Academic interests
Historical sociolinguistics, multilingualism, language variation and change, language contact, English, Norwegian and other Germanic languages.
Background
I am a Doctoral Research Fellow in English historical linguistics at the Department of Literature, Area Studies and European Languages, University of Oslo. I have a bachelor's degree in Scandinavian studies and English and American studies from the University of Greifswald, Germany, and a master's degree in Scandinavian linguistics from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. In my master's thesis, I examined the multilingual practices of the Schleswigian immigrant Herman Hoë and his family in Trondheim, Norway, during the eighteenth and nineteenth century.
I am currently the first deputy representative for temporary academic staff at the faculty board at the Faculty of Humanities.
Dissertation project
My dissertation project explores the linguistic practices in the private writings of the Scottish emigrant to America, Mary Ann (Wodrow) Archbald (1762–1841). Her journals, letter books and a handful of original letters that document her language use for more than 40 years, both prior to and following emigration, form the starting point for an investigation of longitudinal intra-writer variation within the framework of a language history ‘from below’. More specifically, I investigate how Archbald's use of the modal verbs shall and will, levelled preterite and past participle forms, strong preterite forms, verbal -s for all persons and -ED verb forms vary over time and in relation to contemporary efforts to standardize written English on both sides of the Atlantic.
Courses taught
Between autumn 2019 and spring 2020, I contributed to the following courses at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology:
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NORD1001 – Introduction to Scandinavian language and literature
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NORD2316 – Norwegian as a second language: A sociolinguistic perspective
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NORD6012 – Multilingualism and literary cultural encounters 1
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NORD6013 – Multilingualism and literary cultural encounters 2
At the University of Oslo, I contribute to the following courses:
Positions of trust
- 2023 Deputy representative of temporary academic staff at the Faculty Board (Faculty of Humanities)
- 2022 Deputy representative of temporary academic staff at the Department Board (ILOS)
- 2021 Representative of temporary academic staff at the Department Board (ILOS)
Positions held
- July 2020: Independent contractor, Harvard Business School, Harvard University, United States of America. – Transcription and archival research services in Norway for professor Sophus A. Reinert.
- 2019–2020: Research assistant, Norwegian University of Science and Technology.
Workshop Organization
- 2023: The (polite) letter writer in Late Modern English Times. University of Lausanne, Switzerland, and University of Oslo, Norway. Speakers: Arja Nurmi, Tino Oudesluijs, Erik Smitterberg, and Ingrid Tieken-Boon van Ostade. May 8, 2023. Organizer.
- 2022: Varieties of Scots in Late Modern Times. University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway. Speakers: Christine Elsweiler, Joanna Kopaczyk, Derrick McClure, and Jeremy Smith. June 7 and 8, 2022. Lead organizer.
- 2021: Migrant Ego-Documents in Late Modern English. University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway. Speakers: Anita Auer, Marina Dossena, Raymond Hickey, and Robert McColl Millar. May 10, 2021. Lead organizer.