Two wolf-related papers scheduled for presentation at 16th gathering in biosemiotics, Prague

My presentation with Laura Kiiroja "Fear not – socialization of captive wolves" has been scheduled for presentation at the 16th gathering in biosemiotics, to be held in Prague July 4th to 8th, on Wednesday July 6th at 12.00-12.30. My presentation "A brief history of the cultural semiotic of wolves and sheep" has been scheduled for presentation the same day at 10.00-10.30.

Abstract book for 16th gathering in biosemiotics now online - my two abstracts

The book of abstracts for the 16th gathering in biosemiotics, to be held in Prague July 4th to 8th, has been uploaded online. I am involved in two abstracts, "Fear not – socialization of captive wolves" (p. 34) along with Laura Kiiroja, and "A brief history of the cultural semiotic of wolves and sheep" (p. 56) as sole presenter.

Google Scholar: 299 hits, 127 citations

A search in google Scholar on my exact name, "Morten Tønnessen", currently gives 299 hits. On my verified profile, I am credited with 127 citations, up 10 from the last count a few months back, and up 22 since February and 89 since April 2013.

See also:

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

My Google Scholar profile page (April 2013)

Webpage of Minding Animals Norway updated

The webpage of Minding Animals Norway has been updated with some media links (2014-16) and information about the Minding Animal legate, by webmaster Iselin Linstad Hauge.

72 hours of teaching scheduled in Examen Philosophicum

Here is the timetable/schedule for the course Examen philosophicum at University of Stavanger´s  Department of social studies for this autumn (course code SVEXPHIL10). I will be course coordinator and sole responsible teacher. Altogether I will give 12 2-hour lectures and 24 2-hour seminars (6 for each class), a total of 72 hours of teaching.

No from SAMKUL

Today I was notified that my SAMKUL research application "Umwelt theory for our time" has been declined by the Research Council of Norway. The overall assessment grade was 5, though with 6 for "the project manager and project group"  and A for "Implementation plan and resource parameters" and "Dissemination and communication of results". 11 applications got funding.

Work contract signed

Today I have signed an employment contract with University of Stavanger (full, permanent position as Associate professor of philosophy).

MAN board meeting chaired

I have just chaired another board meeting of Minding Animals Norway, which is held bimonthly. Among other things, we discussed the mandate for the Minding Animals Legate (bachelor endowment), and the prospects of another Norwegian Animal Ethics conference.

Plans for commuting, wife´s studies, moving

This weekend my wife and I have made plans for her studies, my time with the kids while she is in class, and the right time for moving from Kristiansand to Stavanger. We aim to move around New Year. This autumn I will commune, as I have done the last 4 1/2 years.

Salary negotiated

Today I have negotiated salary with University of Stavanger´s Department of social studies, after having received offer of permanent position as Associate professor of philosophy late last week.

Biosemiotics Impact Factor for 2015

Thomson Reuters has recently announced 2015 Impact Factors. The Impact Factor for Biosemiotics, for which I am one of three Editors-in-Chief, was 0.391, a decline from the two previous years and especially from 2014 (0.593).

Article "Justifying Moral Standing by Biosemiotic Particularism" finished

I have just, along with co-author Jonathan Beever, finished the article "Justifying Moral Standing by Biosemiotic Particularism", for our special issue of Zeitschrift für Semiotik on biosemiotic ethics. Currently some 9.500 words.

ISBS announcement of Biosemiotic Achievement Award for 2015

An announcement of the Biosemiotic Achievement Award for 2015 has been posted on the homepage of the International Society for Biosemiotic Studies.

Excerpts:

This year, the Selection Committee – Don Favareau (ISBS), Karel Kleisner (Biosemiotics), Izabela Witkowska (Springer) – arrived at its decision to bestow the award on Lynn Chiu and Scott F. Gilbert’s ‘The Birth of the Holobiont: Multi-species Birthing Through Mutual Scaffolding and Niche Construction (published in the August 2015 issue of Biosemiotics, Vol 8 (2): 191–210). 

[...]

The ISBS in conjunction with Springer Publishing congratulates Lynn Chiu and Scott Gilbert as the recipients of the first Annual Biosemiotics Achievement Award, who are awarded a book voucher from Springer Publishers worth EUR 250, and an electronic subscription to Biosemiotics for 1 year.

Paper "Synchronicity in human perception of animals" presented at IVSA 2016

I have just presented my paper "Synchronicity in human perception of animals" at IVSA 2016, the annual conference of the International Visual Sociology Association (Lillehammer June 22-24th). Some 12 people were present.

"Thinking about animals..." book featured in MAI bulletin

The book Thinking about animals in the age of the Anthropocene, edited by me, Kristin Armstrong Oma and Silver Rattasepp, is featured in Minding Animals International´s Bulletin no. 33, p. 14.

