhoff. Available as podcast.

Website of Norwegian Animal Ethics Conference updated

Recently I have updated the webpage of the Norwegian Animal Ethics Conference with the first info on this year´s conference, which takes place November 23rd in Oslo.

Staff meeting attended

Today I attended the staff meeting of University of Stavanger´s Department of social studies.

Meeting attended

Today I have attended a work meeting on a joint article and a course I will coordinate next Spring.

To discuss wolves on national radio

I have agreed to appear on NRK P2s "Ekko" Wednesday morning on live national public radio, discussing the significance of wolves.

Meeting of UiS Work group on ethical trade attended

Today I attended a meeting of the University of Stavanger´s Work group for ethical trading. Among other things, we finished our draft proposal of the action plan for ethical trading for 2017-2020.

To give guest lecture at University of Oslo February 23rd

I have agreed to give a guest lecture, again, on the Anthropocene and such,  at University of Oslo´s Department of criminology and sociology of law, in the course on green criminology, "Grønn (øko-global) kriminologi" [Green [eco-global] criminology]). The title of my lecture remains «Menneskeveldet – menneskets globale økologiske hierarki» [The human empire - humankind´s global ecological hierarchy].

Full reference for Thinking about animals in the age of the Anthropocene

Here is the full reference for our recent book:

Tønnessen, Morten, Kristin Armstrong Oma and Silver Rattasepp (eds) (2016). Thinking about animals in the age of the Anthropocene. Lanham, Boulder, New York, London: Lexington Books. Partially available in Google Books.

Abstract for article: "The search image as link between sensation, perception and action"

On September 30th I finished the abstract below, which is for a forthcoming article.

The search image as link between sensation, perception and action

Abstract

Morten Tønnessen 

As part of his Umwelt theory, a theory on the subjective, experiential worlds of animals, Jakob von Uexküll (1864–1944) introduced the notion of the search image (Suchbild). A search image is an imagined object that an animal or human being has in mind as it searches for something. The search image plays a central role in what I have termed the mediated Umwelt, the aspect of Umwelt in which Umwelt objects are encountered indirectly by way of some mediation (e.g. memory, fantasy, anticipation). It is generally related to an animal´s agenda- or interest-driven matching of something it is searching for with something in its environment. Animals need search images in order to navigate in their environment, in order to pursue some of their biological needs, and in order to direct attention to their immediate or prioritised needs. They are also key to understanding how perception works as distinguished from sensation, and how an animal´s perception and action are connected. Generally, Umwelt codes – codes that are required to perform the functions of perception and action – include neural codes and ecological codes (and cultural codes as well in the case of human beings). The search image acts as an intermediary between perception and action, and between the mediated Umwelt and the core Umwelt, the aspect of Umwelt in which Umwelt objects are encountered directly. In consequence, we can assume that neural codes and ecological codes coalesce in the functioning of the search image. The imagined object has the form of a schema, and encountered objects may or may not be perceived as fitting with the anticipated schema. The perception of a match may furthermore be either correct or incorrect. Object recognition occurs when an encountered object is correctly perceived as fitting with an anticipated schema. But search images, with their implied schemata, may also be confused with actual perception images of encountered objects. Perception is not an entirely accurate endeavour. Nevertheless, the search image is an indispensable instrument in the perceptual tool box of any animal with a saturated Umwelt. In addition to contributing to a proper understanding of how sensation, perception and action are linked, studies into the phenomenon of search images can shed light on some present puzzles in cognitive science. As an example, contemporary science posits that underlying, action-related brain activity by far precedes our subjective experience of choosing to act in a certain way. This has even been taken to imply that human beings do not in fact have free will. In some of these cases, however, the functioning of search images can help explain why it is that action-related brain activity appears to precede the experience of having made a choice of action. In short, when an animal or a human being operates with a search image, we anticipate encountering the imagined object. Accordingly, we act not only in response to encountered objects, but also in response to imagined ones. And whenever an encountered object is in hindsight correctly perceived to be a match to an imagined object, we may have acted in response to that anticipated object before we could confirmatively perceive it as a match to our search image.

Wolf and sheep article edited (second round)

Last evening I finished the second round of revision of my article for Pakistan Journal of Historical Studies´ special issue on “Emotions, Humans and Animals”, "Historicizing the Cultural Semiotics of Wolf and Sheep".

