UiA – NFU

May 12, 2023May 12, 2023

NFU Chairwomen speaks on Skolepenger

There is an ongoing discussion in Norway regarding a proposition for students outside of the EU/EØS and Switzerland to start paying tuiton when they chose to study in Norway.

Proposition 68L (2022-2023) has raise a ,ot of opposition with several organizations and universtities, such as SAIH, Universitet i Agder, NTNU and others standing against it. They all fear that this will create a barrier for students to come to Norway as well as being a starting point to start charging tuition to all students in the future.

NFU chairwoman, Arnhild Leer-Helgesen states that “The implementation of school-fees for students outside Europe/EØS and Switzerland is a serious backlash for the quality and relevance of higher education and research in Norway. To face the multiple crisis in the world we need more exchange of perspectives and knowledge, not less. The contribution of students and researchers from the so-called “Global South” to co-creation of knowledge, is heavily underrated. With this cut, adding to cuts in funds for research in the broad field of global development, Norway has less capacity to develop the knowledge we need to contribute towards the Sustainable Development Goals.”

If you wish to join the fight against the introduction of skolepenger, sign the petition started by SAIH:

https://www.change.org/p/do-not-introduce-tuition-fees-for-non-eu-students-in-norway

January 13, 2023January 3, 2023

Meet NFU: Arnhild Leer-Helgesen

This week we will introduce you to one of our board members and our current lead Co-chair of NFU: Arnhild Leer-Helgesen.

Arnhild has been involved with NFU for 4 years and has taken the challenge of heading our board in the beggining of 2022.
She joined because NFU is a network of Norwegian scholars working with global development issues, but NFU also works closely with the other Nordic associations for development research and the European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI). Conferences and different activities help her keep track of ongoing debates, conferences, and publications. There is also a need for an association like NFU to unite researchers in the broader field to be able to advocate for knowledge-based policies and practices.

Her PhD was on religion and development and the role of faith-based institutions in Latin America. And she is currently working in a project on different understandings of gender across contexts, together with colleagues from Makerere University and University of Dar es Salaam.

She chose her research field because she have had an interest in international development, Latin America and religion since the start of her studies. Before her PhD she worked in international development cooperation, and her research interests are results of questions raised during these experiences.

Arnhild believes that development studies is an important field because it is a field where you get to and need to work with colleagues and other people from different contexts and you continuously reflect on power relations and situated knowledge. You meet researchers with an engagement that goes beyond the academic environment.

She currently works at the Department of Global Development and Planning at University of Agder (UiA).

Her current work involves being the project leader of the project “Gender and digitalization across contexts”, where she focus on different ways of understanding and teaching gender. She is also initiating research much closer to home, looking into how perspectives of global inequality are communicated in kindergartens.

To access some of her recent work, please follow the link below:

https://www.routledge.com/Negotiating-Religion-and-Development-Identity-Construction-and-Contention/Leer-Helgesen/p/book/9780367786090

December 5, 2022December 5, 2022

Open Position: PhD candidates at Universitet i Agder

There are two open positions for PhD candidates at Universitet i Agder in connection with the FGS project.

The project focuses on: “Dual screening by Spectral Artificial Visual Examination for Female Genital Schistosomiasis and cervical cancer”

The deadline to apply is December 31st of 2022.

More information about the positions and project can be found on the link below:

https://www.jobbnorge.no/en/available-jobs/job/236443/phd-research-fellow-in-healthcare-provider-and-patient-perspectives-on-the-multi-spectral-diagnostic-tool-for-fgs-and-cervical-cancer-screening

October 31, 2022October 24, 2022

Did you miss it? Watch the seminar: The Global Backlash Against Gender Equality

Last October 10th the seminar The Global Backlash Against Gender Equality that was jointly organized by NFU, the Department of Global Development and Planning at UiA and The Strømme Foundation took place in Kristiansand and through streaming. In front of a packed house, different guest lectures talked about the setback for gender equality globally the last 10-15 years.

If you missed and would like to watch it, follow the recording below:

https://video.uia.no/media/t/0_9kvclm8g

If you wish to read a small summary of what happened, continue reading below.

September 26, 2022September 26, 2022

Seminar: The Global Backlash Against Gender Equality

NFU would like to invite all to attend the seminar: The Global Backlash Against Gender Equality to take place on October 10th.

The seminar is a cooperation between NFU, the Department of Global Development and Planning at UiA and The Strømme Foundation.

The event will have a hybrid format and it is possible to attend it in Kristiansand or online. For those attending it in Kristiansand, lunch will be provided.

Registration is required for both online and physical options and is available through the following link:
https://uia.pameldingssystem.no/seminar-on-gender-equality#/home