Dear all, 

Since we are living in very troubled and challenging times it is really important that we do our best to remind each other that what we do at the Faculty of Culture and Society is more important than ever; that we also live in a world full of people doing good things and that positive things happen every day. Let’s call it The Everyday Practice of Being Nice and Figuring Out Things Together.

The poet Bob Hansson helped me get on the right track this morning, when he talked about the importance of being nice, in general, but more specifically in the everyday life of organizations.  Another pick-me-upper was the interview with historian Henrik Berggren where he talks about the fact that widespread literacy and the use of books are two of the most important factors for Sweden becoming one of the most innovative countries in the world. Culture, culture, culture in all of its shapes and forms are one of the foundations of democratic and sustainable societies. Of course. 

We know it (we study culture in different ways, teach what we know about culture and develop new forms of culture) but we also need to make sure that this knowledge becomes more well-known. Inspired by the feminist concept situated knowledge I usually talk about the importance of situate what we do in the national and international landscape of research and education. This important work is directly related to the ongoing work focusing on sammanhållna, gränsöverskridande, akademiska kunskapsmiljöer, where all of you have been and are involved in different ways (for instance via APT). We need to make sure that we understand what we are doing and where we are heading, so that our students and prospective research partners of different kinds also can understand what we have to offer, and this is something we are doing together. 

Figuring out things together is what we are good at in general in Academia, and working with and at Culture and Society I would say that this is our Super-Power. I really look forward to thinking together with all of you!

Annika Olsson

Docent/Dekan/Dean

Fakulteten för Kultur och Samhälle/Faculty for Culture and Society