December is always a busy month, but this year seems to beat all other years! First of all, our little son is growing and exploring his new world endlessly, which naturally takes much energy from us, the parents. It is lovely though!
Second of all, at works the creativity just expands and expands, and at the moment I am planning my text for the course GeoClassics, as well as the chapter about the Dutch Impressions of Bergslagen for the reader Bilder av Bergslagen.
Moreover, I am planning to attend a course called Politics and Theories of International Migration in Norrköping in the middle of January, for which an article will have to be written as an assignment. this article can be combined with the article that I wanted to write anyway, by the working title "Mapping The Orange Wave" - more news to come. Also, I would like to finish a 1st version of my 2nd article before the summer holidays.
And last but not least, a working group (including myself) at the university has been busy attempting to start a Section for PhD Students at Örebro Student Union see the Result at DokSek.
Also, have a look at t he menu on the left of this page, scroll down a bitt and take a look at Swedish tv item 3, or at the websites under the header other blogs & sites. With the new report by the Swedish National Agency for Rural Development, a lot is happening, not least in Bergslagen!
Wednesday, 10 December 2008
Tuesday, 25 November 2008
Umeå
Last week, I was in Umeå to meet my second supervisor Dieter Müller, a Human Geographer who has written much about Germans owning Second Homes in Sweden. We had an interesting conversation and he made me aware of the book Tourism and Migration by C. Michael Hall. We chatted about where migration starts and where tourism ends - no one really knows!
On 18 November 2008, I took part in a Meeting of the Population Geographers Network, also at Umeå University. This was a very interesting day and it gave my some new insights and knowledge about present and upcoming studies about Hallstahammar and Åland for example.
On the way back to Örebro, I visited Region Dalarna in Falun and had an interview there. I received a brochure about the work by Region Dalarna and found their thoughts about Place Branding very interesting, especially the pages by Simon Anholt, about Regional Competition.
This, together with earlier remarks about my plans during the conference in Bredsjö, and during a course in Interview Methods, makes that I have enough plans for my study for the comings months! And I still haven't transcribed all my interviews! Upcoming; another interview with a Dutch couple living close by Örebro.
More news later!
/Meimer
On 18 November 2008, I took part in a Meeting of the Population Geographers Network, also at Umeå University. This was a very interesting day and it gave my some new insights and knowledge about present and upcoming studies about Hallstahammar and Åland for example.
On the way back to Örebro, I visited Region Dalarna in Falun and had an interview there. I received a brochure about the work by Region Dalarna and found their thoughts about Place Branding very interesting, especially the pages by Simon Anholt, about Regional Competition.
This, together with earlier remarks about my plans during the conference in Bredsjö, and during a course in Interview Methods, makes that I have enough plans for my study for the comings months! And I still haven't transcribed all my interviews! Upcoming; another interview with a Dutch couple living close by Örebro.
More news later!
/Meimer
Monday, 3 November 2008
Fieldwork - Interviews
In the first week of October, I did some fieldwork in my research area; Bergslagen. Hällefors, Ljusnarsberg, Nora, Ludvika and Smedjebacken have seen my face. I interviewed Dutch migrants there, as well as people from organisations such as Region Dalarna and Placement. It were fruitful days and I now will try to transcribe the 7 interviews, as a valuable empirical part of my coming articles.
Keep an eye on this site and some Academic Magazines such as Population, Place and Space and you might see my name there :) Also, I started a new blog in Dutch @ meimer.volkskrantreizen.nl. More detailed info can be found there!
More info will follow, from our yearly Conference for PhD Students for example.
Keep an eye on this site and some Academic Magazines such as Population, Place and Space and you might see my name there :) Also, I started a new blog in Dutch @ meimer.volkskrantreizen.nl. More detailed info can be found there!
More info will follow, from our yearly Conference for PhD Students for example.
Tuesday, 16 September 2008
Autumn Reflections
Last weekend Caroline, Lucas and me went for a walk at Karlslund's Herrgård. The crispy air and the sunny weather had invited us on this tour. A day like this makes me reflect of the time to come, as far as work is concerned. There are so much possibilities and my problem is that I want to participate in everything!
However, after a talk with my supervisor and this Autumn walk, the planning looks like this: first, we'll travel to Holland with Lucas. I will also read some texts for our course "Geography Classics". Moreover, I will attend a Emigration Fair in Zenderen and will talk with families thinking of migrating to Sweden.
I will also make sure that my name is on the list for a course on Interview Methods, which will be held at Örebro University this Autumn. More reading needs to be done in order to prepare for lecturing in a course called Economic Geography. For this, the book by Knox and Marston is a must. Besides this, Peter and me are invited to come and lecture at a course in Social Work. We have to explain the use of Human Geographic terms such as place and space in front of 170 students. . . .
...Last but not least, I will participate in some conferences. Sustainable Cities and Regions in Örebro in March 2009; A network day for PhD Students in Gothenburg in May 2009 and a Nordic Geographers Meet in Åbo/Turku (Fi) in June 2009. Pfffff...
However, after a talk with my supervisor and this Autumn walk, the planning looks like this: first, we'll travel to Holland with Lucas. I will also read some texts for our course "Geography Classics". Moreover, I will attend a Emigration Fair in Zenderen and will talk with families thinking of migrating to Sweden.
I will also make sure that my name is on the list for a course on Interview Methods, which will be held at Örebro University this Autumn. More reading needs to be done in order to prepare for lecturing in a course called Economic Geography. For this, the book by Knox and Marston is a must. Besides this, Peter and me are invited to come and lecture at a course in Social Work. We have to explain the use of Human Geographic terms such as place and space in front of 170 students. . . .
