Book review (Abram and Stibbe) finished; accepted; proof-read

Towards the end of May I finished a book review for Journal of Multicultural Discourses (published by Taylor & Francis), which had been commissioned by Sune Vork Steffensen, who were a review editor at the time. The review is titled "Discourses gone astray: Restoring animality, humanity, and language", and reviews the following two books:

Becoming animal: an earthly cosmology, by David Abram, New York, Pantheon Books, 2010, xi + 313 pp., US$26.95 (hardcover), ISBN 978-0-375-42171-6 

Animals erased: discourse, ecology, and reconnection with the natural world, by Arran Stibbe, Middletown – Connecticut, Wesleyan University Press, 2012, viii + 209 pp., US$24.95/£22.50 (paperback), ISBN 978-0-8195-7232-5

My review was accepted a few days later, and a couple of days ago I proof-read it. The text will soon appear online, and then, either late in 2013 or early in 2014, in print.

Reference to my contributions to Norwegian HAS anthology

The anthology Hvem er villest i landet her? Råskap mot dyr og natur i antropocen, menneskets tidsalder [Who is wildest in this country here? Brutality towards animals and nature in the Anthropocene, the age of Man] was published by Spartacus forlag/Scandinavian Academic Press on May 15th. Here I present a list of full references to the contributions I am involved in as an author.

Sollund, Ragnhild, Guri Larsen og Morten Tønnessen 2013. Forord [Preface]. In Sollund, Ragnhild, Morten Tønnessen og Guri Larsen (eds) 2013, Hvem er villest i landet her? Råskap mot dyr og natur i antropocen, menneskets tidsalder, Oslo: Spartacus Forlag/Scandinavian Academic Press, 7.  

Sollund, Ragnhild, Morten Tønnessen og Guri Larsen 2013. Introduksjon: Fra bruksdyr til dyreverd [Introduction: From animals of utility to animal dignity]. In Sollund, Ragnhild, Morten Tønnessen og Guri Larsen (eds) 2013, Hvem er villest i landet her? Råskap mot dyr og natur i antropocen, menneskets tidsalder, Oslo: Spartacus Forlag/Scandinavian Academic Press, 9-36.  

Tønnessen, Morten 2013. Menneskeveldet [The human empire]. In Sollund, Ragnhild, Morten Tønnessen og Guri Larsen (eds) 2013, Hvem er villest i landet her? Råskap mot dyr og natur i antropocen, menneskets tidsalder, Oslo: Spartacus Forlag/Scandinavian Academic Press, 37-56. 

Tønnessen, Morten 2013. Hvem er villest i landet her? Et ulveliv [Who is wildest in this country here? A wolf's life]. In Sollund, Ragnhild, Morten Tønnessen og Guri Larsen (eds) 2013, Hvem er villest i landet her? Råskap mot dyr og natur i antropocen, menneskets tidsalder, Oslo: Spartacus Forlag/Scandinavian Academic Press, 79-98. 

As detailed in the preface, the book is dedicated to the memory of Tinga [a bird], Singa [a dog], and Matias Laurits da Silva-Tønnessen, the latter being my son.

My bionote is on page 378.

Reference for forthcoming book review on wolf conflicts

Some three weeks back I proof-read my book review which is to appear in the Norwegian academic journal Sosiologi idag [Sociology today] this autumn. The review will appear with no title, and no summary (correction to previous post). Reference:

Tønnessen, Morten 2013. Ketil Skogen, Olve Krange og Helene Figari 2013, Ulvekonflikter – en sosiologisk studie, Oslo 2013: Akademika forlag. Book review. Sosiologi idag 43(2): 117-122.

Extra teaching - or not

Some weeks back I was asked whether I could teach theory of science for students of public health care (helsesøsterutdanning) at my department at University of Stavanger, Department of Health Studies. Amounting to six hours of teaching, the classes would take place in mid-September. I confirmed. However, somewhat later I was informed that an agreement had been reached with another scholar who had taught this earlier.

Absence from final UiS board meeting

Though I had been planning for months to attend this academic year's final University of Stavanger board meeting, held in Copenhagen, Denmark, today and tomorrow, I eventually had to cancel and notify the secretary that I would be absent. This is because I now have a second gall stone (following the first one in March, which led to quite some complications), which is causing me pain and discomfort. This would have been my last meeting, since my bid for reelection was not successful. I have served in the board of UiS since October 2012.

Cognitive semiotics membership

I have become a member of the International Association for Cognitive Semiotics (IACS), which was founded May 29th in Aarhus, Denmark, during the Eight Conference of Nordic Association for Semiotic Studies (NASS).

My vision for the journal Biosemiotics

As was made public at last night's General Meeting of the International Society for Biosemiotic Studies (ISBS), I am one of five nominees for the position of Editor-in Chief of the academic journal Biosemiotics, nominated by current Editor-in-Chief Marcello Barbieri.

The nominee with the most support in the biosemiotic community is Alexei Sharov. Although I primarily run for the position myself, I secondarily support Alexei. He would be an excellent choice, with his long experience, innovative approach and placement in systems theory biosemiotics.

This is what I have written to Springer's Senior Publishing Editor Catherine Cotton:

first of all, I confirm that I am willing to serve as a member of the editorial board in the way you describe. Second, I signal that I am interested in being considered for the position of Editor-in-Chief (primarily) or book series editor (secondarily), with the following agenda: I would...  

1) actively make use of citation data, sales/download data etc. in developing strategy and working to improve the standing of the journal (or book series) 

2) be undogmatic in dealing with contributors 

3) be open to making use of different semiotic traditions, Peircean and non-Peircean (and, within Piercean biosemiotics, be undogmatic and emphasise the value of diversity in interpretation) 

4) seek to make room for and highlight 'third paths' alongside Peircean biosemiotics and code biology, including for biosemiotics built on systems theory (represented e.g. by Aleksei Sharov) 

5) encourage collaboration across 'schools' and traditions (while also allowing for competition between them) 

6) assure a certain balance between orientation towards natural science, the humanities (including philosophy) and social sciences 

7) stimulate discourse and debate on fundamentals, including those on which we diverge 

8) emphasise the central role played by Uexküll's Umwelt theory, and encourage further development of Umwelt theory 

9) stimulate development of, and showcasing of, concrete applications of biosemiotic theory, in order to go beyond theory and methodology and move towards innovative scientific observations and breaktroughs 

10) initiate the creation of a biosemiotic glossary [...]. This would either take the form of a single project - a Special Issue or a book volume - or of an article series in the journal, with a section in each (regular) issue being devoted to a review of one key term per issue. Each review would map different uses and interpretations of the key term reviewed, and suggest synthesis in the form of a new definition. The long-term goal of the glossary project would be to be approaching concensus on the understanding of key terms, and thus contribute to biosemiotics' development as a maturing scientific field. In addition to literature studies/review the work with the glossary would likely involve a broad and representative survey among biosemioticians.