Three women to become honorary doctors at the Faculty of Arts

Anna Lena Ringarp (b. 1949) works at Sveriges Radio, Sweden’s national public service broadcasting company, and has been the editor/host of the weekly radio show Språket since 1998. The show, focusing on language issues, airs on the Swedish national channel P1 and has about 250 000 listeners. On the show, Ringarp shares her deep knowledge on language issues in response to the public’s interest in the topic. Ringarp has over the years enabled many language researchers at the University of Gothenburg, including many PhD students and new PhDs, to introduce themselves to a broad audience. Her work has earned her a number of awards, for example Johannapengen by Gothenburg journalists in 2008 and publisher Natur och Kultur’s Culture Prize in 2009 (together with Lars-Gunnar Andersson and Fredrik Lindström). Ringarp has actively contributed to raise and maintain the Swedish public’s interest in language issues.

Emma Martinell de Sagi (b. 1949), a professor of Spanish at University of Barcelona, is a distinguished and well-known researcher in Spanish and Catalan linguistics who lectures frequently not only in Europe but all over the world. She is a leading initiator of international language conferences, and her caring for students has been witnessed by many, including students at various levels at the University of Gothenburg. Emma Martinell de Sagi has visited Gothenburg many times, and has given guest lectures and a postgraduate course at the university. She has also been very important for the teaching of Swedish at Barcelona.

bell hooks (Gloria Jean Watkins, b. 1952) is a US author, feminist and political activist. She is known for having contributed to the creation of the cross-disciplinary subject Gender Studies through teaching and research in the context of contemporary problems and opportunities. One of hooks’ main ideas is the necessity of “talking back” to the dominant culture, which tends to be sexist, racist, middle-class and homophobic. She has published about 30 books on subjects ranging from culture criticism to pedagogy. In recent years, her focus has been on sustainable and democratic societies. bell hooks serves as a great source of inspiration to our researchers and students studying cultural science.