Rita Abrahamsen

Professor Rita Abrahamsen joins the Hayseed Scholar podcast. Rita grew up on a small island off the coast of Southern Norway. She was a good student, very interested in the world with parents who had been the Merchant Marines, and a father who had served during World War II. She talks about the subjects she enjoyed in school, the decision to go to university and pursue journalism, and her career in journalism, especially radio, working including serving as an anchor for the Norwegian Broadcasting Company. Her purpose in graduate school was to get more training to become a foreign correspondent, but at Swansea she pursued a PhD with training in both African politics and International Relations. She tried out the market, and after a few interviews, landed a Lecturer position at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth. She reflects upon those years at Aber and its dynamic intellectual environment, the British academy, and her rapidly expanding research profile throughout that time. She concludes by talking about her move to Canada and helping build out the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at Ottawa, her approach to writing, what she does to recharge (and how she's hoping to get back to running), and more!