This interview is translated by UiOGPT
What are you currently preoccupied with?
Right now, there are several things that need to be finalized in connection with SAI's sixtieth anniversary at Domus Bibliotheca on September 5th. There are many moving parts and minor and major matters that need sorting out - with participation from alumni from most of the decades, as well as exciting contributions from our own faculty members and a couple of guests of honor.
And then there will be a party. Rumor has it that Antroband has found together again, ten years after their last performance!
If you had to explain to an eight-year-old what you do at work in three short sentences, what would you say?
I try to understand why we humans think it's best to live together rather than just being on our own; then I'm a teacher for many who also wish to understand the same thing; and then I'm a boss for some people who are better than me at understanding what I'm trying to understand.
What motivates you at work?
My greatest joy in life is a successful lecture. But as head of SAI, there are fewer opportunities to give them, so now it's the little things that count - like pointing out an opportunity a staff member didn't know existed. Because the sum of many such moments constitutes the magic in a collaborative work community.
If you were to become something completely different, what could it be?
I have had many different jobs, and I've actually liked everything I've done - but the couple of years I worked a lot with music were perhaps the ones that I enjoyed the most.
But talent and perseverance probably leave too much to be desired, and I also have a teaching degree through PPU, so that is probably what I would otherwise have done, and might do when my time as department head is over.
What do you do when you completely disconnect?
I play soccer, am member of a book club and sing in Vålerenga Mannskor. All of these offer a full disconnect from work, and they are all wonderful in their own way.
That they also involve interaction exclusively with men (except for the choir conductor), should pass without further comment.