Offered permanent position as Associate professor of philosophy

Today the appointments committee at University of Stavanger has decided to offer me a permanent position as Associate professor of philosophy at Department of social studies, starting August 1st, 2016.

To grade MA exam papers in health studies course on philosophy of science and ethics

I have agreed to do some of the grading of exam papers in MHV140, a master course on philosophy of science and ethics, for University of Stavanger´s Department of health studies, this autumn.

Appointed as member of PhD Evaluation Committee at SLU

Today I have been notified that the Chairman of Postgraduate Studies Board at Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) has appointed me to act as member of the Evaluation Committee at Erica von Essens´s public defence of her thesis for the doctor’s degree. The defense will take place September 16th.

See also:
To be member of PhD evaluation committee

Vacation

Today I have applied for, and had approved, vacation this summer (three weeks in July).

Ebook "The meaning of life" in preparation

I have for a couple of years worked on preparing an ebook version of my manuscript "Meningen med livet (og 99 andre spørsmål)" [The meaning of life (and 99 other questions)]. Today I read through the whole manuscript for the first time in a long time. Hopefully I can get the ebook released this summer.

Two bachelor theses in child welfare graded

Today I have taken part in grading, as an internal examiner, two bachelor theses in child welfare at University of Stavanger´s Department of social studies.

Winner of Biosemiotic Achievement Award 2015 announced

The Biosemiotic Achievement Award for the year 2015 is given to Scott Gilbert and Lynn Chiu for their article "The Birth of the Holobiont: Multi-species Birthing Through Mutual Scaffolding and Niche Construction" (Biosemiotics 8(2): 191-210). The award announcement is available here.

Book anthology seminar attended

Today I have attended a day-long seminar on the anthology Barneomsorg på norsk: I spenning mellom det offentlige og det private [Childcare in Norway: In tension between the public and the private]., at Ølberg konferansesenter. Svein Tuastad and I got feedback on our chapter "Familie og fridom. Norsk familiepolitikk i lys av liberal politisk teori" [Family and freedom. Norwegian family policies in light of liberal political theory]", and I gave feedback to another chapter in the anthology, written by Svein and Ayan Handulle.

Bachelor thesis in social work graded

Today, along with an external examiner, I have graded a bachelor thesis in social work. I served as the student´s supervisor.

Book on Norwegian childcare renamed

The book previously work-titled "Familien bak fasaden. Barneomsorg på norsk: I spenning og samspill mellom det offentlige og det private" [The family behind the facade. Childcare in Norway: In tension and interaction between the public and the private] has been renamed "Barneomsorg på norsk: I spenning mellom det offentlige og det private. [Childcare in Norway: In tension between the public and the private]". 

The anthology, which is to be published Spring 2017 by Universitetsforlaget, will feature a chapter co-written by me and Svein Tuastad, "Familie og fridom. Norsk familiepolitikk i lys av liberal politisk teori" [Family and freedom. Norwegian family policies in light of liberal political theory].

Listed with expertise on UiS webpage

I am now listed on the University of Stavanger webpage with specific expertise, in the category "Helse, omsorg og sosialt arbeid" [health, care and social work]. See here.

Excerpt (in Norwegian):

Førsteamanuensis Morten Tønnessen 

Institutt for sosialfag

Kompetanseområder: Filosofi (økofilosofi, fenomenologi, dyre- og miljøetikk, biologiens filosofi og annen vitenskapsfilosofi), økologi og miljøproblematikk, etologi (dyrs atferd), relasjoner mellom mennesker og dyr (særlig rovdyr, beitedyr), biosemiotikk. Har doktorgrad (2011) om miljøfenomenologi basert på Umwelt-teorien til Jakob von Uexküll, med et case study om norsk ulveforvaltning.

Tlf.: 51 83 41 49 / 94 23 70 93

Epost: morten.tonnessen@uis.no

The semiotics of animal representations cited in Gender Forum editorial

The semiotics of animal representations is cited in an editorial in Gender Forum, issue 55.

Reference:

Ohrem, Dominik 2015. The Question of the Animal and the Promises of Postanthropocentric Feminisms [p. 3, reference to “Tüür and Tønnessen” (MT 2014b)]. Editorial. Gender Forum issue 55: 1–8.

This refers to:

— 2014. The Semiotics of Animal Representations (Nature, Culture and Literature 10). Co-edited with Kadri Tüür. Amsterdam/New York: Rodopi. ISBN: 978-90-420-3827-1, E-Book ISBN: 978-94-012-1072-0.

Excerpt:

The study of animal cultures and societies (see, for example, de Waal and Tyack; Nimmo), the ‘philosophical ethologies’ of scholars like Vinciane Despret and Dominique Lestel (see the recent special issues of Angelaki: Journal of the Theoretical Humanities) or the perspectives of zoo semiotics and zoopoetics (Wheeler; Tüür and Tønnessen; Moe) are only a few examples of such attempts at articulating – or at least approaching – the ‘unheard-of thoughts about animals’ that Calarco refers to.