See also:

New title for wolf and sheep article for PJHS

H-index of 7

According to statistics at my Google Scholar profile, I now have an h-index of 7, meaning that 7 of my publications have been cited at least 7 times.

See also:

Google Scholar: 105 citations; h-index of 6 (February 2016)

Biosemiotics blogpost featured in Springer newsletter

Our blogpost "Biosemiotics: Making sense of Nature" is depicted and linked to in a newsletter from Springer´s LifeScienceToday featuring the LiceScienceToday blog.

MEM110 planning meeting

Today I attended a two-person planning meeting on the course "Welfare state and welfare policy", for which I am course coordinator next Spring (course code MEM110).

7th lecture

Today I gave the 7th lecture this semester in Examen Philosophicum at University of Stavanger´s Department of social studies. The topic was epistemology.

"The epistemology of biosemiotics" submitted; outline

In the night between Friday and Saturday this week, I finished and submitted my article "The epistemology of biosemiotics" to Biosemiotics, for a special issue on constructive biosemiotics (previous work title: "Descartes, phenomenology, and the epistemology of biosemiotics"). Ca. 6.000 words including references.

Structure:

1. Introduction
2. Biosemiotic Epistemology: To Know, What Life Knows
3. A Foray into Cartesian Territory
4. To be Healthy and Live Well
5. Umwelt Theory and Constructivism
6. Why Uexküllian Phenomenology is Phenomenology
7. Biosemiotic Empiricism or Rationalism?

New title for wolf and sheep article for PJHS

Working on the second revision (or round of edits) of my article so far entitled "A brief history of the cultural semiotic of wolves and sheep", to be published in Pakistan Journal of Historical Studies in December in their special issue on “Emotions, Humans and Animals”, I have accepted, upon suggestion from the editors, to change the title of the article to "Historicizing the Cultural Semiotics of Wolf and Sheep".

Full reference for third Biosemiotics editorial

Here is the full reference for our third editorial for Biosemiotics:

Sharov, Alexei, Timo Maran and Morten Tønnessen. Comprehending the semiosis of evolution. Editorial. Biosemiotics 9(1) 1–6. Published online April 4th 2016 (DOI: 10.1007/s12304-016-9262-7).

Full reference for Umwelt review article

Here is the full reference for our review article on the term "Umwelt", published this Spring:

Tønnessen, Morten, Riin Magnus and Carlo Brentari 2016. The Biosemiotic Glossary Project: Umwelt. Biosemiotics 9(1): 129–149. Published online March 15th 2016 (doi: DOI 10.1007/s12304-016-9255-6), with Appendix (Supplementary Material available online).

Mention in conference review of NASS IX

I am mentioned in

Velmezova, Ekaterina 2016. On semiotic (un)predictability: Tartu Summer School of Semiotics 2015. Sign Systems Studies 44(1/2): 248–250.

in the following way (p. 248):

The 2015 conference was organized by the Department of Semiotics of the University of Tartu, the Nordic Association for Semiotic Studies and the Estonian Semiotics Association. Tiit Remm (the main organizer), Kalevi Kull, Kristin Vaik, Lauri Linask and Tyler Bennett participated in the work of both the scientific committee (that, besides them, also included Inesa Sahakyan, Luis Emilio Bruni, Morten Tønnessen, Peeter Torop, Sara Lenninger and Timo Maran) and of the organizing team (which also included Katre Pärn, Liina Sieberk and Maarja Vaikmaa). The conference was attended by over a hundred scholars from more than twenty countries [...]

Special issue "Framing nature and culture" now online

A special issue of Sign Systems Studies, guest-edited by Riin Magnus and Lauri Linask and entitled "Framing nature and culture", is now available online. 

Two teaching-related meetings attended

Today I have attended two meetings at university of Stavanger´s Department of social studies, one with the program coordinator and course coordinators at the bachelor in social work, and one related to course coordinator responsibility for the bachelor thesis in child welfare.

4 more hours of teaching

Today I have taught for 4 hours - two times 2-hour seminar - in Examen Philosophicum at University of Stavanger´s Department of social studies. I am now halfway through this autumn´s teaching.

