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Tidspunkt

21. nov 2022
kl 12:00 - 16:00

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Påmeldingsfrist

18. nov kl 15:00

The Gunhild Hagestad Seminar 2022

Tidspunkt

21 nov
kl 12:00 - 16:00

Legg til kalender

Påmeldingsfrist

18 nov

Professor Emerita Gunhild Hagestad is turning 80 in November 2022. To acknowledge and celebrate her scholarly work and achievements within research on life course and generations, we hereby invite you to the Gunhild Hagestad Seminar. 

The seminar is organized by the research group ‘Sociological theory and analysis’ and the Department of sociology and social work.

Life course perspectives in uncertain times

The overall theme for the seminar is the relevance of life course perspectives for understanding current societal challenges. Gunhild Hagestad was born in 1942, when German forces occupied Norway. Her generation grew up in a distinct historical context, with both uncertainties and unpredictability caused by the war and its effects, followed by a tremendous increase in welfare provision and economic growth. They experienced rapid social change.

80 years later, there is again war in Europe. Young people growing up today are facing a range of uncertainties, caused by war, climate crisis, economic inequality, democratic instabilities, and the pandemic. The title of the most recent UN Human Development report is telling: “Uncertain Times, Unsettled Lives”.

In this seminar, we would like to explore the following questions: What do we know about the life course trajectories of the WW2-generation, and how can this knowledge help us understand the challenges facing young peoples’ lives today? Do young people growing up today expect less predictability in their life course trajectories? What are the similarities and differences between the cohorts growing up in the wake of WW2 and today? Based on what we know from decades of life course research, how can we anticipate current societal uncertainties to affect young peoples’ life course trajectories? And, more generally, how do people cope in times of uncertainty and unpredictability?

The seminar is a one-day event, and our ambition is to create a lively dialogue where students and researchers in various career stages come together to discuss life course research during ‘uncertain times’.

Program:

12.00: Welcome and opening by Sunniva Whittaker, rector, University of Agder

12.05-12.30: Plenary talk by Professor Emerita Gunhild Hagestad, University of Agder: "Using the life course perspective as a lens for reflecting on life paths of aging Norwegian  "warchildren""

12.30-13.00: Plenary talk by Professor Ann Nilsen, University of Bergen: "Timing and timeliness in two cohorts of young women’s thoughts about the future. A biographical life course approach”

13.00-13.15: Coffee and fruit

13.15-13.45: Plenary talk by Professor Rick Settersten, Oregon State University: “The Footprints of History in the Life Course: Observations from the Last Century – and Today”

13.45-14.15: Plenary talk by Professor Morten Blekesaune, University of Agder: "Prospects for analysing cohorts in Europe"

14.15-14.30: Coffee and sweets

14.30-15.30: Roundtable discussion (Hagestad, Settersten, Blekesaune and Nilsen) - moderated by Professor Kristoffer Chelsom Vogt (University of Bergen)

15.30-16.00: Closing remarks

 

After the seminar there will be an informal reception with dinner and drinks at the Department of sociology and social work, at the third floor of the H-building (Faculty of social sciences). Click here for directions.

Everyone is welcome and attendance is free, but please do register for the event if you plan to come to the seminar.

Full program here.