About the project

The project illuminated how portrayals of gender intersect with interpretations of cultural and ethnic diversity and variation. By examining how this has changed over time and where we stand today, we aimed to:

  • Map out how gender and diversity have been presented in both scholarly and popular representations.
  • Contribute to increased awareness of how we depict gender and diversity today. In this way, we could contribute to more balanced and alternative narratives grounded in empirical material from different periods in the Nordic past. The goal was to create narratives of the past that resonate with a wider audience.

Inspired by critical perspectives on cultural heritage, gender theory, and queer theory, we explored how gender and diversity manifested in various types of representations of the Nordic past and to what extent these portrayals nourished contemporary Nordic identities.

In line with intersectional approaches and in response to current debates on demographic changes and multiculturalism, we emphasized that gender operates in conjunction with other identity-shaping categories.

This interdisciplinary project was anchored in archaeology, with collaborators from museology, theology, history, critical heritage studies, art history, and interdisciplinary gender studies.

Duration?

1. January 2021?–?30.?November 2023?

Cooperation

  • Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History (UiO)
  • Museum of Cultural History (UiO)
  • The Faculty of Theology (UiO)
  • Centre for Gender Research (UiO)

Financing

The research project was financed by UiO:Nordic, The University of Oslo.