Meet the first new employees to join us in 2017: Jorunn Skodje and Ragnhild Grønning. They started as full-time research assistants in early January.
– What drew you to ARENA?
Jorunn: – For me, it was about returning to my field. I have an MA in European studies at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), so ARENA is a perfect fit. And I like working with language and text. I worked in the private sector for a while, but it is good to be back where people share my interests – where people talk European politics in the hallway.
Ragnhild: I did an MA in International Affairs at George Washington University (GWU). But I did my bachelor’s here at UiO and heard about ARENA already back then. I want to work in research later, maybe do a PhD. This makes ARENA a good place to work.
– Tell me about something you did before you started here?
Ragnhild: – At GWU, I wrote my master thesis about Arctic security policy. I found that there was little interest in cooperation in this field, and this has changed after the Ukraine crisis: Before 2014, the Norwegian and Russian military in the Barents region met several times a year – but nobody is interested in that today. Someone I interviewed at the Russian embassy in D.C. told me “why should we cooperate about security in the arctic? It’s not like there’s going to be a war there anyway”.
Jorunn: – As a part of my master’s degree, I worked as a trainee at the Mid-Norway European Office in Brussels in 2014. It was inspiring to work there as I had worked a lot with multi-level governance and Europeanisation during my studies. It’s exciting to see how the regions work “under the radar”, and that it is pretty depoliticised. Working at the regional office showed me that the EU is more than Brexit.
– Finally, what do you like to do when you’re not at work?
Ragnhild: – I like to work out. Anything will do, as long as I get really exhausted.
Jorunn: – I like to go to concerts, see movies. I dance salsa and tango. And I like to travel – preferably in Europe.
Welcome to ARENA, both of you!