My current SEAS project studies how the ocean figure into quests to assert sovereignty in the Marshall Islands, a large ocean state in the Central Pacific Ocean that outsiders typically describe as dependent. My research shows that Marshall Islanders use the ocean as a symbol to assert sovereignty in several important ways. The ocean is a source of personal and cultural identity, it provides the means for subsistence livelihoods and cash income, it’s a space for recreation and cultural practices, and it holds considerable marine resources that the state use to forge and maintain diplomatic relations necessary to navigate in a tense geopolitical region.

I've worked in the Marshall Islands since I began my MA project at the University of Oslo in 2013. I earned my Ph.D. in 2022, also at UiO, with a thesis that explored how Marshall Islanders use the culture concept as a gateway to larger discussions of togetherness, meaningful work, and cultural and political in/dependence. I show how the idea of a shared culture is instrumental for setting in motion economic development projects, a strategy for battling social inequality, a framework for moral thinking, and an important source for the cultivation of a sense of autonomy in a postcolonial situation.

Parallel to my doctoral work, I've studied the missionary history and contemporary Christianity on the Marshall Islands, and have published research that analyses how early missionaries figure into the religious and political landscape today. This work explores the relation between culture and Christianity and fits into a more general interest I have for notions of culture, togetherness, and meaning-making.

I do most of my public outreach in Norwegian. I've engaged in debates about academic language (against the Norwegian language policies), climate change injustice, and research ethics in ethnography.

I've participated in several radio shows and podcasts, where I've talked about the Marshall Islands and other Oceania-based issues (links in the Norwegian language page). I'm also a writer and content manager for articles about North-American and Pacific Island peoples.

2023 (spring). Lecturer in the social studies section of BLLEDE in the kindergarten tearcher program at the University of South-Eastern Norway (USN), Vestfold (30 ETCS).

2023 (spring). Lecturer in the social studies section of SRLE deltid in the kindergarten tearcher program at USN, Vestfold (20 ETCS).

2022–2023. Lecturer in the social studies section of SRLE in the kindergarten tearcher program at USN, Vestfold (20 ETCS).

2022–2023. Lecturer in the social studies section of SRLE in the kindergarten tearcher program at USN, Porsgrunn (20 ETCS).

2022 (spring). Guest lecturerer in the social studies section of SRLE in the kindergarten tearcher program at USN, Vestfold.

2022 (spring). Lecturer in the social studies section of Mangfoldforsterkingen in the kindergarten tearcher program at USN, Vestfold (20 ETCS).

2022 (spring). Six weeks of practice teaching at Ringerike vgs. (High School), teaching social studies, sociology and social anthropology, and English.

2021 (autumn). Six weeks of practice teaching at Sokna ungdomsskole (Junior High School) teaching social studies and religion.

2017 (autumn). Seminar leader in SOSANT1000 Introduction to Social Anthropology at the Universitetet i Oslo (UiO) (10 ETCS).

2017 (autumn). Seminar leader in SOSANT1400 Cosmology and World Views at UiO (10 ETCS).

2017 (spring). Seminar leader in SOSANT1090 History of Anthropology at UiO (10 ETCS).

2016 (spring). Seminar leader in SOSANT1200 Political Anthropology at UiO (10 ETCS).

See a complete overview of publications in Cristin.