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Nov 14, 2024 | 
norwegianamerican.com | Ilan Kelman
Keep on presenting presentsIlan KelmanAgder, NorwayThe presence of presents can be uplifting. Yet the act of giving is a gift in itself. Giving and receiving are both part of connecting with each other, showing affection, and enjoying generosity. They can be stressful too: Trying to work out the correct present for someone, wondering about affordability, determining whether or not one’s gift is inferior to what one received, or receiving unwanted clutter, which is hard to discard or regift.
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Oct 18, 2024 | 
norwegianamerican.com | Ilan Kelman
Science working to improve life in the ArcticIlan KelmanAgder, NorwayOn May 27, 2017, on Tempelfjord—the fjord between Longyearbyen and Pyramiden, Svalbard—the ice broke as a group of Russian tourists and guides snowmobiled across it. The alarm went out at about 6 p.m., with search-and-rescue forces responding immediately. Around 48 minutes later, they pulled four people from the cold water.
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Oct 17, 2024 | 
tandfonline.com | Ilan Kelman
AbstractDealing with disasters is typically illustrated with photos of the aftermath of disasters, notably collapsed infrastructure and destitute, hurt, or grieving people. Those images present the reality of disasters, but not the reality of actions seeking to avoid these scenes. This photo essay is of disaster risk reduction efforts as expressed through images.
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Sep 12, 2024 | 
norwegianamerican.com | Ilan Kelman
Recognizing living and thriving in northern latitudesIlan KelmanAgder, NorwayThe Arctic: a desolate, cold wasteland offering little to human life and livelihood, apart from explorers and extractors. Or perhaps it is time to bury this myth to recognize millennia of living and thriving in the northern latitudes. Recent centuries opened new vistas, bringing people and jobs along with cultural and environmental destruction.
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Aug 27, 2024 | 
norwegianamerican.com | Ilan Kelman
Learning is about exchange and collaborationIlan KelmanAgder, NorwayIn 1948, the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights offered Article 26, paragraph 1: “Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory.
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Jul 30, 2024 | 
norwegianamerican.com | Ilan Kelman
Why not lighten up with a little laughter? Ilan KelmanAgder, NorwayA Norwegian, a Swede, a Dane, and a Finn walk into a bar. No, actually, finishing this joke would be pejorative, kowtowing to stereotypes and seeking chuckles through meanness. As usual, any groups listed in a joke, from hair color to religion, are interchangeable, to make fun of whomever we wish. Also told in Scandinavia, “What is the easiest way of sinking a submarine run by [insert any group]?
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Jun 20, 2024 | 
norwegianamerican.com | Ilan Kelman
Profiles in Norwegian scienceIlan KelmanAgder, NorwaySince around the fourth century, many Christians have celebrated the birth of John the Baptist on June 24. More pagan, the plant St. John’s Wort tends to flower in Europe around this date, which is how it received its name. St. John’s Wort grows around the world on land, especially in temperate regions and absent mainly from very arid areas, very cold areas, and tropical lowlands.
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May 4, 2024 | 
norwegianamerican.com | Ilan Kelman
Profiles in Nowegian scienceIlan KelmanAgder, NorwayNorway goes to the polls every two years, in odd years. Last year were municipal and county elections, with next year being the national elections to determine who will be prime minister, the head of government. The head of state remains unelected royalty. Scientists study this process. In Norway, two papers published this year offer insights into those who vote and those who are elected.
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Apr 11, 2024 | 
norwegianamerican.com | Ilan Kelman
Profiles in Norwegian scienceIlan KelmanAgder, NorwayNorway has a long and rich history of folk, local, and traditional music, with a slew of instruments and dances. Scientists in Norway study Norwegian music, covering musicology, history, and identity from classical music’s Edvard Grieg to the pop genre’s Sigrid—along with artists beyond Norway. A trio of papers from 2023 published by the same team examined music education around Norway.
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Mar 14, 2024 | 
norwegianamerican.com | Ilan Kelman
March is a month to secure funds for the futureIlan KelmanAgder, NorwayAs March rolls around, from southern to northern Norway, the flowers pop out from the snow, the birds cheerily chirp, people greet in English with “spring has sprung,” and scientists are busy trying to meet grant application deadlines from the Research Council of Norway, Forskningsrådet. Many deadlines crop up throughout the year, and some programs are open to apply any time.