Festschrift to Kalevi Kull now freely available online

Semiotics in the wild: Festschrift in honor of Kalevi Kull on the occasion of his 60th birthday (edited by Timo Maran, Kati Lindström, Riin Magnus and myself, Tartu university Press 2012) is now available in full text online, through Timo Maran´s Academia.edu profile.

Art Science & Cocktails program

Here´s the program for the Art Science & Cocktails event in Stavanger I took part in on September 23rd - with my contribution presented here.

Art Science & Cocktails held

On Friday november 23rd I was on stage during the event Art Science & Cocktails at Café Sting in Stavanger, presenting "Om det menneskeskapte økologiske hierarki i Antropocen" [On the human-made ecological hierarchy in the Anthropocene]. Some 40 people were present. Two other scholars and two artists also presented.

6 hours of teaching

Today I taught for 6 hours in Examen philosophicum at University of Stavanger´s Department of social studies. First a lecture on political justice, then two times 2-hour seminar.

Planning meeting for MUNDUS master courses

Today I attended a planning meeting for some courses in the MUNDUS master "Social Work with Families and Children", including my course next Spring "Welfare state and welfare policy" (MEM110).

Wolves and sheep article revised

Yesterday I revised my article "A brief history of the cultural semiotic of wolves and sheep", which is to appear before Christmas in Pakistan journal of historical studies.

Anthology meeting attended

Today I have attended a status meeting on the anthology me and several colleagues on University of Stavanger´s Department of social studies are working on. Revisions are due by November 1st.

5th lecture

Today I have given the 5th lecture this autumn in Examen Philosophicum at University of Stavanger´s Department of social studies. Today´s topic was (political) freedom.

UiS profile page updated

I have updated my profile page at the webpage of University of Stavanger.

62 academic publications are now listed there (included a few editorials and book reviews etc., along with peer-reviewed publications and edited works).

I have also updated Research areas (Forskningsområder) and Ongoing research (Pågående forskning).

PhD defense - Erica von Essen, Uppsala

Today I have been in Uppsala, Sweden, as part of the three-person Examination Board (evaluation committee) for Erica von Essen´s doctoral thesis "In the Gap between Legality and Legitimacy - Illegal Hunting in Sweden as a Crime of Dissent". We unanimously approved Erica´s PhD. She has taken her PhD, in the field of environmental communication, at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, at Department of Urban and Rural Development.

William Smith was opponent, and in the Examination Board I was joined by Stellan Vinthagen (chosen as chair) and Mari Pohjs-Mykrä. Hans Peter Hansen, assistant supervisor, served as our host. Some 50 people attended the doctors defence.

To appear on stage at "Art, Science and Cocktails" event in Stavanger

I have agreed to be on stage during an event at Kåkå in Stavanger called "Art, Science and Cocktails" on September 23rd. The event is part of the Norwegian "science days" (Forskningsdagene) and organized by Article biennial 2016.

Blogpost in LifeScienceToday: "Biosemiotics: Making sense of nature"

Today a blogpost I have co-written with Alexei Sharov and Timo Maran as first author was published in Springer´s blog LifeScienceToday. Link and reference:

Tønnessen, Morten, Alexei Sharov and Timo Maran (2016). Biosemiotics: Making sense of nature. Published in Springer´s blog LifeScienceToday. URL: http://blogs.springer.com/lst/biosemiotics-making-sense-nature/.

Material for special issue on biosemiotic ethics forwarded

This week I have forwarded when obtained remaining/required text and image for the forthcoming special issue of Zeitschrift für Semiotik on biosemiotic ethics. This issue is scheduled for publication in December 2016,

Staff meeting attended

Today I attended the staff meeting of Department of social studies at University of Stavanger, the first this autumn. We had lunch and cake, and were informed about developments at the department and university. The new dean of Faculty of social sciences, Gro Ellen Mathisen, was there to introduce herself.

Planning meeting - digital Multiple Choice exam

Today I attended a meeting with administrative staff, including from the exam office, at University of Stavanger´s Department of social studies, deciding on the exact modus of the Multiple Choice exam in Ex.Phil., which will this autumn for the first time be a digital exam.

4 more hours of teaching

Today I have taught for another 4 hours - two 2-hour seminars - in Ex.Phil. at University of Stavanger´s Department of social studies.

