“Name of the Year” Nomination

masv on 30. November 2021

Congratulations to PANSOC Centre Leader Svenn-Erik Mamelund, who has (for the second year) been nominated as Name of the Year in Academia by readers of Khrono. Read more here.

Meet Hilde Orderud, our newest affiliated PhD-researcher

masv on 30. November 2021

Hilde Orderud is a fourth year PhD researcher in the Department of Political and Social Sciences at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy. During the Spring of 2022, Orderud will also be affiliated with PANSOC.

Tell us about your project

My PhD proposal started with an interest in the social determinants of health and health inequalities combined with an interest in humanitarian emergencies. Knowing that there has been an increasing intensity, frequency and magnitude of natural disasters in recent years, where the predictions tell that such events will become more common, developed an interest in better understanding the demographic processes and population health in the context of natural disasters. Populations in low-and lower-middle income countries carry the heaviest burden of natural disasters, and women and children in these settings are considered as especially vulnerable. My PhD research project therefore investigates the demographic and health outcomes for women and children in low-and lower-middle income countries in the context of natural disasters. The research project consists of four papers. The first paper investigates fertility before and after the 2010 Haiti earthquake, while the second paper focuses on child undernutrition in the same setting. Climate related natural disasters, such as storms and floods, are of great concern, since we can expect an increase in these events as climate change proceeds. The last two papers, therefore, focus on storms and infant mortality in the Philippines, and on floods and maternal health in Bangladesh.

What are your plans for a future dream-project in academia?

I have enjoyed exploring my research topic as part of my PhD, and would be interested to continue doing research within the same field. My overall research interests relate to events such as natural disasters, climate change, and complex emergencies, and how this impact the demography and health of populations in low-and lower-middle income settings. I am hoping to learn more about advanced quantitative research methods combined with spatial analyses in the future, and it would be exciting if it was possible to follow up on this by conducting field work to further explore findings through primary data collection and/or qualitative research. So, my dream-project would contain most of these aspects and the opportunity to work with highly skilled colleagues with similar interests.

What are your thoughts about spending time at PANSOC?

I am excited to learn more about PANSOC, but also to develop a better understanding of the required administrative steps when conducting research. Being at the end of my PhD work pushes me to broaden my horizon and consider what options that exist, and I believe that being part of the research community at PANSOC will help me pursue this.

Webinar series returns 2 December

masv on 25. November 2021

Email jessicad@oslomet.no if you need a link!

Madeleine Mant, University of Toronto Mississauga: “Going Viral: COVID-19 and Risk in Young Adult Health Behaviour Models.”

This talk will explore the University of Toronto COVID-19 Student Survey, the first in Canada to capture survey and interview data concerning youths’ reactions to the COVID-19 pandemic. This study tracks students’ self-reported anxiety, media use, effects of social distancing on their lives and educational experience, health behaviours, vaccine confidence, and their contextualization of the pandemic through time using iterative surveys and semi-structured interviews. The first survey opened on March 20, 2020, four days after the University of Toronto cancelled all in-person undergraduate classes. Subsequent surveys and interviews were completed three, six, 12, and 18 months after the closure of the university, allowing for longitudinal investigation of students’ impressions of this public health crisis. 

Dr. Madeleine Mant is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Toronto Mississauga. Her research focuses on the lived experience of trauma and infectious disease through time, drawing upon bioarchaeological, archival, and modern qualitative datasets.

Latest webinar video is now available

masv on 21. November 2021

Two of PANSOC’S masters students presented their work. Carla Louise Hughes presented on “The Association between the 1918 Influenza Pandemic and Suicide Rates in Norway” while Lara Maria Dora Steinmetz presented on “Vaccine hesitancy in Eastern Oslo during COVID-19: Associated sociodemographic factors and subsequent reasons.”

You can watch the video here: 21_11_18 PANSOC.mp4 – Google Disk

Next webinar on 18 November

masv on 12. November 2021

At the next webinar (18 November, 1600 CET), two Master’s students affiliated with PANSOC will talk about their theses. Contact jessicad@oslomet.no if you need a link.  

Carla Louise Hughes: “The Association between the 1918 Influenza Pandemic and Suicide Rates in Norway.”

In this talk I will discuss my master’s thesis topic regarding the association between the 1918 flu pandemic and suicide rates in Norway, between the years 1910-1920. Due to Norway’s neutral standpoint during WW1, there was no requirement to control for WW1 deaths. Therefore, this research pushes the front as it is the first attempt to explore this association in a neutral context.

Lara Maria Dora Steinmetz: “Vaccine hesitancy in Eastern Oslo during COVID-19: Associated sociodemographic factors and subsequent reasons.”

Now that the long awaited vaccines against COVID-19 have arrived, we rely on sufficient vaccine uptake in order to contain the spread of the virus. In this regard, vaccine hesitancy is paramount. Vaccine hesitancy can be understood as either the delayed acceptance or refusal of a vaccine despite its availability. Eastern Oslo has experienced disproportionately high infection rates throughout the lifespan of the current pandemic, which emphasizes the importance of vaccine coverage in this particular area. Vaccine hesitancy is however yet to be addressed. This study therefore aims to add to this knowledge, by identifying sociodemographic predictors and subsequent reasons for vaccine hesitancy.