Institutt for tverrfaglige kulturstudier

The project is justified by a need for a better understanding of the significance of gender and ethnicity in the formulation of the equality politics of the Norwegian welfare state, with reference to equality between woman and men, equality between ethnic majority and ethnic minorities and social/economic levelling. The project is informed by the concepts of intersectionality and complexity, and focuses on the significance of inter- and transnational dimentions in the development of the welfare society. The research findings will achive value for policymaking in the fields of labour marked regulations, migration, gender equality and welfare. The project will be affiliated to the Nordic Centre of Exellence  in Welfare Research, "The Nordic Welfare State - Historical Foundations and Future Challenges". The research questions and conclusions will be put into a broader, comparative cotext via collaborations with an international network of researchers working in the field of racialization and feminized migration in Europe.

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KULT med i nytt samfunnsfaglig senter for energiforskning.
Fredag 3. april 2009 ble forskningssenteret CenSES, Centre for Sustainable Energy Studies, lansert. Målsettingen er å forene samfunnsfaglig og naturvitenskapelig forskning på bærekraftig energi. Les mer på CenSES' sider på nett, rektors blogg om senter-lanseringen og oppslag i Uniforum.

ZEB er et av de åtte norske forskningssentra for miljøvennlig energi (FME). Sentret skal bidra til å utvikle produkter og løsninger for eksisterende og nye bygninger, boliger så vel som næringsbygg, som vil lede til gjennombrudd i markedet for bygninger med null klimagassutslipp. KULT skal forske på implementering av kunnskap og teknologi knyttet til nullutslippsbygninger. Lokal prosjektleder: Thomas Berker.

[Om ZEB-senteret i Universitetavisa]

ZEBs nettsider

(NFR/KULVER, 2010-2013)
The theme of the project is how new imaging technologies contribute to redefining the body by making its inside visible on the level of cells. On a more general level, it questions how cultural values impact on science and technology and vice versa. By applying new imaging technologies, pictures taken of tiny body fragments are modified into astonishing and aesthetically appealing images that are used in research, in medical practice, but also in the media and in commercials. The production of these images takes place in an interface of science and popular culture. We will study how cultural values contribute in the processes of producing, interpreting and using the images and on how they draw new images of the human body that may contribute to changing imaginations of the body.
The research is of wide relevance in the sense that we will follow a scientific production process and study, firstly, if new technologies become a premise in setting new research agendas and, secondly, how cultural values and aesthetic preferences interfere in scientific practices and in science communities' communication with colleagues, funding agencies and the general public. The project will provide new knowledge on how technologies function in relation to values and aesthetics and how science and technology are interacting with culture.
The research design includes following the images from the production process in the laboratory, to the use of them in medical practice and, finally, when they travel from science communities to media and the public. The study will focus on how new technologies are applied in the production of images on the level of cells and how new knowledge of the interior of the body is produced. It will follow the process when research results are transferred out of the lab to medical practice, media and art. Thus we will study the production and interpretation of images in interactions between scientists, practitioners, lay people and (bio)artists and ask which cultural values are referred to and activated in these processes. We will ask if new image technology may lead to new interpretations of the human body, of gender difference and reproduction, and to increasing the importance of visualisation in the general understanding of biology and the body.
During all these steps cultural values will be of importance for production and interpretation, and competing values will be called upon and challenged, such as the value of nature versus culture, values related to reproduction, conception and gender, the integrity of the body, and the role of science in society.
Research questions:
How do cultural values interact with the production and interpretation of new medical images? How do medical imaging technologies contribute to new imaginations and redefinitions of human bodies and organic processes of the body? How are medical images transformed when they leave the scientific context and reappear in popular culture?
The project will have three empirical foci:

• Fieldwork in an Image Laboratory to study how the images are produced.
• Fieldwork in medical practice to study how the meaning of cells is negotiated between medical personnel and lay people.
• Media and art analysis.

Responsible: Prof. Merete Lie, Dept of Interdisciplinary Studies of Culture, NTNU
Participants: Prof. Merete Lie, Post. doc. Manuela Perrotta, PhD student Anja Johansen.

Project webpage

The project will study the production of gendered meanings - that is, cultural conceptions of femininities and masculinities, motherhood and fatherhood, female and male bodies - within the context of reproduction and gendered relations. Prosjektleder: Merete Lie.