Interview on zoos and life conditions of zoo animals

Last Saturday a brief interview with me featured in a long feature article by Thea Elnan in the weekend magazine (Magasinet) of the Norwegian daily Dagens Næringsliv. The 6 page article was titled "Hageliv" [Garden/park life], but "Fri og bevare" [literally "liberate and preserve"] in the magazine´s table of contents. The online version (login required) is titled "Vil legge ned dyreparkene" [Wants to close the zoos].

6 hours of teaching

Today I have taught for 6 consecutive hours in Ex.Phil. at University of Stavanger´s Department of social studies - first a lecture, then two seminars. Today´s topic was political philosophy, particularly philosophical theories about a social contract.

Invited reflections on art exhibition online in English and Norwegian

My invited reflections on the arts exhibition "New Eden?" (Article biennial 2016, Sølvberget galleri, Stavanger - Norway) are available online in Norwegian and in English. They are referred to under Article biennial news (in Norwegian and English). The English version of the text is also linked to from the Facebook page of i/o lab.

5th Norwegian Animal Ethics Conference, on breeding, to be held late november

The 5th Norwegian Animal Ethics Conference will be held Wednesday November 23rd at Litteraturhuset, Oslo. The theme will be "Ekstrem forvandling: Avle alt alltid?" [Extreme makeover: Always breed everything?].

As usual, I am in the organizing committee.

To review book "Den levende kroppen"

I have agreed to review Den levende kroppen (ed. Drude van der Fehr) for Salongen: Nettidsskrift for filosofi og idéhistorie.

Three peer-reviews

This autumn I have done peer-reviews for Phenomenology and the cognitive sciences, Concentric: Literary and Cultural Studies, and Sign Systems Studies.

Wheeler interview finished

Last week I took part in completing

Beaver, Jonathan, Morten Tønnessen and Yogi Hendlin. Interview with Wendy Wheeler on biosemiotic ethics. Zeitschrift für Semiotik. To be published December 2016.

Work meeting on chapter on family policies

Today I have taken part in a work meeting on the book chapter on liberalism and Norwegian family policies that I am working on with a colleague.

Lecture on normative ethics

Today I have lectured in Examen Philosophicum at University of Stavanger´s Department of social studies. The topic was normative ethics.

Google Scholar: 135 citations; 10 articles cited 5+ times

According to my profile at Google Scholar, I now have 135 citations, whereof 113 since 2011. This is up 8 the last couple of months, and up 30 since February. I now have more citations in 2016 so far than in 2011 (23 vs. 21). "Umwelt ethics" is leading the pack with 27 citations, including 3 from this year. 10 of my articles have been cited at least 5 times, on Google´s count (including self-citations).

See also:

Google Scholar: 299 hits, 127 citations (June 29th)

Google Scholar: 105 citations; h-index of 6 (February 12th)

"Justifying Moral Standing by Biosemiotic Particularism" finished and submitted

A few days ago I took part in finishing, and submitted

Beever, Jonathan and Morten Tønnessen, forthcoming, 2016. Justifying Moral Standing by Biosemiotic Particularism. Zeitschrift für Semiotik. To be published December 2016.

"Introducing biosemiotic ethics" finished and submitted

A few days ago I finished and submitted

Tønnessen, Morten, Jonathan Beever and Yogi Hendlin, forthcoming, 2016. Introducing biosemiotic ethics. Introduction to Special Issue “Biosemiotic ethics”. Zeitschrift für Semiotik. To be published December 2016.

Almo Farina new member of selection panel for biosemiotics award

Also Farina has been appointed as the new member of the selection panel of the Annual Biosemiotic Achievement Award, replacing Karel Kleisner, who served for the first year as the journal Biosemiotics´ appointee.

Manuscript for special issue on biosemiotic ethics submitted

Yesterday, or more precisely this night, I sent off the full manuscript of the special issue on biosemiotic ethics to the editors of Zeitschrift für Semiotik, on behalf of myself, Jonathan Beever and Yogi Hendlin, my fellow guest editors. Altogether 11 texts totaling some 83.000 words.

Planning meeting on 5th Norwegian Animal Ethics Conference

On August 23rd I took part in a planning meeting, via Skype, for the 5th Norwegian Animal Ethics Conference, which will take place in Oslo in November.

