Mathias Nygaard

"Etenim omnes artes, quae ad humanitatem pertinent, habent quoddam commune vinculum, et quasi cognatione quadam inter se continentur."

"Indeed, all the sciences which pertain to the human have a certain common bond, and are, as it were, united by a kind of kinship among themselves."

Cicero, Pro Archia, 1.2.

At Volda University College, I teach religious studies, philosophy, and social theory.

In my research, I am particularly interested in human self-representation and self-understanding as they are expressed in religious contexts. I have carried out projects in cultural history, intellectual history, anthropology, and philology. Currently, I am working on several projects on rituals, materiality, and embodied practices. I am especially interested in mimetic processes - that is, how imitation and emotions shape community, identity, and also conflict. In addition, my broader interests include themes such as sacrifice, myths, exstasy, death, and technology.

I invite potential coandidates to get in touch to discuss possible projects within the framework of Volda University College's two Phd programs (Education, Language and Culture, and Health and Social Sciences.

Work Experience

2024- Professor, Volda University College, Norway.

2023 Associate Professor, Volda University College, Norway.

2018-2023 Associate Professor and Research Dean, The Newman Institute, Uppsala, Sweden.

2016-2017 Associate Professor (temporary), Volda University College.

2012-2014 Visiting Researcher (Comparative Philosophy), Kobe University, Japan.

2007-2008 Visiting Researcher (Ancient Religions of the Middle East), University of Tübingen, Germany.

Various temporary positions at OsloMet, Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, etc. (2010-2018).

Experience as peer-reviewer, external examiner, translator, member of academic societies, board member, etc. (2010-)

Education

2018- Sociology, psychology, Uppsala University, Linnæus University.

2005-2010 PhD in Religious Studies, University of Aberdeen.

2008- Languages, Kobe University, Uppsala University, Dalarna University (Japanese, Chinese, Hebrew, Arabic, Ugaritic, Akkadian, Greek, Latin, Georgian, German, etc.).

2006-2007 MA in Archaeology, École Biblique et Archéologique Française de Jérusalem.

2004-2005 MTh in Religious Studies, University of Aberdeen.

Early representations of the human, masks from Nahal Hemar, 7000 bce.