Reinert Vikjord Skumsnes

Research profile
Reinert Skumsnes is Postdoctoral fellow at the Centre for Gender Research, University of Oslo. He is trained as a teacher and historian, but specialise in interdisciplinary research, between egyptology, feminist and anthropological theory. He also works as a field archaeologist at the site Tell el-Amarna, in Middle Egypt. Skumsnes is co-chair of the Nordic Association of Feminist and Gender Research and deputy chair of the Norwegian Association of Gender Research.
Skumsnes’ research focuses on social history, through the lens of family and gender, with New Kingdom Egypt (1500-1000 BCE) as his speciality. He has a particular eye to alternative practices as manifest in the manifold often contradicting expressions of family and gender, from the highly normative monumental remains to the more ephemeral non-literary texts; but also theoretical and methodological questions beyond the scope of New Kingdom Egypt. He is concerned with relational encounters, between spatially and temporally fractal positions, perspectives and records. This includes the significance of material, genre, purpose and context of specific records; the selection of records; as well as the questions and perspectives of the interpreter.
Skumsnes currently holds a 3-year international mobility grant from the Research council of Norway, for the Postdoctoral project Egyptology, feminist theory and alternative worlds: Body/sex/gender in New Kingdom Egypt, and their affective environments. This project is a continuation of his PhD, but with intensified attention to the interdisciplinary potential between egyptology and feminist theory, between the body/sex/gender divide (present theory) and the empirical material (past practice).
Media
- Et glimrende utgangspunkt (Comment on the exhibition Emotions in Antiquity and Ancient Egypt)
- Kva er kjønnsperspektiv i egyptologi? [What is a gender perspective in Egyptology?]
- Kjønnsforskerne er kritiske til stortingsmeldingen [Gender researchers are critical to government report]
- Forsker på kjønnsroller i det gamle Egypt [Studies gender (roles) in ancient Egypt]
- Det gamle Egypt vaknar til liv [Ancient Egypt comes to life]
- Myta om det gamle Egypt [The myth about ancient Egypt]
Teaching experience
- KFL1010 – Innføring i tverrfaglige kjønnsstudier [Introduction to gender studies]
- KFL1020 – Kjønn og vitenskap: Teorier om kjønn [Gender and science: Theories about gender]
Background
- Postdoctoral fellow, University of Oslo, 2020-2023
- Senior Executive Officer, University of Oslo, 2018-2020
- PhD in Gender/Cultural Studies/Egyptology, University of Oslo, 2014-2018
- Post-graduate qualifications in Egyptology, The American University in Cairo, 2009, 2011
- Master of Arts in History/Egyptology, University of Bergen, 2007-2009
- Bachelor of Arts in History and Culture, University of Bergen, 2005-2007
- Advanced degree in Teaching, Stord/Haugesund University College, 2002-2005
Committees and Memberships
- Nordic Association of Feminist and Gender Research, Co-chair
- Forening for kjønnsforskning i Norge [Norwegian Association of Gender Research], Deputy chair
- International Association of Egyptologists, Member
- Egypt Exploration Society, Member
- American Research Center in Egypt, Member
- Norsk Egyptologisk Selskap [Norwegian Society of Egyptologists], Chairman 2010-2019
- Kilden kjønnsforskning.no, Interim council member 2018
- Centre for Gender Research (University of Oslo), Board Member 2014-2016
Publications
- Skumsnes, Reinert Vikjord (2020). Patterns of change and disclosures of difference: the feminine element as medium of transformation in New Kingdom tomb representations, In Ingvar B. Mæhle; Per Bjarne Ravnå & Eivind Heldaas Seland (ed.), Methods and models in ancient history. Essays in honor of Jørgen Christian Meyer. Norwegian Institute at Athens. ISBN 9786188490307. 7. s 111 - 127
- Skumsnes, Reinert Vikjord (2019). Kvindesymbolik i thebanske privatgrave. Papyrus Tidsskrift for Dansk Ægyptologisk Selskab. ISSN 0903-4714. 39(1), s 24- 31
- Skumsnes, Reinert (2015). Frå sorg til fest : musikk og ritual i det gamle Egypt. Arr - Idéhistorisk tidsskrift. ISSN 0802-7005. 27(1), s 51- 61 Full text in Research Archive.
- Skumsnes, Reinert & Bettum, Anders (2015). Solas rike - ikkje berre palass og tempel. Nicolay: Arkeologisk tidsskrift. ISSN 0332-8937. 127, s 17- 39 Full text in Research Archive.
- Skumsnes, Reinert (2014). Familien i det gamle Egypt. Arr - Idéhistorisk tidsskrift. ISSN 0802-7005. (2), s 3- 11 Full text in Research Archive.
- Skumsnes, Reinert (2013). Kongelige kvinner og kongemakt under Det gamle riket. Ostrakon. ISSN 1893-5303. 5-6, s 13- 28
- Skumsnes, Reinert (2011). Adopsjon, arv og testamente i Deir el-Medina. Ostrakon. ISSN 1893-5303. 3, s 25- 31
- Skumsnes, Reinert (2010). Kjønnsroller i det gamle Egypt. Fortid. ISSN 1504-1913. 1, s 75- 79
- Holter, Øystein Gullvåg & Skumsnes, Reinert Vikjord (red.) (2020). Holter, Øystein Gullvåg 2020: Generasjonsskiftet i kjønnsforskningen fortsetter med Øystein Gullvåg Holter som nyslått emeritus (intervju ved Reinert Skumsnes). STK/UiO 25.3.20. Jfr https://www.stk.uio.no/forskning/aktuelt/aktuelle-saker/2020/oystein-gullvag-holter-er-blitt-professor-emeritus.html.
- Skumsnes, Reinert Vikjord (2018). Patterns of change and disclosures of difference. Family and gender in New Kingdom Egypt: titles of non-royal women. Show summary
- Skumsnes, Reinert (2014). Det gamle Egypt vaknar til liv. Aftenposten Vitenskap. ISSN 2464-3033.
- Skumsnes, Reinert (2014). Myta om det gamle Egypt. Aftenposten Vitenskap. ISSN 2464-3033. . doi: http://www.aftenposten.no/viten/Myta-om-det-gamle-Egypt-7833325.html
- Skumsnes, Reinert (2010). Kleopatra - dronning over alle kongar. Levende Historie. ISSN 1503-4208. 3, s 20- 29
- Skumsnes, Reinert (2009). Kvinner i det gamle Egypt: Ein komparativ studie.