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 and critical (feminist/philosophical/anthropological) theory. He has also worked as an archivist and field archaeologist for Ancient Egypt Research Associates and the Amarna Project. Skumsnes has been chairman of the Norwegian Society of Egyptologists, co-chairman of the Nordic Association of Feminist and Gender Research and deputy chairman of the Norwegian Association for 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
- Kvinnedagen er fortsatt viktig [The international women's day is still important]
- 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