Bakgrunn og erfaring
Fra september 2025 er jeg ph.d-stipendiat i historiedidaktikk med prosjektet 'Historical Periods: Exploring the Didactics of Menstrual History'.
Jeg har siden 2019 vært ansatt ved UiA som universitetslektor i historie og beholder 25% av denne stillingen gjennom stipendiatperioden. Relevant tidligere arbeidserfaring er lektor i videregående skole (2005-2011), undervisningsleder ved ARKIVET freds- og menneskerettighetssenter (2011-2014) og studieleder ved UiA for lærerutdanningene for trinn 8-13 (2014-2019).
Ansvarsområder
Stipendiat i historiedidaktikk, universitetslektor i historie, fagkoordinator for lektorutdanningen i historie.
Undervisning
Jeg har ansvar for undervisning og praksisoppfølging av lektorstudenter i historie. Jeg har tidligere vært emneansvarlig og undervist på følgende emner:
- historiedidaktikk i praktisk-pedagogisk utdanning og lektorutdanning,
- norsk historie for internasjonale studenter med vekt på historiebruk og lange linjer i Norges og Agders historie,
- globalhistorie med vekt på økonomisk og politisk historie.
Forskning
Mine forskningsinteresser er historieformidling i skole og museum, historiebruk, historiebevissthet, miljøhistorie og menstruasjonshistorie.
Abstract of 'Historical Periods: Exploring the Didactics of Menstrual History'
Ten years ago, an article in Cosmopolitan declared that 2015 was the year that ‘the period went public’. Since then, there has been a wave of menstrual activism, and menstruation has hit the screen with films like ‘Turning Red’ and ‘Period. End of Sentence’. Globally, the UN addresses menstrual health as a human rights issue, and locally, tampon boxes are placed matter-of-factly on desktops in Norwegian classrooms. Menstruation is everywhere, not least as a part of embodied human life – a fundamental experience for half of the world’s population.
In Norway, politicians, activists, and educators agree that knowledge about and openness around menstruation is crucial, and that education plays a vital role in conveying both. Yet, in this context, it strikes me – a history teacher and educator through twenty years – that I have read hundreds of pages and taught hundreds of lessons about bleeding bodies on battlefields, but I have never read or taught anything about a menstruating woman.
In my PhD-project I explore which didactic insights can be gained when history teaching makes menstruation its point of departure. I will develop a school project on menstruation history and teach this to students in Norwegian upper secondary school. An essential part of the school project is that students will be asked to conduct interviews with parents and grandparents about their experiences with menstrual products, education, and attitudes. I ask:
1. How do students articulate an understanding of the bodily event of menstruation as historically situated?
2. How do students reflect on the absence of menstruation in historical narratives?
Through my project, I hope to contribute to the field of history teaching and learning, which is of relevance to academics, educators, school textbook authors, and teachers alike. In doing this, my study may also contribute to the broader conversation on women’s health.