Biosemiotics 9(1) published - special issue "Semiosis of evolution"; me an issue editor

Biosemiotics Volume 9 Number 1 har now been published. I am listed as issue editor along with Alexei Sharov and Timo Maran. The special issue is named "Semiosis of evolution". The issue also includes announcement of the first Biosemiotic Achievement Award, for the Year 2015.

Full draft of chapter on family policies and liberalism

Today, along with Svein Tuastad, I finished our (practically) full draft of our joint book chapter "Familie og fridom. Norsk familiepolitikk i lys av liberal politisk teori" [Family and freedom. Norwegian family policies in light of liberal political theory]. Ca. 7.000 words.

See also:

Preliminary reference for chapter with Tuastad

Article "A brief history of the cultural semiotic of wolves and sheep" written

I have just finished my article "A brief history of the cultural semiotic of wolves and sheep" (some 8.500 words). Submitted to the special issue "Emotions, Humans and Animals" of the recently launched Pakistan Journal of Historical Studies.

Reference for Umwelt review article

Here is the final, complete reference for our review article on the term Umwelt, with page numbers:

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).

To get permanent position at University of Stavanger

I am in the process of being hired in a permanent position as Associate professor in philosophy at University of Stavanger, after 4 and a half years as temporarily employed (as Associate professor in philosophy). More info as things gets formally confirmed.

Meeting of Work group for ethical trading attended, new action plan in progress

This morning I have attended a meeting of the University of Stavanger Work group for ethical trading. We mainly worked with improving the draft action plan for 2017-2020.

UiS to have employed rector

The board of the University of Stavanger has today decided that starting in 2019, the university´s rector will be employed, not elected. This weakens organizational democracy and academic autonomy. 4 out of 11 members of the board voted against the change.

Parental leave formally approved

Today I received the letter from NAV formally approving my application for parental leave in the period April 1st to November 2nd (graded until July 31st).

"Synchronicity in human perception of animals" paper scheduled for presentation June 23rd

My paper "Synchronicity in human perception of animals" has been scheduled for presentation at IVSA 2016 Thursday, June 23rd at 09.30-10.00, in Parallel session 4A, "Nature, perception and responsiveness", to be chaired by Liz Barber, University of Queenslands, Australia.

Management Committee meeting for COST action GroupHouseNet in Belgrade attended

Yesterday I attended the second Management Committee meeting of the COST-action "GroupHouseNet" (Synergy for preventing damaging behavior in group housed pigs and chickens, CA15134), in Belgrade, Serbia. After the 8 hour meeting we had a social dinner, with Serbian food and music.

NSD response

Today I have received response to my brief status report from NSD - Norwegian Centre for Research Data in relation to our field work involving 13 interviews last year, acknowledging the prolongation of the subproject which I reported.

See also:

NSD status report on research data

357 applications for RCN´s Young Research Talents

The Research Council of Norway has received some 357 applications for this year´s Young Research Talents scheme (including my "Umwelt theory for our time"), a record.

Steering Committee meeting attended

I have just attended the Steering Committee meeting (via Skype) of the Norwegian-Estonian research project "Animals in changing environments: Cultural mediation and semiotic analysis" (EMP151).

Petition for continued organizational democracy at University of Stavanger

I have signed a petition that calls for continued organizational democracy at University of Stavanger. The board is to decide June 8th on a range of structural issues, including whether the university should have elected or employed rector, and whether or not there should be  faculty and department boards.

Webpage for COST action GroupHouseNet

Here is the COST page with info about the research network "Synergy for preventing damaging behaviour in group housed pigs and chickens (GroupHouseNet)" (COST Action CA15134). The network also has its own webpage, at http://www.grouphousenet.eu.

Discount book flyer for "Thinking about animals in the age of the Anthropocene"

I have uploaded a discount book flyer for the book Thinking about animals in the age of the Anthropocene to my Academia.edu profile. Using the discount code gives 30% discount on the book.

2015 accounts for sole proprietorship "Spør Filosofen"

Yesterday I prepared the 2015 annual accounts for my sole proprietorship "Spør Filosofen" (Ask the philosopher). I had 6.536 NOK in income, and 3.098 NOK in expenses, resulting in profits of 3.438 NOK (53%) before taxes.

UiS considering organisational reforms; director wants employed rector

The University of Stavanger committee that has reviewed organisational reforms has today released their final report, with recommendations. The report is available via the UiS webpage. Meanwhile, the documents for the board meeting June 8th have been announced. The university director wants a change from elected rector to employed rector, among other things.

I am in favour of organizational democracy and an elected rector.