Margareth Hagen is the elected rector of the University of Bergen from 2021-2025, and a professor of Italian literature. She was the University's elected deputy rector for research from 2017-2021, and Dean of the Humanities Faculty until 2017.

Academic career

Hagen came to the University of Bergen as a student in the 1980s, first studying organisation and administration, and then Italian literature. She was interested in history, and in particular the 1500s, which she characterised as an exciting time of change in Italy, with the

Counter-Reformation The Counter-Reformation (), also called the Catholic Reformation () or the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to the Protestant Reformation. It began with the Council of Trent (1545–1563) a ...

, the

Inquisition The Inquisition was a group of institutions within the Catholic Church whose aim was to combat heresy, conducting trials of suspected heretics. Studies of the records have found that the overwhelming majority of sentences consisted of penances, ...

and Machiavelli. The anthology ''Literature and Chemistry: Elective Affinities'', co-edited with Margery Skagen, marked a transition from literary studies to a broader engagement with the relationship between the humanities and the natural sciences. A reviewer describes the book as "an absorbing work both for those interested in chemistry as well as those fascinated with literature – and an absolute treasure for fans of both subjects", although he does remark that the view of chemistry in literature appears to be almost only negative: "the mad scientist in his laboratory seems to be the general view of the chemist in popular culture". Another reviewer praises the anthology's "mix of literary critics, chemists, and historians of science and medicine".

University leadership

As the elected deputy rector, Hagen took over as rector in January 2021 when Dag Rune Olsen left before his term as rector was complete to take a position at the

University of Tromsø The University of Tromsø – The Arctic University of Norway (Norwegian: ''Universitetet i Tromsø – Norges arktiske universitet''; Northern Sami: ''Romssa universitehta – Norgga árktalaš universitehta'') is a state university in Norway an ...

. Hagen became rector during the

pandemic A pandemic () is an epidemic of an infectious disease that has spread across a large region, for instance multiple continents or worldwide, affecting a substantial number of individuals. A widespread endemic (epidemiology), endemic disease wi ...

, and in an interview right after the election told reporters that bringing students back to campus and ensuring good social learning environments was extremely important.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hagen, Margareth Academic staff of the University of Bergen Rectors of the University of Bergen Norwegian literary historians Rectors of universities and colleges in Norway 1965 births Living people