I am originally from Norway, now living in Oxford, UK, and doing my PhD in Exeter and fieldwork in Norway and Sudan! With my PhD on music and conflict transformation I am combining my interest in social and political issues with my interest in music: In the past I have worked as a music journalist, radio presenter/producer and occasional freelance researcher on music related matters.

Some of my past projects include:

• Med Music on the Move (1995): I conceived and developed this project about the music of immigrants from Mediterranean countries inside the EU. I received 60,000 pounds funding from the EU and BBC World Service and worked with freelance journalists in Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey, Germany, Holland and France during my initial research and then drew up briefings for the other journalist. The non-EU journalists then worked with EU journalists inside the EU to do interviews and research the music since the start of the immigration. After several months we had hundreds of hours of music, 50 interviews, material from articles and books which resulted in 3 hours of programmes for the BBC World Service and various Turkish, Tunisian, Italian, German and Dutch radio stations.
  Final presentation of the project was made to World Music Expo in Brussels, October 1995, and I was particularly pleased that the project resulted in more co-operations: A German professor was invited to lecture on Turkish music in Germany at the University of Istanbul and the Moroccan journalist worked with the Dutch radio station.
• Music journalism: Between 1986 and 1990 I worked on a couple of local radio station in Norway, presenting whatever weird and wonderful music I happened to like at the moment. I also contributed programmes to NRK (Norwegian national radio) and wrote for Puls (a Norwegian music paper) and Morgenbladet (Norwegian newspaper). Some of this you can find here on this site.
  
  
• Underground music in Eastern Europe: As a special project I undertook an eight week trip through Eastern Europe in 1988 to research and interview musicians for NRK. 150 hours of music and 30 hours of interviews resulted in three 1 hour programmes as well as a series of articles in Puls.
  
  
• Cassette music: Previously I also travelled through Western Europe for 4 weeks in 1986, researching underground "cassette music" for Puls, resulting in 6 articles on this phenomenon, and I also created my own network of contacts in over 70 countries to exchange music with. Ah, those were the days, no Internet, just the mail services.
  
  
• Computer programming: Once I arrived in the UK I started working as a computer programmer and set up my own software company in 1992 to develop software (and later web sites) for companies in the UK and abroad. In these years a number of computer programs were specified, designed and written for broadcasting industry and NGOs.
  
  
• Academic journals: In 2006/7 I took the initiative to start Music and Arts in Action, a peer reviewed, cross disciplinary journal focusing on the activerole of music and arts in everyday life. I've also been involved in the JournalServer project from 2001 to 2003, donating time to write the backend software for this freeware project initiated at Oxford University. It aims to assist good quality scholarly journals from low and middle-income countries to be online free of cost, and to promote the use of these journals by the international community, so why not check them out.
  
  
• United Nations Association: Member for many years of United Nations Association (Oxford branch) - Development officer 1998 - 2002, where I tried to promote UN to local schools and other groups in Oxford via talks and networking.
  
  
• Public speaking: I've been a member of the Bardwell Speakers Club here in Oxford since 1996, and enjoy the skills I've learned there.
  
  Miscellaneous: Have worked as a glazier, came second in the Norwegian Championship in Air Guitar in 1986 (or 87... too long ago to remember) and once saw the faces of The Residents.