Friday 31 January 2020

Writing day

Today I, belatedly, had an article writing day, with some 5 hours devoted primarily to work on my article “Anticipating the societal transformation required to solve the environmental crisis in the 21st century: Umwelt trajectories revisited“, and some 600 words added.

Total number of article writing days for January: 9,5.

Accummulated GDP article rejected

My article "Introducing a notion of accummulated GDP" has been rejected, with sensible editorial comments, by Scandinavian Economic History Review.

2019 registrations in Cristin; record number of activities reported

I have just completed my 2019 registrations in Current Research Information System in Norway (Cristin), cf. my profile. Altogether 44 posts, which is a new record. This includes 3 articles that should give publication points (2 authored alone, 1 co-authored), 8 scientific conference presentations, 7 appearances on national radio (2 of which also on national TV), and 6 more interviews in national media (altogether 13 appearances in national media). It also includes a new edition of a co-edited book (paperback) and a text book (e-book), some edited works, and popular science lectures.

Total number of posts in Cristin is now 252 (I started registering in Cristin in 2012).

Thursday 30 January 2020

Half article writing day

Today I have had half an article writing day (-ish) devoted primarily to work on my article "Anticipating the societal transformation required to solve the environmental crisis in the 21st century: Umwelt trajectories revisited".

Total number of writing days this Spring so far is 8,5.

Umwelt futurology article published online


Reference (for now - it will appear in no. 3/4, 2019):
Tønnessen, Morten 2020. What can be known about future Umwelten? The American Journal of Semiotics. Published online January 30th 2020. DOI: 10.5840/ajs202012359

One meeting

Today I attended a meeting with a colleague where we made progress towards developing criteria etc. for publication project-based research groups as a new format at our faculty.

Wednesday 29 January 2020

Workshop on welfare and migration chaired; two more events

Yesterday, January 28th, I chaired the second workshop of the University of Stavanger´s Network for welfare research, which took place at 9 to 12.30 at Kjell Arholms hus, with the theme "Velferd og migration" (Welfare and migration). Some 60 people attended. The programme included a lecture by Thomas Hylland Eriksen (UIO), talks by Hildegunn Fandrem and Elisabeth Enoksen (both UIS) and group work organised around five non-governmental and governmental organizations.

I also attended the university´s open meeting on strategy, with rector Klaus Mohn, and had a meeting with a colleague.

Article accepted: "Current human ecology in the Amazon and beyond: A multi-scale ecosemiotic approach"

Today I have been notified that my article "Current human ecology in the Amazon and beyond: A multi-scale ecosemiotic approach" has been accepted for publication in Biosemiotics. Will appear in a special issue on hybrid natures (guest-edited by Nelly Mäekivi and Riin Magnus).

My most viewed YouTube videos

Monday 27 January 2020

8th article writing day; table made

Today I have had this Spring´s 8th article writing day, with some 5 hours devoted to my article "Anticipating the societal transformation required to solve the environmental crisis in the 21s century: Umwelt trajectories revisited", with some 700 words written and notably one table (Table 1) developed and commented.

Sunday 26 January 2020

7th article writing day this Spring

Today I have had the 7th article writing day so far this Spring, with some 5 hours devoted to working on my article "Anticipating the societal transformation required to solve the environmental crisis in the 21st century: Umwelt trajectories revisited", and some 1.000 words added. I have made considerable progress with the framework of the article, making and explaining the figure "Three-dimensional interactive semiotic model of societal transformations".

TV/radio interview on legal killing of wildlife aired October 8th 2019

On October 8th 2019 I was interviewed live in the NRK program "Dagsnytt 18", which airs on national TV (NRK2) and is also broadcast on national radio (NRK P2). The segment was called "Flere småfugler kan skytes" (More small birds may be shot). Representing University of Stavanger and Norway´s Council for animal ethics, I was interviewed by Gry Elisabeth Veiby along with Christian Steel (SABIMA).

TV here, radio here.

Friday 24 January 2020

Half an article writing day yesterday

Yesterday, Thursday January 23rd, I had half an article writing day. Total for the Spring is now 6 writing days. I proof-read "What can be known about future Umwelten?", and read and reviewed the book contract for our book Semiotic agency: Science beyond mechanism.

Project proposal reviewed for Czech Science Foundation

Last autumn I reviewed a research project proposal for the Czech Science Foundation. Seems like I forgot to request payment in time.

Thursday 23 January 2020

Two meetings and a work lunch

Today I attended the faculty leadership meeting, and a meeting in preparation of establishing an arrangement for funding of research groups at the faculty. I also had a work lunch with representatives of two research networks at the university to learn from their experiences.

