Online CHEF talks and webinars in November 2021

Chef Talk


Keeping international classrooms alive through virtual mobility

CHEF Webinar


Date: 
November 3, 2021, 13.00-15.00

Venue: Online. Participants will recieve a Zoom-Link closer to the event.

FeeFree

Registration deadline: November 1, 2021

Registration

Abstract

In times of the pandemic, physical international mobility at universities has been restricted. National political decisions (e.g. in Denmark) are putting further limitations on the international classroom. In this interactive online workshop, we will share strategies and tools for enabling students and staff to be involved in the international classroom whether or not they can physically cross national borders. Two PhD researchers will share recent research findings on the conception and practice of virtual exchange. We will also discusss how strategies of international presence via digital means (virtual mobility) can be integrated into the curriculum and classroom practices.

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The Danish Health Visitor Scheme 1937-1980: between state and God

CHEF-Talk


Date: 
November 17, 2021, 15.00-16.00

Venue: Online. Participants will recieve a Zoom-Link closer to the event.

FeeFree

Speakers: Pernille Svare Nygaard, PhD student, Aarhus University
                   Astrid Elkjær Sørensen, PhD, Postdoc, Aarhus University

Registration deadline: 
November 14, 2021

Registration

Abstract

With a desire to reduce the high infant mortality rate, the Danish parliament introduced a law in 1937: Act on Combating Morbidity and Mortality among Children in the First Year of Life. The law made it possible for the Danish municipalities to employ health visitors. With a micro historical perspective on the everyday life of two deaconess sisters, Sister Dagmar (1911-2008) and Sister Alice (1913-2006), we will draw a portrait of the history and significance of the health visitor scheme in Denmark from 1937 to 1980. In our presentation, we will elaborate on the establishment of the higher education for health visitors as well as the basic conditions for deaconesses. Based on our case study, we will provide insight into how the health visitor scheme has affected women with new-borns, and how it has been experienced and practiced in everyday life. A significant part of the formation of the health visitor scheme is connected with the idea of ​​the Danish welfare state and in relation the social democratic party. We, however, argue that the health visitors in their practice also relied heavily on the tradition and ideology of Christian philanthropy.

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Asserting the Nation: Comparative studies on the rise of neo-nationalism in higher education

CHEF-Talk

Date: November 18, 2021, 15.00-16.00

Venue: Online. Participants will recieve a Zoom-Link closer to the event.

FeeFree

SpeakerKatja Brøgger, Associate Professor, Aarhus University, Denmark

Registration deadline: 
November 15, 2021

Registration

Abstract

Presentation of the Sapere Aude and Inge Lehmann projects by Associate Professor and research program director, Katja Brøgger. The projects are funded by Independent Research Fund Denmark and will be launched autumn 2021.

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You just have to learn to play the game: Regret, resentment, resignation and responsibility in narratives of academic precarity

CHEF-Talk

Date: November 25, 2021, 15.00-16.00

Venue: Online. Participants will recieve a Zoom-Link closer to the event.

FeeFree

Speaker: Dr Charlotte Morris, Lecturer in Education and Sociology, the University of Portsmouth

Registration deadline: 
November 22, 2021

Registration

Abstract

This paper draws on narrative interviews with temporarily employed UK women academics. Recognising that individual narratives reflect wider cultural norms and power relations, these illuminate ways in which casualisation is being normalised and justified in this neoliberal context. Casualisation of academic work continues to accelerate, disproportionately affecting women, Black and ethnic minority staff; job insecurity can have catastrophic personal, affective, health, financial and career consequences, undermining wider equity goals. However, for some participants poor lived experiences and delayed career progression were linked to personal choices, reflecting individual responsibilisation which characterizes the neoliberal era. They also reflect dominant ideas about linear career paths which can negate lived, gendered, racialized, ableised, classed, caring experiences, revealing some of the overarching myths which allow such working conditions to continue.  Such narratives can obscure the deliberate adoption of specific business models which comprise lack of investment in staff, creating exploitative situations and exclusionary practices across the sector which in interplay with ongoing structural inequities with detrimental effects on individuals and institutions. This paper argues for continued resistance, suggesting that the implications of pursuing this path mean that only the most privileged will be able to take the risks of pursuing a career in academia.  

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Student activism as productive ‘nagging’? Inclusion, free speech and critical spaces for learning

CHEF-Talk

Date: November 30, 2021, 15.00-16.00

Venue: Online. Participants will recieve a Zoom-Link closer to the event.

FeeFree

Speaker: Gritt B. Nielsen, associate professor, PhD, Aarhus University

Registration deadline: 
November 25, 2021

Registration

Abstract

In recent years, there has been a marked upsurge in student mobilization to promote social justice and equality at universities in countries like the USA, the UK and Denmark. Students criticize their universities for reproducing norms and practices that systematically marginalise or discriminate against certain bodies and voices in academia. In contrast to the public and sometimes confrontational activism used by students in the USA and the UK, students in Denmark tend to engage in more dialogue-oriented forms of ‘everyday activism’ that are not explicitly connected to (but still resonate with) larger social movements. In this paper, I use the case of student activism in Denmark as a window onto the wider political debates around the relation between academic freedom/free speech and growing efforts to create inclusive educational spaces at Danish universities. I show how international debates around identity politics and free speech as well as institutional practices around reputation management and student participation unfortunately often work to discourage open dialogue around the development of teaching and learning. With inspiration from Mansbridge (1996), I argue that a central task for both students and their institutions is the cultivation of exploratory and critical spaces that can productively ‘nag’ established practices and norms and goad us into future action.  

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