OUR MEMBERS
ANNE BRIT HATLESKOG
Anne Brit is the director at Centre for Intercultural Communication at VID Specialized University. She is also a PhD candidate at the Centre of Diaconia and Professional Practice at VID, Campus Stavanger. Her PhD project is called: Creating safe spaces in unsafe places. Thai women’s aspirations as migrants in Norway and the social networks developed in Thai massage parlours.
ANNA REBECCA SOLEVÅG
Anna Rebecca is a professor at the Faculty of Theology, Diaconia and Leadership Studies at VID Specialized University, Campus Stavanger. She is also the director of the Centre of Mission and Global Studies
BENEDICTE NESSA
Benedicte is a PhD candidate at the Centre for Diaconia and Professional Practice. Her PhD project is called: Newly arrived refugee’s migration experiences: a qualitative study of the importance civil society plays as a mediator between individuals and the Norwegian labor market
DAVIDE BERTELLI
Davide is a PhD candidate at the Centre of Mission and Global Studies at VID Specialized University, Campus Stavanger. His PhD project is called: Negotiating belonging in contested spaces: Queer and religious migrants in Oslo and London
ELLEN VEA ROSNES
Ellen is an associate professor at the Faculty of Theology, Diaconia and Leadership Studies, Centre of Mission and Global Studies. VID Specialized University, Stavanger Campus, Norway. Among her research interests are the following: Literacy, mission history, intercultural education, intercultural competence
FRIEDER LUDWIG
Frieder is professor at the Faculty of Theology, Diaconia and Leadership Studies at VID Specialized University, Campus Stavanger. His research interests are among the following: Intercultural History of Christianity, Interreligious Encounters and Religion and Migration. At VID, he is leading the project Connected Histories - Contested Values. World Lutheranism and Decolonisation: Processes of Transloyalties, 1919-1970 (CHCV).
FREDERIQUE BROSSARD BØRHAUG
Frederique is a professor at the Faculty of Theology, Diaconia and Leadership Studies, Centre of Mission and Global Studies. VID Specialized University, Stavanger Campus, Norway. Among her research interests are the following: intercultural education, anti-racist education, populism and pedagogics, biocultural diversity.
Gerd Marie is an associate professor emerita for religious studies at the Faculty of Theology, Diaconia and Leadership Studies, Centre of Mission and Global Studies. VID Specialized University, Stavanger Campus, Norway. Her research interests are among the following: Children and young people, Child soldiers, Christian-Muslim relations, Early Islamic history and theology, Local Islamic Institutions, Transmission of values and narratives in Muslim families.
Since 2022, she runs a private counseling project called “Ådnas Kultur- og Religionsveiledning”, especially in the counties of Rogaland and Viken, in Norway.
GERD MARIE ÅDNA
GEORGIOS TRANTAS
Georgios is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Theology, Diaconia and Leadership. His interdisciplinary expertise involves the interplay of religion and politics, the Politics of Religion and Cultural Diplomacy / International Relations. His research interests primarily comprise diasporas, displacement, migration and the formation of religioscapes, Eastern Orthodox Christianity, European Integration, forced displacement, interreligious dialogue and migrant integration, among others.
GUNHILD ODDEN
Gunhild is a research professor and vice-dean of research at VID Specialized University, Campus Stavanger. Her research interests are among the following: Migration and family, Migration and health, Transnational migration, Work migration. She is currently on leave as a member of the research group to attend to her duties as vice-dean of research at VID.
INGRID LØLAND
Ingrid is a lecturer at Faculty of Theology, Diaconia and Leadership Studies and a PhD candidate at VID Specialized University, Campus Stavanger. Her research interests are among the following: Asylum and refugee policy, Christianity and Judaism, Ethnicity and human rights, Ethnic relations, Identity and cultural complexity, Intercultural communication, Narrative research, Online pedagogy, Political Islam, Religion and Identity, Religion and Violent Conflict, Religion and migration, Religious encounters, Syria, The Hebrew Languages, The Middle East and North Africa.
INGVILD SKEIE
Ingvild is a PhD candidate at the Centreof Diaconia and Professional Practice at VID Specialized University, Campus Oslo. Her PhD project is called: Conflict management among immigrant couples in Norway
JASON VAN HASELEN
Jason is a PhD candidate at the Centre of Mission and Global Studies at VID Specialized University and Fjellhaug Internasjonale Høgskole. His PhD project is called: The Use of Migration Terminology in Theologies of Migration: A Descriptive and Critical Analysis
KARI STORSTEIN HAUG
Research group leader
Kari is a professor at the Faculty of Theology, Diaconia and Leadership Studies, Centre of Mission and Global Studies. VID Specialized University, Stavanger Campus, Norway. Among her research interests are the following: Migration Theology, Thai Christianity, Thai Buddhism, Religious Dialogue, Religious Education, Contextualization, Religion and Migration, Religious Encounters and Mission Theology.
JOSH DICKSTEIN
Josh is a master student in the Erasmus Mundus master’s program in migration and intercultural relations (EMMIR). He iscurrently writing his MA thesis as part of a larger research project titled “MAVI” (Between Ambitions and Reality) about the experiences of recently arrived refugees entering the Norwegian labour market at VID Specialized University.
