Surmatz received her PhD in 1997 at the University of Göttingen with a thesis on translations of Pippi Longstocking (’Pippi Långstrump’). She has published a large number of research articles and books on children’s literature, postcolonialism, Ibsen, Lindgren and Linnaeus – her other great research interest.
Surmatz has been a member of the jury for the German Youth Literature State Prize and has been elected Fellow of the Linnean Society in London.
During her period as guest professor at Växjö University Surmatz hopes to be able to combine her two major research interests – Astrid Lindgren and Carl Linnaeus.
–Astrid Lindgren is well known for her intense nature descriptions. Her way of describing and weaving nature into her stories is deeply rooted in the Swedish tradition of painting the landscape, a tradition known for its intense nature descriptions, which may be traced all the way back to Linnaeus’s travel accounts. By bringing these two worlds together – those of Lindgren and Linnaeus – and making them reflect on each other, I hope to understand this genuinely open way of drawing nature and the way it appeals to and overwhelms us readers, Astrid Surmatz writes in her application.
The guest professorship is financed by Vimmerby Municipality, Save the Children Sweden and Växjö University. The position, which may be extended to comprise a whole year, can be held by internationally prominent scholars in different fields that are in some respect related to Astrid Lindgren’s life and work.
For more information, please contact Anders Åberg, dean, School of humanities, telephone: +46-470-70 89 04, e-mail address: anders.aberg@vxu.se or Kerstin Brodén, research information officer, Växjö University, telephone: 046-(0)470-70 82 67, e-mail address: kerstin.broden@vxu.se.
13 December, 2005 - Växjö universitet, från 2010 en del av Linnéuniversitetet
The EU has a good capacity to deal with crises. Judicially, the Union is well equipped to cope with crises and move on. This was shown during the Austria crisis in 2000. But a well-functioning legal framework is not always enough. To bring about a change it is also necessary to have words backed up by political will.
5 September, 2005 - Växjö universitet, från 2010 en del av Linnéuniversitetet
Savings and consumption decisions will be more efficient if households have the opportunity to borrow and save as they wish. This in turn would lead to more consumption, and therefore overall growth. The accuracy of this prediction is clearly borne out by developments in Sweden from 1980 to 2000, which is shown in Mårten Bjellerup’s dissertation Essays on Consumption: Aggregation, Asymmetry, and Asset Distributions.
14 June, 2005 - Växjö universitet, från 2010 en del av Linnéuniversitetet
Absenteeism for sickness is exceptionally high in Sweden, in both historical and international comparisons. Several studies have already been carried out in the field, but many pieces of the puzzle are still missing. In a new dissertation from Växjö University, the economist Maria Nilsson examines some fundamental mechanisms behind this absenteeism.
Expertsvar, The Swedish Research Council, Hantverkargatan 11B, Stockholm SWEDENPhone +46(0)8 546 44 000
P.O. Box 1035, SE-101 38 Stockholm, expertsvar@vr.se
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