Christmas vacation

I have Christmas vacation from December 23rd to January 1st - except for grading and a peer-review I have committed to.

18 MEE140 papers graded; more reported

I have just reported grading for the home exam in Philosophy of science and research methods. I have graded 18 of the exam papers myself.

48 Ex.Phil. papers graded

I have just finishing grading 48 papers in Examen Philosophicum at Department of social studies.

Two assignments approved

I have read and approved two student assignments in MEE140. The assignments were given as replacement for taking part in student presentations, which was required course work.

Child welfare bachelor thesis graded

I have recently, with an external examiner, graded a bachelor thesis in child welfare, submitted this autumn. I supervised the student.

Program area application - status

The program area research application of the philosophers, in which I am involved, has not yet been formally submitted, but has received some critical feedback that will need to be addressed.

Publication points for 2017 - estimate

According to my preliminary calculations, I should get about 3,5-3,6 publication points (old method) for 2017. So far 3 articles with 1,1-1,2 publication points have been reported and approved, four more remain to be reported.

UiS Christmas event attended; Ulvetider on display in book exhibition

Today I attended the end-of-year Christmas event at University of Stavanger, here in Kjell Arholms hus. The event included a book exhibition organised by the UiS library where our book Ulvetider was included on display.

Chronicle cited in daily Klassekampen

A chronicle mainly authored by me and co-signed with Lars Lenthh and Petter Bøckman, published in Dagbladet last Friday, was cited in the Norwegian national daily Klassekampen on Saturday, December 16th, in the section "Overhørt" [Overheard].

My say on "How to Make the World Better for Nonhuman Animals"

Marc Bekoff has initiated a collection of up to 12-word-long statements on "How to Make the World Better for Nonhuman Animals", posted in his Animal emotions blog at Psychology Today.

The text includes this contribution from me:

Acknowledge that all animals relate to signs, and respect their semiotic agency. -- Morton Tønnessen, Norway; Recent co-authored book (Open Access): Animal Umwelten in a Changing World: Zoosemiotic Perspectives (Tartu University Press 2016)

Google Scholar: 261 citations

According to Google Scholar my academic work has now been cited 261 times, up 17 from my November 24th count and up 223 since April 2013 (I now have 6-7 times more citations). Of these, 57 citations are from 2017 (+13). My h-index remains 8 and my h10-index 7. 

20 of my articles have been cited 5 times or more; three 20 or more, five 15 or more.

Fifth MA supervision

Today I gave the fifth supervision session for my master student in social work. Ten remains.

Last day at WID.world conference

I have enjoyed being here, for a day and a couple of more hours of program, at the first WID.world conference, held by and at the Paris School of Economics. Now it is coming to an end. A lot of interesting talks and data on historical developments in inequality around the world.

Subjectivity program area application said to be submitted

About a week ago, I am told, the philosophers´ application for a research program area on philosophical and scientific perspectives on subjectivity was submitted to the head of department at Department of media and social sciences. I am involved as one of the several core researchers.

Christmas lunch

Wednesday this week, two days ago, I attended the beginning of Department of social studies´ annual Christmas lunch, which was this year at Victoria hotel.

Holidays hopefully to be transferred

I have just applied for having 14 remaining vacation days transferred to 2018.

Finally in Paris for inequality conference

I have finally arrived in Paris, at the global inequality conference of the Paris School of Economics. The very first World Inequality Report was launched this morning - but I missed that, since my flight yesterday from Stavanger to Oslo was delayed some 2 hours, making me miss my next flight, for Paris. But now, via Stockholm, I am here at last.

Nature

I have just signed up for a year´s subscription to Nature, to be paid with my Outstanding Young Researcher funds.

Biosemiotics editorial "The first decade of Biosemiotics" published online

Our new Biosemiotics editorial has been published online.