Wednesday 22 January 2020

Three meetings (incl. supervision)

Three meetings today:
- took part in opening an info meeting with our faculty and Faculty of health sciences on this Spring´s calls from Research Council of Norway
- Bachelor thesis supervision, first session
- planning meeting in relation to Network for welfare research´s workshop next week

Tuesday 21 January 2020

Two-three meetings

Today I have attended the faculty´s leadership group meeting, which included discussing UIS strategy (based on some new signals from the UIS leadership) and a meeting with pro rector for research Merete Vadla Madland. During the latter I presented the level and development of research activity at the faculty, supplementing the Dean´s presentation about research at the faculty.

I also attended and chaired the third meeting of the "new" doctoral committee.

Monday 20 January 2020

Half writing day

Today I have had half an article writing day or so, with some 300 words altogether added to my articles "Anticipating the societal transformation required to solve the environmental crisis in the 21st century" and "Wealth and freedom: Beyond Planet B" (combined). I outlined a disposition for the latter. Total number of writing days this Spring is up to 5,5.

Two explanations of grading

Today I have given two justifications/explanations of grading in Ex.phil.

Sunday 19 January 2020

Writing day - "Anticipating the societal transformation required to solve the environmental crisis in the 21st century: Umwelt trajectories revisited"

Today I have had half an article writing day devoted to work on my article "Anticipating the societal transformation required to solve the environmental crisis in the 21st century: Umwelt trajectories revisited", with some 900 words added.

This brings number of article writing days this Spring up to 5.

Friday 17 January 2020

"Introducing a notion of accummulated GDP" revised; submitted to Scandinavian Economic History Review

Today I have made some edits/minor revisions in my article "Introducing a notion of accummulated GDP", which I am submitting to Scandinavian Economic History Review. Some 300 words added.

Thursday 16 January 2020

Article writing day with work done in relation to three articles

Today I have had a 6 hour, full article writing day, bringing total number of writing days this Spring up to 4,5. My work today was devoted to:
 - minor (formatting-focused) revision of my article "Current human ecology in the Amazon and beyond: A multi-scale ecosemiotic approach" (cf. post about conditional acceptance)
 - writing a bionote for The American Journal of Semiotics to accompany my accepted article (now in production) "What can be known about future Umwelten?"
- reading and taking notes for a minor revision of my article manuscript "Introducing a notion of accumulated GDP" (which I have decided to soon submit to a second journal)

Global/Amazon human ecology article revised once more; accepted

Today I was notified that the editorial decision on my revised version of "Current human ecology in the Amazon and beyond: A multi-scale ecosemiotic approach" is "Accept but incomplete - revise". I have already submitted a second revision.

Faculty leadership meeting

Today I have attended a faculty leadership meeting, where we prepared for our meeting with the pro-rector for research next week.

Abstract for ISQOLS 2020: Wasted and wasteful growth in the USA

Yesterday I finished and submitted the abstract below for the 18th Annual Conference of the International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies (ISQOLS 2020), to be held in Rotterdam in August.

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Wasted and wasteful growth in the USA

If the purpose of economic growth is to improve human welfare, then assessments should be made as to whether or not growth in fact contributes to improved welfare. By investigating Gross Domestic Product (GDP)/Gross National Income (GNI), Human Development Index (HDI) and inequality data, this article evaluates to what extent economic growth in the United States of America (USA) has benefited its population since 1990, the year in which HDI was launched. Comparisons are made with the Nordic countries. These are about as rich as the USA, but known for an alternative model of development, the Nordic welfare model, which is known for being focused on equality and equal opportunities. A notion of wasted growth, defined as real GDP/GNI per capita growth not accompanied by improved non-income Human Development, is introduced. Furthermore, the phenomenon of wasteful growth, understood as GDP/GNI per capita growth that only results in marginal improvements in non-income Human development, is investigated. The investigation is performed by looking into the components of HDI, namely average income, life expectancy and number of school years, and by comparing nonincome HDI values with GDP/GNI per capita growth rates. I further calculate nonincome IHDI values, i.e. inequality-adjusted nonincome Human Development values, for the period covered, to look into what difference inequality makes in evaluations of wasted and wasteful growth. The rather mediocre HDI performance of the USA in recent years begs the question: Is US growth wasted on the rich?

Wednesday 15 January 2020

Two meetings and performance appraisal

Today I have attended a planning meeting about the faculty´s Academic day (Fagdag), and a steering group meeting for the NORPART project CubaNor. I have also had my annual performance appraisal with the Dean of the faculty, Gro Ellen Mathisen.

Tuesday 14 January 2020

Two meetings

Today I have attended the faculty´s leadership group meeting, and a meeting with two colleagues in the faculty´s research administration.

Monday 13 January 2020

Half writing day; article work

Today I have had half an article writing day, adding some 600 words altogether to my articles "Wealth and freedom: Beyond planet B" and "Anticipating the societal transformation required to solve the environmental crisis in the 21st century: Umwelt trajectories revisited". This brings total number of writing days so far this Spring up to 3,5.