Leonardo is a PhD candidate at the Centre of Mission and Global Studies at VID Specialized University, Campus Stavanger. His PhD project is called: The Word bids me go: biblical theologies of migration among Latin Evangelicals in the Nordic countries
LEONARDO MARCONDES ALVES
MARIANNE SKJORTNES
Marianne is professor emerita at VID Specialized University.
MATEUS SCHWEYHER
Mateus is a PhD candidate at the Centre of Diaconia and Professional Practice at VID Specilaized University, Campus Oslo. His PhD project is called: Social Exclusion among EU/EEA Migrants and the Role of Diaconal Institutions in Welfare Provision.
MELTEM YILMAZ SENER
Meltem is a senior researcher at the Central for Intercultural Communication (SIK), VID Specialized University. Before coming to SIK, she worked at Nord University as an associate professor and Istanbul Bilgi University as an assistant professor, in addition to holding visiting positions in the US and Norway. Her research interests are in the areas of migration, transnational studies, race and ethnic relations, development, social policy, and gender..
MEMORY JAYNE TEMBO-PANKUKU
Memory is an associate professor at the Faculty of Theology, Diaconia and Leadership Studies, Centre of Mission and Global Studies. VID Specialized University, Stavanger Campus, Norway. Among her research interests are the following: social work, child services, immigrant parents and child welfare services, refugee labour market integration.
Norma is a senior researcher at the Centre for Intercultural Communication (SIK) at VID Specialized University, Campus Stavanger. Her research interests are among the following: Civil Society Organizations, Intergration policy, refugee labour market integration, diversity and inclusivity in the labour market.
OLEKSANDR RYNDYK
Oleksandr is a researcher at the Centre for Intercultural Communication (SIK) at VID Specialized University, Campus Stavanger. His research interests are among the following: Comparative research, Family migration, Focus group, Grounded Theory, Integration, Qualitative methodologies, Quanitative research methods, Social media, Survey, The Welfare state, Transnationalism, Work migration.
ØYSTEIN LUND JOHANNESSEN
Øystein is research professor at the Centre for Intercultural Communication (SIK) at VID Specialized University, Campus Stavanger. His research interests are among the following: Action research, Education and Development, Intercultural Competence, Intercultural Education, Interreligious dialogue, KRLE, Religious education.
PAULO ROCHA
Paulo Rocha (Ph.D.) currently works as a researcher at the Centre for Intercultural Communication (SIK) at VID Specialized University in Stavanger, Norway. Among his research interests are the following: Civil society organizations, innovation in the public sector, interagency collaboration, policy analysis and legal analysis.
ØYVIND HADLAND
Øyvind is a PhD candidate at the Centre for Mission and Global Studies at VID Specialized University, Campus Stavanger. His PhD project is called: Continuing in Discontinuity? Theological enquiry and reflection on the role of Christianity in migration stories of Karen Baptists in Norway.
SIGNE AARVIK
Signe is a PhD candidate at the Centre for Mission and Global Studies at VID Specialized University, Campus Stavanger. Her PhD project is called: Negotiating Islam – A qualitative study of beliefs and meaning making among young second generation Muslims in Norway
STIAN SØRLIE ERIKSEN
Stian is an associate professor at the Faculty of Theology, Diaconia and Leadership Studies, Centre of Mission and Global Studies. VID Specialized University, Stavanger Campus, Norway. Among his research interests are the following: Christianity and Globalisation, Migration, Pentecostalism, The Theology of Missions, Migrant Churches.
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SZONJA ZOLTANFI
Born and raised in Budapest, moved to Norway in 2020, specializes in intercultural psychology and community development.
Szonja is a PhD candidate at the Centre for Mission and Global Studies at VID Specialized University, Campus Stavanger.
Her PhD project is called: Long-distance families scattered in the transnational space: social roles, aspirations and everyday practices of Thai migrant women in Norway. Her main interests are family structures and values, intercultural relations, migration, religious beliefs and tradition. She wrote her MA thesis focusing on first and second generation Muslim migrants’ family narratives, life strategies and integration processes in Norway
TOMAS SUNDES DRØNEN
Tomas is a professor at the Faculty of Theology, Diaconia and Leadership Studies, Centre of Mission and Global Studies. VID Specialized University, Stavanger Campus, Norway. He is also the Dean of the faculty. Among his research interests are the following: African religions, Christianity and globalization, Intercultural communication, Globalization and Mission history.
TURID MISJE
Turid is a PhD candidate at the
Centre of Diaconia and Professional Practice at VID Specialized University, Campus Oslo. Her PhD project is called: Meetings on the margins – Irregular migrants and 'regular' social workers
ZUBIA WILLMANN ROBLEDA
Zubia Willmann-Robleda (Ph.D.) currently works as a researcher at the Centre for Intercultural Communication (SIK) at VID Specialized University in Stavanger, Norway. She conducts research on topics related to asylum seekers and the asylum system, refugee integration policy in Norway, in particular looking at gender issues. More recently she is focusing on the securitisation of the EU borders and its effect on migrants. She also teaches and supervises bachelor's and master's students in intercultural competence, migration and religion, academic writing, and qualitative methods, among other things.