Two home exam papers graded

Today I have graded two home exam papers in Examen Philosophicum at University of Stavanger´s Department of health studies (continuation exam).

4 more hours of teaching

Today I gave two 2-hour seminars in Examen Philosophicum at University of Stavanger´s Department of social studies. Altogether I have taught for 10 hours this week and 12 hours this semester.

Chapter on Kalevi Kull available via academia.edu

The chapter "Kalevi Kull and the rewinding of biosemiotics. Introduction" is available online via Academia.edu, here. It was co-written by Timo Maran, Kati Lindström, Riin Magnus and myself, and appeared in our 2012 Festschrift to Kalevi.

The chapter is also available via the publisher, Tartu University Press.

6 hours of teaching

Today I gave a 2-hour lecture and two 2-hour seminars in Examen Philosophicum at University of Stavanger´s Department of social studies. Topic of the lecture was: What is a human?

Work hour log

In my personal work hour log, I have just transitioned from 2nd to 3rd tertial 2016. In 2nd tertial 2016 I logged 883 work hours (vs. 962,5 work hours in 1st tertial). Average work week so far in 2016 is 53,6 hours.

Photos from Urbino conference

A photo gallery from the third code biology conference (held in Urbino in May) is now online. Excerpt below.

Reflections on New Eden

Today I composed a brief text with reflections on Article Biennial 2016 (Stavanger) - New Eden - on request, as a follow-up to my participation in a panel August 13th. The text is to appear online.

Vetlesen book review revised

Today I revised my book review of Arne Johan Vetlesen´s The denial of nature, for Environmental Philosophy. The review will appear in the fall issue.

MAN board meeting

Today I chaired the bimonthly board meeting of Minding Animals Norway. Among other things we discussed the Norwegian Animal Ethics Conference 2016.

Springer blogpost revised

Today I revised - shortened and simplified - the blog post "Biosemiotics: Making sense of nature", which will appear in Springer´s LifeScienceToday blog.

PhD defence attended

Yesterday I attended two hours of the PhD defense of Arne Endresen at University of Stavanger´s Department of social studies.

New - permanent? - office

Today, at University of Stavanger´s Department of social studies, I moved from one office to another (KA-A-287). Altogether this is my fourth office. But I assume I will now remain in this one, since I am now permanently employed as Associate professor of philosophy.

Two MC exam papers graded

Today I have graded (fail/pass) two Multiple Choice exam papers in Ex.Phil. for University of Stavanger´s Department of health studies (continuation exam).

First lecture in Ex.Phil. given

Today I gave the first lecture this autumn in Examen Philosophicum at University of Stavanger´s Department of social studies. Some 200 students attended the lecture.

Contractual meeting at real estate agent

Today I took part in a contractual meeting at a real estate agent in relation to the house we have bought in Stavanger. We will move in late November - at which point I will stop commuting, after 5 years in that business.

Program for Center for Cognitive Semiotics concluding symposium

As reported earlier, on December 17th  2015 I presented my commentary "Biosemiotisk synvinkel på CCS" [Biosemiotic perspective on Center for Cognitive Semiotics] during the symposium "Hur människan blev ett så annorlunda djur" [How the human species became such a different animal] at Lund University/the Pufendorf institute. Here is the program of the symposium - see also below.

Blogpost on biosemiotics to appear in Springer´s LifeScienceToday blog

Along with co-editors of Biosemiotics Alexei Sharov and Timo Maran, I have composed a blogpost, mostly drawing on text from our jointly written editorials, for Springer´s blog LifeScienceToday. Our blogpost is entitled "Biosemiotics: Making sense of nature" and will appear one of the next few days.

To contribute to book on carnivores

I have agreed to contribute to a prospective book on carnivores in Southern Norway. Plans are at an early stage.

Panel discussion at Article Biennial held

Saturday August 13th I took part in a panel discussion on art and biotechnology at the 2016 Article Biennial, Stavanger, as part of the event "New Eden? Where is biotechnology taking us, and how can art explore this?" (cf. previous posts). About 20 people were present. My co-panelists were Hanne Røland Hagland (Assoc. Prof. and leader, Centre for Organelle Research, UiS) and Kristin Aaser Lunde (PhD fellow, Stavanger University Hospital) and the featured artists Jalila Essaïdi, George Gessert and Joe Davis. The panel was chaired by co-curator Nora S. Vaage.

