Education

Växjö University:

PhD Degree in Sociology, 2008
Licentiate Degree in Sociology, 2004.

Umeå University:
M.A. in Sociology, 1997.
B.A. in Sociology, 1996.

Research Interests

Cultural Sociology, Youth Culture, Sociology of the arts, Artistic Careers, Educational Practices, Cultural Policy Research, Performance Theory, Pierre Bourdieu Studies, Durkheimian Studies, Ethnography.

Research projects

My research explores the interface between youth identity and theatre, including making theatre for young people and their reception of it, and making sense and identity out of theatre performance. This is done with inspiration from cultural studies, Bourdieuian analytical approach, and performance theory, as well as within a critical cultural policy perspective. The research is based on a both intensive and extensive field research, including a large amount of interviews with theatre personnel and young spectators, as well as participant observations of performances. As to the results, there seems to be serious discrepancies between the theatre makers' intentions, the sense making in the young audience and general cultural policy aims involved. The internal logic of the making of theatre creates sometimes de-fused performances in relation to the young audience and with reference to class, gender and lived experiences. Furthermore, the school system as the social space for the encounter between theatre and youth has ramifications and performative consequences, often not intended or foreseen. There is an interesting cultural dynamic between the front stage and back stage of this encounter between youth theatre and young people.

The making of theatre in a Swedish context is part of a cultural policy, alongside the European Union's cultural program, that stresses encouragement of cultural diversity and specific cultural efforts for young people as well as a broadening of cultural participation concerning social classes. Culture is acknowledged as an important factor for social integration and citizenship. The Swedish cultural policy has several points in common with the cultural program of the European Union. However, what is characteristic for the cultural policies of the Nordic countries is that they originate in a welfare state that attempts to achieve social equality and is corporativistic compared with continental Europe's cultural policies where, among other things, market ideology is the focus. Sweden has a nationalized cultural policy, characterized by a decentralized ‘model' in which information and democracy have been important guiding principles. National policy makers have considered it their responsibility to ensure that the population has opportunities to participate in professional, aesthetic activities and expressions. Essentially, Swedish cultural policy is a part of the welfare state since cultural participation and cultural consumption have been considered human rights and conducive to individual self-development. That the model of cultural policy has been decentralized in Sweden means that the regional level has been significant in the development of cultural policies in practice.

Between 2001- and 2003 I took part in a National commission concerning theatre for children and young people. A research project was established between the Regional Theatre in Växjö, Regionteatern Blekinge Kronoberg, and the Centre for Cultural Research at Växjö University. The aim of this project was to shed light upon the role of the staging process and its artistic achievements as well as its meaning for young audiences. My contribution to this project was as a research coordinator for the Centre for Cultural Research and as an ethnographer. The ethnographical study resulted in a licentiate's dissertation, with the title Staging and reception. On youth theatre and its encounter with young audiences.

During several years the Centre for Cultural Research has in collaboration with the Regional Theatre made children- and youth theatre their research field. Different aspects of the theatre's work have been analyzed, such as artistic visions, practical limitations, the meeting with audiences, and the role of the school system when it comes to integration of professional theatre in the curriculum.

One of my first positions as a sociologist was in Växjö where I 1997-1999 was employed as a research assistant at the Centre for Cultural Research, Växjö University. During my time as a research assistant I engaged in two different research projects concerned with young people and social change and cultural policy questions. These projects resulted in a research report, an article and a book chapter.

Administrative Positions and Editorships

•  Coordinator for the weekly research seminar in sociology where resident students and scholars participate and present their own research projects, autumn 2005.
•  Representative in the Committee for Internationalisation of undergraduate- and graduate studies and teacher exchanges at the department for Social Sciences, autumn 2005.
•  Coordinator for a research project concerning theatre for children and young people, Centre for Cultural Research 2001-2003.
•  Reviewer of manuscripts for Sociologisk Forskning (the official journal of the Swedish Sociological Association).
•  Member of the Swedish network: Advanced Cultural Studies Institute of Sweden (ACSIS).

International Experience

•  Visiting Scholar at the Centre for Cultural Sociology, Yale University, USA. Postgraduate research scholarship by STINT (the Swedish Foundation for International Cooperation in Research and Higher Education): September 2004 - December 2004.
•  Visiting Scholar at the Department of Social Science, University of Glamorgan, Wales, financed by the University of Växjö: April 2001 – June 2001.
•  Between 1999 and 2000 I participated in a European cooperative project (“Tempus”) financed by the EU, between the University of Glamorgan, Wales and the University of Lodz, Poland and the University of Växjö with the aim of writing course literature for undergraduate students.

Teaching Experience

•  Teacher and coordinator of courses on a part time basis within my postgraduate post at Växjö University, from the autumn of 2000 and ongoing, in sociology and cultural sociology.
•  Guest lecture within subjects as: Ethnicity research, high culture and popular culture, youth culture, youth theatre, cultural sociology, ethnography, interview methods and qualitative method.
•  Tutor of papers and essays on different academic levels in Sociology.

