SQP course finished

Today I have finished the UiS PhD Supervisory Qualification Program - the sixth and final day (the fifth took place yesterday), which ended with being handed a diploma from University of Stavanger rector Marit Boyesen.

First day of UiS Lederforum, Egersund

Today I have attended the first day of the University of Stavanger´s annual "Lederforum" (leader forum), at Grand Hotel Egersund. The program today has been led by an organizational psychologist.

PhD Supervisor Qualification Program

February 5th and 6th I attended the first of three gatherings in the University of Stavanger PhD Supervisor Qualification Program, at Sola strandhotell.

"Academic day" on challenges in PhD supervision attended

Today I attended a half-day "fagdag" at Department of social studies for PhD supervisors, with training by Anne Lee.

NORPART meeting

Today I attended a meeting with two colleagues in relation to our NORPART application which is due by end of May.

PhD Supervisory Qualification Programme

Due to hosting a research visit, I am not able to take part in the UiS PhD Supervisory Qualification Programme this Spring. I hope to take it this autumn instead.

Course in PhD supervision attended

Today, for some two and a half hours, I attended a Crash-Course/First Aid Course in supervision of PhD students, held by Anne Lee.

2-day workshop with Peter Dukes attended (PRE-FRIPRO event)

Today and yesterday I have attended the third and final PRE-FRIPRO event at University of Stavanger, organised by the university´s Research and Innovation Department and designed to prepare "Young research talent" applicants for research applications within the Research Council of Norway´s FRIPRO program (independent projects). The last two days the program has consisted in a workshop lead by Peter Dukes and attended by some 20 mostly young (and mostly talented) scholars. Very useful.

2 hours of teaching - academic writing

Today I have been teaching for 2 hours in the courses for bachelor thesis in child welfare and social work respectively (course codes BBABAC and BSOBAC) at University of Stavanger´s Department of social studies - as part of a 6-hour course in academic writing.

IT course in using Inspera taken

Today I´ve taken a 2-hour IT course in Inspera, a program for conducting digital exams.

Course in web publishing tool CorePublish taken

Last week, on November 13th, I attended a half-day course in CorePublish, the Norwegian web publishing tool used by University of Stavanger. After having completed the course, I am now qualified to serve as webmaster for the UiS webpages of the research project "Animals in changing environments: Cultural mediation and semiotic analysis" (in Norwegian and English version).

See also:

Research project webpage updated

UiS, October 1st: Meeting and course

Tuesday last week I attended a meeting at University of Stavanger's Department of health studies for teachers responsible for subjects to be given next Spring (in my case Examen Philosophicum in the web-based bachelor in nursing), and a 1-hour course in "EpN" (Emne på Nett [subjects online]).

Course on Polanyi

This spring semester I will be taking a course on the philosophy of Michael Polanyi. Unfortunately I had to cancel a course on phenomenology ("History of Philosophy II: from I. Kant to Phenomenological Philosophy"), due to linguistic difficulties.

Course work on Uexküll - meetings at UiA - the philosophy business

I'm following the TÜ course "Readings of Juri Lotman and Jakob von Uexküll", and the first half, considering the work of Uexküll, has now finished. A couple of days ago I submitted the (first) term paper, "An Uexküllian Theory of Evolution?" (7 pp). I have further - since I literarily take the course as a reading course, from a distance - submitted 6 c3 pp papers with Q&As, covering the reading material.

“Uexküll and evolution” for many sounds like a topic that spells out a contradiction in terms. That, I believe, does not necessarily have to be the case. Whereas some biosemioticians (e.g. Stjernfelt 2001) have asserted that Uexküll was anti-evolution, others (e.g. Salthe 2001; Kull 2004) have concluded that he was anti-Darwinian, but not hostile to the idea of evolution as such. Here I must agree with the latter group, as I hope will shine through in the rest of this exposition. And not only do I think Uexküll was not anti-evolution (though, as I explain in Tønnessen 2009, he was programmatically not historically-minded) – more than that; I believe that an Uexküllian perspective might actually prove to be enriching within the field of evolutionary theory. There’s proof that Uexküll did not only have negative, but also positive, thought about evolution in his dictum (1928: 198) that “each new appearing functional cycle verifies [the appearance of] a new animal species” (my translation).

Meanwhile, the committee for the UiA Philosophy Forum has held its first meeting (this Monday).

So has - today - UiA's "Fagfilosofisk seksjon" (Academic philosophical section), consisting of the philosophers at Department of religion, philosophy and history. The topic, which has been discussed at one previous meeting as well and will be discussed further at the institute level in December, concerns establishing new (more advanced) courses in philosophy as part of a revised bachelor degree (which is today a bachelor in religion). One day, some say, we might offer a master in philosophy. That would truly be of great value for the philosophy milieu at UiA, and its attraction for students and scholars alike. Today only a one-year studium is offered (apart from the broader introductory course, Examen Philosophicum).

Meanwhile ... I have finished (yesterday) a catalogue, or leaflet (4 pp), presenting the paid services offered by my one-man company, SPØR FILOSOFEN (Ask the philosopher) - ranging from lectures and courses via writing and editing to consultancy activities. You'll find it on Scribd.

And thus the world advances...