Finn Sivert Nielsen Anthropologist
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Teaching – Home My courses Order a course

What do I teach?

Writing courses

Writing courses in various formats can be arranged, from a 45-minute introduction or a 90-minute online lecture (contact me for details and fees), to intensive immersals over several days or full-semester courses with intensive individual follow-up. Documentation for an intensive writing course I taught along with my colleague Henrik Sinding-Larsen back in 1989 may be seen here.

One-shot seminars and lectures

I can give short, introductory courses on just about any theme within the field of socio-cultural anthropology, including practical mini-courses on participant observation and anthropological field methods. A (somewhat edited) manuscript of a lecture for high school students on the theme "What is identity?" may be read here.

Regionally, I cover the former Soviet Union, Russia, and much of the postsocialist region in East and Central Europe – mostly from anthropological, sociological and historical perspectives.

Intensive and longer-term courses

Intensive courses may be held over a period of several days, with course-work going on for a maximum of 8 hours a day (with alternating seminars, lectures, group assignments and student presentations). They have the advantage of total immersal: they are quick and engaging.

Longer-term courses are typically spread over weeks or months, with attendance once or twice a week for an hour or two. They have the advantage of immersal over time, giving students the opportunity to think things through and ask questions.

Various kinds of combinations of these two basic forms are also possible, e.g. with three short, intensive sessions spread out over a semester. Documentation for the most complex course I have taught (designed by Michael A. Whyte) may be seen here.


Fees

Teaching fees are of two kinds: The fee for actual lecturing, participation in seminars, etc., and the fee for preparing the course. The more complex the course, the more preparation is required.

Normally, I figure my teaching fees in real hours worked, irrespective of whether the hours are used on preparation or actual course work. My hourly fee is at present 450 NOK. In the case of complicated courses, we may, instead of hourly payment, want to agree on a flat rate.

NB! In case an agreed-on project is aborted by you, I will bill you for any hours used on preparation.


To order a course

If you want to discuss a teaching job with me, send me an email describing your project briefly (theme, purpose of the course, audience, format, budgetary limitations). I'll respond with a plan for what might be done within this framework, which you must then approve. Complex projects may involve more extensive consultations about terms and means before they are agreed on.