Reference:

Maran, Timo, Alexei Sharov and Morten Tønnessen 2017. The first decade of Biosemiotics. Editorial. Biosemiotics 10(3). published online December 9th 2017 (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12304-017-9310-y).

Interview with Peter Bøckman on our book Ulvetider

An interview entitled "I disse ulvetider" [in these times of the wolf] with Petter Bøckman, with whom Lars Lenth and myself wrote the book Ulvetider [Time of the wolf], was published by the online book magazine BOK365 November10th.

18th gathering in biosemiotics to be held in Berkeley, USA June 2018

The 18th international Gathering in biosemiotics will be held at University of California, Berkeley, on June 17-20th 2018, organized by Terrance Deacon and Yogi Hendlin. Abstract deadline is January 22nd. More info on the conference webpage.

Input on ethical guidelines for animal experiments

Today I have contributed to the consultation response (høringsuttalelse) of Norway´s Council for animal ethics in relation to ethical guidelines for animal experiments developed by Norway´s National Committee for Research Ethics in Science and Technology (NENT).

ResearchGate profile stats

My ResearchGate profile has some currently has a ResearchGate score of 16.23, 89 citations, and 2.297 reads, with 39 research items registered.

I am less and less happy about ResearchGate and Academia.edu due to their increasing amount of spam-like messages.

Updated brief CV

I have updated my "Brief academic CV" somewhat - see right-hand margins.

Research program area on environmental humanities approved

I have been notified that our application for establishing a research program area at University of Stavanger on environmental humanities has been approved, under the auspices of The Greenhouse initiative. I am one of its members. As of today I am a member of two program areas. Application for a third is in process.

The full name of the new program area is The Greenhouse: A Cross-Disciplinary Environmental Humanities Initiative.

Research program area on welfare research renewed for 1 year

The research program area for welfare services research at University of Stavanger has been renewed for another your, until 31.12.2017. Starting a few months ago, the program area, which is headed by Professor Siv Oltedal, counts me as one of its members.

PhD project plans

Today I have attended a meeting with my head of department in relation to plans for a PhD scholarship with focus on the connection between welfare and wealth, with me as supervisor.

Family and freedom chapter to be published December 21st; book cover

The chapter "Familie og fridom: Norsk familiepolitikk i lys av liberal politisk teori" (Family and freedom: Norwegian family policies in light of liberal political theory) is forthcoming in Barneomsorg på norsk [Childcare in Norway]: I samspill mellom hjem og stat (eds. Ingunn Studsrød and Svein Erik Tuastad), which Universitetsforlaget says will be published December 21st.

Staff meeting attended

I have just attended Department of social studies´ staff meeting. Topics covered included info on staff changes, plans for staff seminar in Egersund, and presentation on the book - soon in press - Barneomsorg på norsk.

Meeting with innovayt

On November 14th I attended a small meeting with Innovayt here at University of Stavanger, with two colleagues.

Ulvetider book launch - without me

On Thursday November 16th I was supposed to take part in a book launch in Oslo, at Internasjonalen. The pretext was the release of the book Ulvetider: Rovdyret som splitter Norge [Time of the wolf - the predator that splits Norway] (Vega forlag 2017), which I have written with Lars Lenth and Petter Bøckman. However, although I was aboard a plane aiming for Oslo, we never landed, due to weather issues. More specifically, we headed back to Stavanger, and landed there.

The book launch was apparently attended by some 30 people.

300 students - message exchange

I am currently course coordinator in three courses with altogether 300 students or so - spread on two faculties and practically three departments. Quite a few. One of the courses extends until February, the other two are classical autumn courses.

I have no exact count of the number of messages - emails and Canvas messages - I have exchanged this autumn, but it it not unreasonable to assume that I have exchanged on average 1 message with each student, a total of 300 or so.

17 hours taught this week; done for year

I have just finished teaching 6 more hours in "Philosophy of science and health care ethics". This concludes my teaching this first of two gatherings, and all teaching this year.