Guri Larsen lecture referred to in Norwegian Animal Protection Alliance newsletter

Minding Animals Norway´s video recording of Guri Larsen´s lecture at the 4th Norwegian Animal Ethics Conference, which was about cow-calf relations in milk production, is mentioned and linked to in the newsletter of Norwegian Animal Protection Alliance (Dyrevernalliansen), Dyrevern Viten #14/2016. See the full video here.

11th newsletter of Minding Animals Norway

Last week I composed and distributed the 11th newsletter of Minding Animals Norway, to its ca. 60 members. 5pp.

Information on Ex.Phil. given to child welfare, social work students

Today, at University of Stavanger´s Department of social studies, as the course coordinator of Examen Philosophicum for students in social work and child welfare, I have taken part in opening events of both educations, introducing the plans for the introductory philosophy course. I talked 25 minutes for child welfare students and 15 minutes for social work students.

Teaching plan and seminar time schedule composed

Yesterday I composed teaching plan and seminar time schedule for Examen Philosophicum at University of Stavanger´s Department of social studies, for students in social work and child welfare.

Thematical outline of theology-oriented world population lecture

Yesterday I composed a 1-page thematic outline of a prospective lecture on world population developments which I have offered, upon suggestion, to give at a local theological seminar in Kristiansand.

Reference to "Umwelt ethics" article in Cobley chapter on ethics

I am mentioned in the abstract of Paul Cobley´s chapter "Ethics cannot be voluntary", which is part of his book Cultural Implications of Biosemiotics (Biosemiotics 15; Springer 2016). 

Excerpt:

[A]nalyses of the ontology of ethics in biosemiotics have been somewhat circumvented. Instead, articles on ethics in biosemiotics have tended to immediately jump to discussions of ethical and moral questions that might be approached in a biosemiotic frame, such as the value accorded to different inhabitants of the biosphere (Tønnessen 2003; Beever 2012).

Tønnessen 2003 is referenced as

Tønnessen M. Umwelt ethics. Sign Syst Stud. 2003;31(1):281–99.

Biosemiotics 9(2) to be a regular issue

Biosemiotics 9(2) has been sent to production, and will soon appear in print. We changed plans so that this issue will be a regular issue rather than a special issue, due to some delays related to the upcoming special issue.

The Table of contents of issue 2, 2016 is available online.

Popular science summary of field work findings to appear late autumn

Since the research project "Animals in changing environments: Cultural mediation and semiotic analysis" has been prolonged from April 30th to December 31st, the popular scientific summary of our field work including interviews will only be composed and made public late this autumn (not this Spring as originally planned). Today I communicated this fact to the interviewees.

Article on wolf discourse in Nationen November 2015

On November 16th 2015, the article "Fakta ikke nok i ulvesaken" [Facts are not enough in the wolf case] by science journalist Benedicte Pentz was published in the Norwegian daily newspaper Nationen, featuring an interview with me.

See also:

Dissemination article on perception of wolves on internal UiS webpage

"Facts not enough" dissemination article referred to in Jeger news story

and other posts

No Norwegian ecophilosophy volume in Avatud Eesti Raamat series

About a year go our application to publish a collection of Norwegian ecophilosophy in the  Estonian Avatud Eesti Raamat series was rejected. So that book will not materialize.

See also:

Another chapter by Sigmund Kvaløy Setreng selected for Estonian Norwegian ecophilosophy volume

Chapters selected for Avatud Eesti Raamat volume on Norwegian ecophilosophy

About section updated

I have updated the "about" ingress of this blog, Utopian Realism.

It formerly read:

UTOPISM. 

***

In the long run, nothing else is realistic.

***

Welcome to the English language blog of Morten Tønnessen, Associate professor at University of Stavanger's Department of Health Studies.

But now reads:

UTOPISM. 

***

In the long run, nothing else is realistic.

***

Welcome to the English language blog of Morten Tønnessen, Associate professor of philosophy at University of Stavanger's Department of Social Studies.