Semiotic agency book: Book proposal form

Along with Alexei Sharov, I have contributed to filling out a book proposal form for our forthcoming Springer Nature monograph Semiotic agency: Science beyond mechanism. Our book project has already been accepted, now the contract should be signed.

Explanations of grading

I have just given 3 explanations of grading in Examen Philosophicum at Department of social studies (following Christmas grading).

Friday 10 January 2020

Two meetings

Today I attended a breakfast meeting on writing chronicles, featuring rector Klaus Mohn. I have also participated in a meeting with a colleague.

Thursday 9 January 2020

One more paper for complaint grading

I have recently taken part in complaint grading of one exam paper in the MA course "Philosophy ofs cience and research methods" (MEE140).

A meeting and two job interviews

Yesterday I attended a planning meeting related to Network for welfare research. I also took part in 4 hours work in an appointments committee for the position of head of department at Department of media and social sciences, which included two interviews.

Breakfast and strategy meeting

Today the faculty administration has been gathered first for a New year breakfast at Ydalir Hotel and then a 3-hour work meeting on tasks related to carrying out the strategy for 2020.

Wednesday 8 January 2020

Umwelt futurology article accepted for publication

I have been informed that my article "What can be known about future Umwelten?" has been accepted for publication in The American Journal of Semiotics, after a follow-up review of the revised version.

Tuesday 7 January 2020

Third article writing day

Today I have had this Spring´s third article writing day, with some 5 hours devoted to an article I am co-writing with my Ph.d. student Joakim Jiri Haaland (as second author). Some 400 words written.

Council for animal ethics´statement on oil fund ethical guidelines on council webpage

The statement by Norway´s Council for animal ethics on the ethical guidelines of the Norwegian oil fund, drafted by me, is now available on the council´s webpage (in Norwegian).

Monday 6 January 2020

""Current human ecology..." article revised

I have just finished my revised paper now titled "Current human ecology in the Amazon and beyond: A multi-scale ecosemiotic approach" for the forthcoming hybrid natures special issue of Biosemiotics. On my second article writing day this Spring (counting full days) - with some 1.100 words added today.
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Blog stats

This blog, Utopian Realism, had a total of 3.332 pageloads (+719 from 2018) in 2019, and 2.989 unique visitors (+825), according to Statcounter. All-time totals: 49.513 pageloads, 35.346 unique visitors, 3.192 returning visitors.

Sunday 5 January 2020

Spring´s second half writing day

Today I had this Spring´s second half article writing day, with some 4 hours devoted to the revision of my hybrid natures article and some 500 words added.

Friday 3 January 2020

A meeting and 2 papers graded

Today I have attended a meeting at UIS related to a research application, and taken part in complaint grading in the posthumanities course GEN550 (2 exam papers).

Thursday 2 January 2020

Spring´s first half article writing day

Today I have had this Spring´s first half article writing day, with some 4 hours devoted to work on the revision of my hybrid natures article and some 500 words written.

Change in EiC team for Biosemiotics taking effect

As of January 1st 2020, Timo Maran has been replaced by Filip Jaros as an Editor-in-Chief for Biosemiotics, along with Alexei Sharov and myself. Timo, who served as an Editor-in-Chief 2013-2019, will now be an editorial board member. I remain lead Editor-in-Chief, which I have been since the summer of 2018 (Alexei was lead Editor-in-Chief 2013-2018).

Final reference for editorial "Jesper Hoffmeyer's Biosemiotic Legacy"

Here is the final, complete reference for our editorial on the work on Jesper Hoffmeyer:
Tønnessen, Morten, Alexei Sharov & Timo Maran 2019. Jesper Hoffmeyer's Biosemiotic Legacy. Editorial. Biosemiotics 12(3): 357–363. Published online November 22nd 2019. DOI: 10.1007/s12304-019-09369-5.
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Biosemiotics 12(3) published

Biosemiotics volume 12, issue 3 has been published. The volume includes our editorial "Jesper Hoffmeyer´s Biosemiotic Legacy", an obituary for Jesper, an interview with Jesper, and five original research articles.

Summary of work year 2019

In 2019 I ligged 3.073,5 work hours, which is 186% of the normal work year in Norway. My work week was on average 58,9 hours, up 2 hours from 2018 and up 4 hours from 2017. This is my longest average work week since 2012, and in other words my longest work week/year since I became a father.

About 31% of this time was spent on research, down 3% from 2017. Work with book-long texts was stable. UIS work (primarily as Vice-Dean of Research) was largest category, with 32% (+9%). I spent less time than ever on "other tasks" (4%); 77% on academic work; 19% on literary projects.

Utopian Realism: 378 posts in 2019

In 2019 I posted 378 posts in this blog. This is somewhat less than the last few years - though I may have reported as much as before, since I know often summarize or mention several meetings in one post.