...Last but not least, I will participate in some conferences. Sustainable Cities and Regions in Örebro in March 2009; A network day for PhD Students in Gothenburg in May 2009 and a Nordic Geographers Meet in Åbo/Turku (Fi) in June 2009. Pfffff...
Tuesday, 26 August 2008
Welcome Lucas!
On 30 July 2008, our son Lucas John is borne. A wonderful boy, and we're very happy with him! The holidays have been smooth, mainly staying close or in Örebro waiting for our baby to be borne. We visited small places nearby (Englas skafferi, Askersund, Nora etc.) and watched large sports events (Wimbledon, Euro2008, Roland Garros, and - after Lucas' birth - the Olympics). We have had a lot of friends and family visiting the three of us - the last in the row (oma and mama - or "the oma's") leaving tomorrow.
This is my second week of work after the holidays, and I must admit that I haven't done so much during the 5 summerweeks, nore in my first week at the office. It's all so bombastic - the miracle of a new life!
But in the meantime, CUReS have had a kick-off in Ånnaboda, I have had a meeting with Mats about the coming round of interviews and journeys and I have started studying for the course of Economic Geography in which I will be responsible for a lecture and a seminar in October. For those of you interested, try to find a book called Human Geography, by Paul Knox and Sallie Marston.
More news to come!
This is my second week of work after the holidays, and I must admit that I haven't done so much during the 5 summerweeks, nore in my first week at the office. It's all so bombastic - the miracle of a new life!
But in the meantime, CUReS have had a kick-off in Ånnaboda, I have had a meeting with Mats about the coming round of interviews and journeys and I have started studying for the course of Economic Geography in which I will be responsible for a lecture and a seminar in October. For those of you interested, try to find a book called Human Geography, by Paul Knox and Sallie Marston.
More news to come!
Tuesday, 1 July 2008
Summer 2008
Now that it's only two weeks before the Summerholidays start, I can make a short summary of the work that is to be done during summer and in the coming Autumn. I had a meeting with Mats, and it all became clearer to me :)
I will attempt to write 2 chapters in different anthologies (readers): One in a book called Bilden av Bergslagen (The image of Bergslagen), about the image that the Bergslagen area wants to create abroad, eg. in Dutch migrants' minds. The other in a book about space and place about local labour markets and the different conditions for immigrants to get a job, depending on variables such as country of origin, age, education, gender, and so on.
For both chapters, I will need access to Bergslagens Database (BeDa) at Statistics Sweden, in order to create a basic understanding of what's going on and what has been going on. I will also conduct interviews with key persons in different recruitment organisations (Region Dalarna, Invest in Värmland & Placement Utvikling) and municipalities (Smedjebacken, Hagfors and Hällefors).
Moreover, I will take part in 2 courses: the one about Geographical classics continues and a new course about Interview Methods starts. Add a number of conferences to this (in Umeå and Örebro - see for instance www.oru.se/cures2009), and my schedule is pretty full. . .
But first of all, in about two weeks time, we expect our first child! Exciting!
I will attempt to write 2 chapters in different anthologies (readers): One in a book called Bilden av Bergslagen (The image of Bergslagen), about the image that the Bergslagen area wants to create abroad, eg. in Dutch migrants' minds. The other in a book about space and place about local labour markets and the different conditions for immigrants to get a job, depending on variables such as country of origin, age, education, gender, and so on.
For both chapters, I will need access to Bergslagens Database (BeDa) at Statistics Sweden, in order to create a basic understanding of what's going on and what has been going on. I will also conduct interviews with key persons in different recruitment organisations (Region Dalarna, Invest in Värmland & Placement Utvikling) and municipalities (Smedjebacken, Hagfors and Hällefors).
Moreover, I will take part in 2 courses: the one about Geographical classics continues and a new course about Interview Methods starts. Add a number of conferences to this (in Umeå and Örebro - see for instance www.oru.se/cures2009), and my schedule is pretty full. . .
But first of all, in about two weeks time, we expect our first child! Exciting!
Saturday, 7 June 2008
Population Geography
Much happens on wednesdays. 7 May; Seminar about our Research Proposals - 14 May; Network meeting @ Södertörn; and now 28 May a Seminar with population geographers about migration studies and methodology. Also this seminar took place in Stockholm: at the Human Geography institute at campus Frescati. It was a nice day, so I decided to walk the 6 kilometres from the cityterminal, via Sveavägen and Torgatan to KTH, where I got lost. Walked through some woods and finally somehow ended up right where I wanted to: close to a big map at the beginning of campus Frescati.
The seminar took about two hours, and we were 8 PhD students and lecturers there, from Stockholm, Uppsala and Örebro. It was very good to attend this seminar, as I did some interesting reading about the snowball method when doing qualitative research and trying to find hidden populations. Moreover, I now know how to find the Human Geography institute in Stockholm and my mailaddress is added to the mailing list of a network for population geographers. The attachment of one of the mails I got was an invitation to a 3-day workshop in the field of migration studies, at Umeå University in April 2009. I might just take part in that!
The seminar took about two hours, and we were 8 PhD students and lecturers there, from Stockholm, Uppsala and Örebro. It was very good to attend this seminar, as I did some interesting reading about the snowball method when doing qualitative research and trying to find hidden populations. Moreover, I now know how to find the Human Geography institute in Stockholm and my mailaddress is added to the mailing list of a network for population geographers. The attachment of one of the mails I got was an invitation to a 3-day workshop in the field of migration studies, at Umeå University in April 2009. I might just take part in that!
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