Demography talk given at Domkirkens teologikafé, Kristiansand

Yesterday I gave a talk at Domkirkens teologikafé in Kristiansand doom church, entitled "Vær fryktbare og bli mange, fyll jorden og legg den under dere!" Some 20 people attended the event.

Book launch in Kristiansand

This evening I have taken part, on stage, at a meeting where Vega publishing house, along with Jutitzen publishing house, launched its autumn book releases. I was interviewed for some 10 minutes on the book Ulvetider, co-written with Lars Lenth and Petter Bøckman, which will appear in about a month. Some 50-60 people from local book stores were present.

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).

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.

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.

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.

New home address

This weekend my family and I have moved to a new address:

Harald Gilles vei 5
4633 Kristiansand
NORWAY

My new home office is clearly bigger than the one I had in Kokleheia 3 (also in Kristiansand).

Lecture on green economics/the future of growth in Kristiansand 23/2

Tomorrow I will give a brief lecture/introductory talk on "Grønn økonomi - Visjoner og muligheter" [Green economics - Visions and possibilities] at a seminar/theme night organised by The Green Party in Kristiansand, Norway, along with André Tribbensee. My talk will be based on my 2008 article "The statistician´s guide to Utopia: The future of growth".

Working time, autumn 2013 - spread over 3 counties, daytime and evenings

This Spring I had a high percentage of parental leave combined with a 20% contract at University of Stavanger - though I worked long weeks even so, in combination with family life. The puzzle game is perhaps even more complex this autumn. My soon 1 year old son has started in kindergarten 3 days a week in Arendal, where my wife now teaches portuguese. Every second Thursday, when my wife is not working, I am taking him to kindergarten. I teach in Stavanger every Monday (first 9 weeks of the semester) and some Wednesdays (5), and also stay there every Tuesday.

Today I looked over my work weeks this autumn, and arranged tasks. The regular routine when I'm working from home, in Kristiansand, will be that I work 12-15 and then again 19-23. This results in a full work day, and maximises the time to be spent with my son (and wife). Every second Thursday I'll have the evening off, and every second Saturday my father is babysitting our son while my wife and I have a day to spend together. Sundays are workdays, given that I'm commuting between Kristiansand and Stavanger and teach Monday morning.

Academic travels planned for March 18-22

I have arranged tickets for a trip which will March 18th to 22nd take me from Kristiansand via Oslo to Stavanger and back to Kristiansand. I will spend two days in Oslo, where I will take part in a one-day work seminar in relation with the HAS anthology Hvem er villest i landet her? [Who's the wildest in the country here?] on Monday the 19th and attend a meeting on Dyreetikkonferansen (The animal ethics conference) on Tuesday 20th. After an 8-hour train trip I will then spend two days in Stavanger, where I will teach Wednesday 21nd and Thursday 22nd plus meet up with a couple of Minding Animals colleagues the 21st and meet with an event company in Stavanger on the 22nd.

Two roles at Christianssand Protestfestival

While in Turku, Finland, I have been contacted by Svein Inge Olsen, primus motor for the annual Christianssand Protestfestival (English site here). In the last minute, the same day as this year's program went to press, I was included in the program with two different roles, one as a moderator (September 5h) and another as a sort of presenter, within a pre-formed concept (September 9th). Details will follow when the program is made public around July 15th. The festival, which is a festival of debate and discussion first and foremost, takes place in Kristiansand, Norway.

Filosofisk Forum: Only next year

I have now had the chance to meet with both of the (other) senior members of Filosofisk Forum (cf. previous posts). It is already late in the semester, and we all have full schedules at the moment (for my part no less after I was asked to teach Philosophy in Antiquity). We have therefore agreed to postpone activities until next year.

Silent in Filosofisk forum

Since the autumn semester started six weeks ago or so, I've tried to schedule a first autumn meeting with the other members of Filosofisk Forum, Kristiansand. So far not successfully.

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This spring Filosofisk Forum had a number of events.

Monkey business (Kristiansand zoo)

Academic news in brief V: Group dialogue, editing, and a climate movie

1. Yesterday's town hall meeting with philosophical consultations on the topic of faith (Byhallen, Kristiansand, Norway) went well, with 57 persons taking part at one point or another. We were sitting in a half-circle, to facilitate a cosy, intimate group feeling. I was the facilitator for the last 45 minutes or so.

