INS receives visiting academics.

This week the Institute for Northern Studies has welcomed, via the Erasmus programme, Dr Sara Ellis Nilsson, a visiting academic from Malmö University, Sweden. Sara is a senior lecturer in Historical Studies, currently working on projects on the early church in Scandinavia and on how Viking ships are used in the formation of narratives and the transmission of knowledge. She has given guest lectures to our MLitt classes on the reconstruction and interpretation of Viking ships in Nordic museums and ”experience centres”, and on local saints in early medieval Sweden. She has also been providing guest supervision to our PhD and MLitt students.  Sara said “I’m enjoying my stay here immensely! It has been a valuable experience working with the MLitt and PhD students at the Institute for Northern Studies, in terms of pedagogy but also research - engaging with all of the exciting current projects. Experiencing the rich cultural heritage of Orkney has definitely been an invaluable aspect of my time here.”

INS has also welcomed Aina Petterson to the department.  Aina is a PhD candidate at the Department of Historical Studies, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim. She is spending two months at INS in Kirkwall. Her PhD research examines the appropriation and use of Insular artefacts after they arrived in Viking-Age Norway. She has contributed to the teaching of MLitt students in the department and presented a paper on her research at a well-attended public evening seminar.