| Finn Sivert Nielsen |
Social Anthropologist |
| About
myself My online texts |
| Background in brief |
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Last updated, 03-03-09 |
| Academic background and teaching
experience I have undergraduate degrees from the University of Oslo in Russian language and literature, History, and Social Anthropology. As a graduate student I studied Social Anthropology and received the Magister Artium degree in 1987. My thesis was based on fieldwork (see below), and studies of Soviet ethnography and ethnosociology at the State University of Leningrad (in 1978 and 1983), with emphasis on ethnic minorities in the Soviet North (nentsy), and the Caucasus (particularly Dagestan). It will be published in Russian, in 2003. My written production (in Norwegian and English) includes academic work on general, theoretical, empirical and methodological, as well as applied and administrative subjects, and journalistic accounts in the media. My teaching experience is extensive within the fields of Social Anthropology and East / Central European studies and includes lectures for a variety of audiences (professional researchers, students on all levels, the general public) from 1980 to the present. I have been main academic advisor for more than 30 graduate students since 1988, about half of whom have done fieldwork in the former Soviet Union or Eastern Europe. From January 1994 to December 1998 I was Associate Professor (førsteamanuensis) at the University of Tromsø (with tenure since March 1995). Since the beginning of 1999, I have been Associate Professor (lektor) at the Institute of Anthropology, University of Copenhagen (Denmark), coordinator of the institute's East / Central Europe Research Group (ECEG) and (since 2002) of the Nordic and East / Central European Network for Qualitative Social Research (NECEN). |
Knowledge of the
former Soviet Union and Russia
I studied Russian in Oslo in 1974-76, and have since 1978 made about 30 visits to various parts of the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Two visits to Russia lasted for about 6 months each, the rest were of shorter duration (up to six weeks). During my two longest stays (1978, 1983) I did anthropological fieldwork, mostly in Leningrad (St.Petersburg). My command of Russian is good, and I have worked on literary translations from Russian to English and Norwegian on several occasions. I have travelled extensively in the former Soviet Union, particularly to the Caucasus (Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Dagestan). In 1983 I spent 4-5 weeks in Dagestan doing field research. |
| Knowledge
of the United States I am half American by birth, have spoken English all my life, and have extensive personal knowledge of American culture through my American family. I have travelled throughout much of the continental United States, with emphasis on the West and East Coast. In 1989-90 I did 12 months of anthropological fieldwork in San Francisco. |
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| Administrative and journalistic
experience In 1983-88 I was responsible for the practical organization and leadership of the interdisciplinary Norwegian Association for Soviet and East European Studies (Forum for Sovjet- og Øst-Europastudier) – a position entailing a wide range of responsibilities. In this period I also edited and was one of the main contributors to the Norwegian (later Nordic) journal of Soviet and East European Studies (Forum Øst, later Nordisk Øst-Forum) and of a Newsletter to members of the above association. During 1996 I was Head of the Department of Social Anthropology, University of Tromsø. While in Tromsø I also headed the Curriculum Review Board, which completely reformulated all curricula and course plans for all undergraduate and graduate studies at the Department. Since 2001, I am web and IT coordinator at the Institute of Anthropology, University of Copenhagen. |
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