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2. The editing of "Semiotics of Perception", the forthcoming special issue of Biosemiotics, is moving into its very last stages - currently being sent to typesetting. Production next.

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3. At the same day as I am giving a talk at Hald International Centre, Hald - May 26th (cf. yesterday's Academic news in brief) - they will sceen the crowd-funded, fictional-documentary climate movie The Age of Stupid. Recommendable, for the most part (I saw it a few days ago, in preparation of this event).

Academic news in brief IV: Group dialogue, networking, and two talks

[Written yesterday]

1. This morning, I was on the radio for 7 minutes (Radio Sør, Kristiansand) talking about this evening's townhall meeting, "Philosophical consultations on faith" [Filosofisk samtale om tro] - cf. former plans made and reported. I will supplement Håvard Løkke in the role as "samtaleleder" (facilitator for the group conversation). Four persons will introduce us to their personal view on faith: Akmal Ali/Noureddine Ramila (muslim), Paul Leer-Salvesen (christian) and the philosophers Ralph Henk Vaags (christian) and Stein Rafoss ("humanist").

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2. Yesterday I registered on LinkedIn.

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3. Last week I agreed to give a 2 hour English language talk on the environment and human dignity at Hald International Centre (Mandal, Southern Norway) May 26th. The audience will consist of a "class" of volunteers (14 nationalities, I think) that will by then have spent the last 7 months practicing aid and relief.

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4. Last week I further committed to giving a 45 minute talk April 5th at the University of Tartu, in an English language ecosemiotics course at master level, led by my collegue Riin Magnus. The topic: The needs of humans and other living creatures... and the possibility of coexistence.

Town hall meeting on faith approaching

Tuesday 23rd of March, the Filosofisk Forum of the Agder University will arrange a town hall meeting in Kristiansand, Norway, on the topic of faith. I am involved in the planning of this event (and might take part in the execution of it as well).

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At this event, we'll apply the methodology of "philosophical consultations". Before the general, open dialogue, four representatives will talk about their personal faith, or lack thereof (a Christian professor of ethics, a Christian philosopher, a Muslim imam, and a non-believing philosopher).

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Here's a link to the (Norwegian langauge) Facebook group of the event.

Animal play talk

I have omitted mentioning that February 18th (Tuesday this week) I gave a talk in "Filosofisk Forum" (University of Agder - Kristiansand, Norway) entitled "Lek som sivilisasjonens opphav" [Play as the origin of civilization].

15 people were there, pretty much as expected - and the discussion following my talk was lively and engaged enough.

Philosophy in Kristiansand

Today I met with Ralph Henk Vaags at UiA. We have agreed to restart 'Filosofisk fagforum' [Forum for academic philosophy], as well as 'Filosofisk forskerforum' [Philosophical research forum] at the University of Agder (in both cases it's the first time I'm partaking). For now the plan for the former is to arrange monthly 2-hrs seminars next spring. The two of us expect to form the responsible committee, along with a student representative.

Independently of these activities, the town of Kristiansand also features a near-monthly 'philosophical café', Kristiansand Filosofikafé, dating back to 2001.

Not bad for a mid-size Norwegian town whose biggest celebrity is a chimpanzee called Julius (who happens to be one of the town's best painters, as well).

University teacher

Today I wrote the contract for teaching in the history of philosophy at Agder University (UiA), Kristiansand, Norway this autumn. Hopefully I will be reassigned for next spring (Kristiansand) and summer (Lesvos, Greece) at a later point.

First lecture took place this Monday, in the biggest auditorium of the university, named after Henrik Ibsen, with some 200 students present - the second on Tuesday. At the very first one, I took some time telling about the history of examen philosophicum (which started out in Copenhagen in the 17th century) in Norway, not least Arne Næss' role in modern times; and the ongoing debate on the place of Ex.phil. in the Norwegian education system (after decades and centuries of revisions and cuts).

I am now a:
- Ph.D. student
- Researcher (in 3 research projects)
- University teacher ("universitetslektor")