Professor of the Study of Religions, Bergen University
I focus on wilderness mythologies, the environmental humanities and the role of religion and myth; radical religion and extremism, especially the role of emotions and narratives; the aesthetics of religion and the role of material media and emotionality; the formative power of religious narratives in general; the fantastic and fantasy; monsters and the monstrous in the history of religions.
Empirically, I have expertise in religion in contemporary popular culture and media, especially fantasy literature and film/tv adaptations (Harry Potter and more); religion in ancient Mesopotamia, the Hebrew Bible and ancient forms of Judaism, ancient forms of Christianity.
I have philological competence in Sumerian, Akkadian, Hebrew, koine Greek and Latin and work on the sources in the original languages.
I have broad teaching experience in the Study of Religion, both in terms of focused courses on specific religions within my expertise, but also a wide range of thematic courses. I enjoy teaching and supervising students. I currently supervise four PhD-students: Milad Bahadori, Bouchra Mossmann, Chris Madsen Stie, and Tamara Holkenov.
