Professor Line Nyhagen
I am a sociologist, and my research explores religion, gender, and feminism. I am interested in how people create meaning in their lives through religious or other beliefs, and how religious beliefs and practices connect with other parts of our social identities such as our gender, ethnicity, and sexuality. I am also interested in how religious organisations and states create laws or rules that regulate religion and inform the relationship between religion, gender, and citizenship in different contexts around the world.
Since I was a teenager, I have participated in politics and activism for social justice. A strong commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion underpins my research and teaching. I hope that my work contributes to a better understanding between people with different beliefs and backgrounds.
The worn atlas I am holding was my granddad’s. In it, he and I plotted his journeys around the world as a sailor in the 1920s. My granddad’s atlas makes me think about the lives of people around the world and inspires me to explore our differences and similarities. After a few adventurous years as a sailor, my granddad worked all his life in a shoe factory in a Norwegian fjord. The bonds between us demonstrate the class journey that my family has undertaken over the past one hundred years.