Publications

Lund, Anna (2008). Mellan scen och salong. En kultursociologisk studie av ungdomsteater. (Stage-Audience Encounter. A cultural sociological analysis of youth theatre). Arkiv förlag, Lund. Written in Swedish with a summary in English.

Lund, A. 2004. Iscensättningar och upplevelser. Om barn- och ungdomsteater och dess möte med ung publik [Staging and reception. On youth theatre and its encounter with young audiences]. University of Växjö, licentiate thesis.

Hjorth, M. and Lund, A. 2001. "At the theatre one should not laugh hysterically" - a cultural analysis of theatre for young people in Beynon, eds. 2001. Civilisation of Integrated Europe: Studies in Cultural perspectives. Lódz: Lódz University Press.

Lund, A. 2001. The practice of cultural analysis in Beynon, eds. 2001. Civilisation of Integrated Europe: Studies in Cultural perspectives. Lódz: Lódz University Press.

Lund, A. and Ramsby, F. 2001. “Det finns ju givetvis någon där som har kapacitet.” Om arbetsförmedlingen som ”dörrvakt eller ”dörröppnare” [”There is of course somebody there with capacity” – About the employment agency as “doorkeeper” or “dooropener”] in Trondman, M. and Bunar, N. 2001. Varken ung eller vuxen [ Neither young nor adult ] . Stockholm: Atlas.

Lund, A. 1999. ”Att lyckas när man misslyckas - Ungdomsteatern, skolan och publiken” in Kritiskt utbildningstidskrift (KRUT) . [”Succeeding when failing – Youth theatre, school and audience” in Critical journal of education] Nummer 95 (3/99).

Hjorth, M. och Lund, A. 1999 . Fostran till kulturkonsument? Ungdomars möte med en teaterföreställning. [Education to culture consumer? Young people´s encounter with a theatre performance . ] Centre for cultural research, University of Växjö, Report no 3, 1999.

Lund, A., Ramsby, F. och Waara, P. 1997. Språkskola och kulturell identitet – utvärdering av ett försök med integrerade skolklasser inom grundskolan i Haparanda kommun . [Language school and cultural identity – evaluation of an experiment with integrated school classes within the nine-year compulsory school in the city of Haparanda.] Report. The National Agency for Education.

Conferences and seminars

“Performing performances: watching meaning making in youth
theatre”. International Institute of Sociology, Stockholm, 2005.

“The Rebirth of the Museum – ambivalenser och dilemman.” [“The Rebirth of the Museum – ambivalences and dilemmas.”], Advanced Cultural Studies Institute of Sweden, Tema Q, Linköping University, Campus Norrköping, 2005.

“Like a Christian in a Lion's Den”. Workshop in Cultural Sociology under the guidance of professor Jeffrey C. Alexander, Yale University, 2004.

”Ungdomspubliken och ungdomsteatern”. [” The youth audience and the youth theatre” ] . A nnual meeting of the Swedish Sociological Association, Stockholm University, 2004.

“Skolan som medium för kulturpåverkan”. [ “The School as a medium for cultural influence” ] . A nnual meeting of the Swedish Sociological Association, Örebro University, 2003.

Participation during a Discussion Conference on the subject “The value of theatre”, Department of Theatre Science, Stockholm University , 2002 .

“Skolan som filter för teaterupplevelser”. [“The School as Filter for Theatre Experiences”]. Conference on Youth, Theatre and Cultural Production, University of Trondheim, Norway, 2002.

“One shouldn't laugh hysterically at a drama performance – Ethnography of professional theatre for youth in the context of Swedish cultural policy”. International Theatre Research Association, Amsterdam, 2002.

“Produktion, distribution och konsumtion – en kulturpolitisk cirkel”. [” Production, Distribution and Consumption – the Cultural Policy Circle of Theatre” ]. R esearch Symposium on The Young and the Theatre , Växjö University, 2002.

“Perspektiv på ungdomsteaterns kulturella praktiker”. [ ”Perspective on the Cultural Practice of Youth Theatre” ] . Annual meeting of the Swedish Sociological Association, University of Karlstad, Sweden, 2002

“Ethnography and Youth theatre”. The Ethnography Seminar Series 2000-2001, University of Wolverhampton, England. Under the guidance of Professor Paul Willis, 2001.

“Fostran till kulturkonsument?”. [“Fostering of cultural consumers?”]. Annual meeting of the Swedish Sociological Association, Stockholm University, 1999.

Essays

Lund, A. 1997. Arbetsmarknadens etniska dimension. [The ethnic dimension of the labour market.] Department of Sociology. Master's thesis. Umeå University.

Lund, A. och Ramsby, F. 1996. Utomnordiska invandrarungdomars studie- och yrkesvalsprocess . [The study and job selection process of non-Nordic immigrant youth.] Department of Sociology. Bachelor's thesis. Umeå University.

Address: Växjö universitet, Institutionen för samhällsvetenskap, 351 95 Växjö
Tel: 0470-70 87 81
E-post: anna.lund@vxu.se