Research My main focus in recent research has turned towards the school subject of Swedish, where we use the term ‘didaktik’, and specifically concerning the teaching of literature on secondary and advanced levels. Since I have a longstanding background as head of a Swedish department, leader of educational development projects (Assessment for Learning etc) and teacher of Swedish and English, my research in ‘didactics’ takes such experiences as a focal point. As associated head of our department’s educational studies my main concerns are to build a creative platform for researchers and teachers around ‘didaktik’.
At present I have one project under construction investigating the conditions of teaching literature in a contemporary educational landscape with specific attention paid to using generic competences and its possibilities and limitations. As editor of a peer-reviewed edition compiling nine articles on educational studies there is a certain emphasis on methodology and its theoretical aspects in relation to both higher education and to secondary schools.
In previous work my interests were concerning contemporary media culture, how our culture negotiates ‘high and low’ in connection to how our self-conceptions are mirrored there. The cultural analytical perspectives are primarily grounded in the cultural theories surrounding thinking in the cultural studies tradition. In my thesis To See and be Seen: Cinema, Gender and Modernity (2004) I analyse how gender and cinema are negotiated in our culture – which representation of gender amongst directors and main characters in all films during one year can be registered? How are cinema and gender discussed in cultural criticism? The year was 1996 and the cultural debate dealt with the film Breaking the Waves by the Danish director Lars von Trier. In relation to theories on Modernity and identity there is an inclination towards increased freedom from traditions. Among film theorists on reception and spectatorship some make a point of the viewer’s freedom of making meaning. What would be the alignment between these descriptions of viewer empowerment and the repetitive and overpowering representation of male agency? In this thesis I show how gender in film both gives indications of change, but above all expose tough and constant features. The images in cinema are gaining more impact on the construction of identity for individuals in a modern media culture.
In addition, since 2007, I have paid a specific generic interest to situation comedy both with perspectives on drama history and cultural analyses.
Teaching
Since taking on a position at LIR in 2014 my teaching primarily concerns courses on the teacher training programme. A great deal of my work consists of tutoring and examining on advanced levels, part of which are practice courses at schools in the region. In literary studies I have been responsible for aspects on popular literature, intersectional analyses which comprise aspects on cultural history. During the period 2001 – 2013 I worked at the Dep of Cultural Sciences at GU (Culture, Aesthetics & Media) with specific affiliation to Cultural Studies, but also within Gender Studies, Cinema Studies and Children & Youth Culture. Again, teaching and tutoring on both basic and advanced levels in areas around aesthetic practices as: cultural theory, cultural analysis, popular culture, media culture, identity, film theory, gender theory, spectatorship, romantic stories, situation comedy.
Other
In 1982-2013 I worked part-time at a secondary education as ‘lektor’ (head of department) teaching Swedish and English. I have also held a position as Lecturer in Swedish at Univ of Newcastle for two years 1983-1986 and as administrative director at the Board of Education and Research for Educational Studies at GU for two years in 2004-2005.
In various connections I have given lectures and speeches on Film from a Gender Perspective: twice at the Swedish Film Institute, The Theatre Association and Gothenburg International Film Festival. Another theme has been Living in a Media Culture directed towards educational departments. Lately I have given an open lecture on Mamma Mia! Popular Culture and Gender.
Publications
• ”The Sudden Revelation of the Whatness of a Day” i Perspektiv på Joyce, (red.) Arping, Janson, LIR:s skriftserie, föredrag och artikel i antologi under utgivning 2014
• Svensson, Svensson - the Sitcom Dealing with Cultural Unrest, paper presenterat vid Nordic Media Conference 6-8 nov 2008, London University College
• "Från Niklasons till Svensson, Svensson. Situationskomedin som vardagsterapi". Ingår i antologin Svensk television: en mediehistoria, red. Anna Edin & Per Vestlund, SLBA, 2008
• ”Filmanalysen och det sociala”, Sociologisk Forskning Nr 2 2005
• Att se och synas: Filmutbud, kön och modernitet. Diss., Göteborg & Stockholm: Makadam Förlag, 2004. ISBN 91-7061-004-5
• ”Over and Over Again. The Representation of Women in Contemporary Cinema”, del i antologin Femme Fatalities: Representations of Strong Women in the Media, Gjelsvik, Anne & Rikke Christina Schubart (red.), Scandinavian Press Nordicom, 2003
• “Gender Issues Breaking Waves in Film Criticism 1996?”. Paper, opubl. på konferens Gender, Power, Text: Scandinavian Culture in the Twentieth Century. Department of Scandinavian Studies, University College London, 13-14 June, 2002
• ”Om och om igen - kvinnor och män i filmutbudet”, i Sernhede, Ove & Thomas Johansson (red.) Identitetens omvandlingar. Black Metal, magdans och hemlöshet, Göteborg: Daidalos. 2001. ISBN 91-7173-149-0
• “Filmkritik och filmutbud”. Paper vid The 15. Nordic Conference on Media and Communication, Reykjavik, Iceland, 11-13th August 2001. Länk till fulltext
• ”Tjatigt men politiskt korrekt”, Tidskriften Genus 4/01
• ”Kvinnor syns minst på film”, Artikel Göteborgs-Posten 010131
• Om och om igen: könsrepresentationen i 1996 års svenska filmutbud och Breaking the Waves. Licentiatuppsats, Litteraturvetenskapliga inst., Göteborgs universitet, 2000. ISBN 91-86270-58-3
• “Sit-coms och Vaudeviller – en genrehistorisk jämförelse”. Paper opubl. The 14. Nordic Conference on Media and Communication, Kungälv, Sweden, August 1999