Exam questions composed for Dep. of health studies continuation exam

Yesterday I composed exam questions for the continuation exam in Examen Philosophicum atUniversity of Stavanger´s Department of health studies, for both the home exam (August 11-18) and the Multiple Choice exam (August 11).

Stepping down as 2nd deputy member of board of UiS

Since the Autumn of 2013, I have been 2nd deputy member of the board of the University of Stavanger (and Autumn 2012 to Spring 2013 I was permanent member of the board) representing temporarily employed education and research staff. Since I am starting August 1st 2016 permanently employed at University Stavanger, I will step down as 2nd deputy member of the University of Stavanger.

Program for Article Bienniale "New Eden?" panel now online

As mentioned previously (see below), I will take part in a panel discussion on art and biotechnology Saturday August 13th at the 2016 Article Bienniale, Stavanger, as part of the event "New Eden? Where is biotechnology taking us, and how can art explore this?". A program detailing names of participants, including mine, is now online.

See also:

To take part in panel discussion on biotechnology at Article Bienniale 2016

Final EMP151 time sheet submitted

Today I have submitted my final time sheet in the project "Animals in changing environments: Cultural mediation and semiotic analysis". My 10% employment in that project concluded June 30th.

Wolves and sheep paper accepted for publication in PJHS

I have been informed by the editors of the Pakistan Journal of Historical Studies (Indiana University Press) that my contribution "A brief history of the cultural semiotic of wolves and sheep" has been accepted for publication, with minor revisions required.

13th world congress of semiotics to be held in Kaunas, Lithuania, 26-30 June 2017

The 13th World Congress of Semiotics will take place in Kaunas, Lithuania, on June 26-30th 2017, cf. the congress website. The abstract deadline is November 30th 2016, cf. Call For Papers.

Quite extraordinarily, arguing that it is the most inclusive diet plus referring to a moral argument, an all-vegan diet has been chosen for the congress, cf. FAQ.

The world congress´ convenor is zoosemiotician Dario Martinelli.

Train tickets and hotel reservation arranged

This week I have organized train tickets for most of this autumn (specifically the next three months), and hotel accommodation bookings for all autumn (until October, after which I can stay in our house). I will go on commuting from Kristiansand to Stavanger until the end of November, when we´ll move the house we have bought in Stavanger.

New work title for book on CCS; to be finished in one year

Today I have started on my new work routine for book projects, with, among other things, half a day´s concentrated work on an academic book each week. The academic book project for the next year is a politics-relevant book I have been doing research for since 2005. Today I changed its work title from «Utslippsfrie nye verden? Hva debatten om gasskraftverk sier om natursynet i norsk offentlighet» to «Utslippsfrie nye verden? Hva debatten om gasskraftverk sier om norsk natursyn» [Emission-free new world? What the debate about gas power plants says about Norwegian nature view].

Reference to human empire chapter in Vetlesen´s The Denial of Nature

My article

Tønnessen, Morten 2013. Menneskeveldet [The human empire]. In Sollund, Ragnhild, Morten Tønnessen og Guri Larsen (eds) 2013, Hvem er villest i landet her? Råskap mot dyr og natur i antropocen, menneskets tidsalder, Oslo: Spartacus Forlag/Scandinavian Academic Press, 37–56. 

is listed in the Bibliography of

Arne Johan Vetlesen 2015. The Denial of Nature. Environmental philosophy in the era of global capitalism. London and New York: Routledge.

However, I have not found any mention of my chapter in Vetlesen´s book text.

Editorial feedback to four monograph chapters

This Spring I have taken part in editing and giving editorial feedback to about four chapters of the forthcoming collective monograph Animal Umwelts in a changing world – Semiotic studies of human-animal relations (edited by Timo Maran, Silver Rattasepp and me).

Peer review for Otherness: Essays and Studies

This year I have conducted a peer-review for the journal Otherness: Essays and Studies.

New book title for cognitive semiotics volume

My chapter "Agency in biosemiotics and enactivism", a contribution to a book formerly entitled Establishing Cognitive Semiotics, will still appear by the end of the year, editors inform. The title of the book, to be published by Peter Lang, has now been changed to Meaning, mind and communication: Explorations in cognitive semiotics.

Top skills - LinkedIn endorsements

These, according to endorsements by LinkedIn connections (I have 360 connections as of time of writing, see my profile), are my top skills.