Maja Essebo
Researcher and Director of Studies for LUMES and LUCAS
What is your academic background?
Political science (master) and human geography (PhD).
What courses are you teaching and what is your research about?
In LUMES I teach the course Politics of sustainability and in LUCAS the course Transformational approaches to climate change. I usually also supervise master thesis students and give lectures in various courses throughout the programmes.
My research interest is in storytelling and particularly the naturalised stories we call myths, which serve to make that which is created appear by-nature-given and, as such, beyond question. I’m interested in how these stories both hinder and enable sustainable transition.
What is the best thing about teaching, and what teaching methods do you use?
The best is that I never know what is going to happen in any given day when walking into the classroom and that both students and fellow teachers continue to astound me in their scope of knowledge and depth of passion.
As for teaching methods, I enjoy exploring and experimenting, and often new elements and methods are introduced because of something students say or do or even as a direct result of their initiative. I also do love a good old-fashioned lecture, it’s an artform that can be developed throughout an entire career and still never be perfected.
How do you integrate your research into the programmes, and why?
I do this constantly. Concepts, theories, and perspectives need grounding and illustration, which we can offer in and through our research. It’s creating that connection between the abstract and the concrete to show that everything we talk about in the classroom has, ideally, relevance to the world we live in.
What motivates you in your teaching?
People chose to come here from all over the world to learn, engage, and challenge themselves and others and I get to be a part of that, of their lives. Sometimes you meet former students many years later who say ‘that lecture really made me think’ or ‘discussing that thing in class inspired me to pursue this career’, and you realise how your comparatively tiny actions can have an actual impact on other people’s lives. That really is quite something.
What do students need to be successful in LUMES/LUCAS?
The same thing as you need to be successful at anything you do, you need to care and you need to put in some effort. Completing a master’s programme isn’t easy, so pick something you actually want to learn more about. Then be ready to be open, humble, curious, kind, and to put in the hours.
Why should students choose LUMES/LUCAS?
Well first of all because we need to do a better job of taking care of this planet, so any action in that direction is a win.
As for these particular programmes, I think students should pick them because they’re really quite good. Not perfect, nothing is, but really good. The classrooms are open to broad academic debate, something that cannot and should not be taken for granted in this world, and as sustainability science programmes, we focus not only on critically understanding but also actively engaging with these challenges.
What do you want students to leave with after completing LUMES/LUCAS?
Grounded optimism. I want them to have a solid understanding of science and facts and that those both drive the need and the ability for change.