Olav Hovdelien’s research while affiliated with Oslo Metropolitan University and other places

According to the legal framework, religion forms a certain part of Norwegian early childhood education in publicly owned kindergartens. As the only Scandinavian country where this is the case, the object clause (statement of purpose) for Norwegian kindergartens defines basic values in the Christian and humanist heritage and tradition as the value foundation for the institution. In this article we explore the impact of the processes of secularization and pluralization on the pedagogical content of early childhood education, and how some pedagogical leaders understand the religious elements. Empirically, the article is partly based on qualitative interviews targeting seven public kindergartens in the counties of Oslo and Agder, and partly on interpretations of their planning documents, of which many are publicly available. The pedagogical staff express loyalty to the legal framework regulating early childhood education but seem to be more concerned with religious diversity and religious minorities than with majority religion and religion as an expression of Christian heritage and traditions.

Hvordan forstår et utvalg styrere og pedagogiske ledere de delene av fagområdet etikk, religion og filosofi (ERF) som handler om religion og religiøs tradisjonsformidling i barnehagen? Og hvordan arbeider de med dem i praksis? Vi intervjuet ansatte fra 19 barnehager i Agder og Oslo og gjennomgikk vedtekter og årsplaner for å få svar. Noen informanter arbeidet i barnehager med «vanlig» formål, andre i private barnehager med særlig formål. I tros- og livssynsbarnehagene fortalte mange om høy prioritering og integrering av religiøs tradisjonsformidling, og om stort metodemangfold. I offentlige barnehager ble målformuleringene i ERF ofte nedprioritert, og religion var lite synlig utenom i adventstiden. Samtidig var det variasjon innenfor begge barnehagetypene. Nøkkelord: Barnehager; religion; fagområdet etikk, religion og filosofi (ERF); tradisjonsformidling; livssynsvedtekt

Artikkelen gir ny kunnskap om kristne barnehager som utgjør omkring 4,5 % av norske barnehager. Vi redegjør for lovgrunnlaget og undersøker blant annet ulike livssynsvedtekter og hvordan et utvalg ansatte forstår mandatet sitt, og bidrar til å gjøre verdigrunnlaget og fagområdet etikk, religion og filosofi (ERF) synlig i hverdagen og ved høytidene. En empirisk undersøkelse fra høsten 2019 og våren 2020 utgjør det viktigste empiriske materialet for artikkelen og omfattet 20 ansatte med pedagogisk ansvar i 19 barnehager i Oslo og på Agder. Ti av barnehagene var kristne. I denne artikkelen presenteres resultater fra den delen av undersøkelsen som var rettet inn mot de kristne barnehagene. Vi tegner et komplekst bilde av tradisjons- og verdiformidlingen, samtidig som vi finner mønstre. Formidlingen karakteriseres som plural. Den kristne formidlingen er metodisk sammensatt og utgjør en integrert del av barnehagehverdagen og den samlede virksomheten. Nøkkelord: kristne barnehager, livssynsvedtekt, etikk, religion og filosofi (ERF), tradisjonsformidling, høytidsmarkering

Ever since its re-establishment in Norway in 1843, the Roman Catholic Church has grown steadily. On 1 January 2017, the church had a total membership of approximately 150,000. The reason for the latest, and certainly largest, wave of Catholic migrants to settle in Norway is labour migration resulting from the eastward expansion of the EU in 2004, when Poland and Lithuania joined. About half the Catholic population of Norway originates from these two countries. This article focuses on the following research question: How does the Roman Catholic Church in Norway, represented by sisters in religious communities, priests and ecclesiastical employees, respond to the large influx of Catholic migrants to Norway? The study is based on a qualitative survey consisting of semi-structured interviews with 10 informants, all religious sisters, priests or ecclesiastical employees. Although some informants admit that the strong growth resulting from migration has posed problems, such as tendencies to form ‘parallel congregations’ based on ethnic origin, most expressed a positive view of this influx of migrants and of the future of the Catholic Church in Norway.

Norwegian stand-up comedy has been criticized for being unpolitical and harmless and Norwegian comedians are not considered risk-takers. Is this also the case when religion is on the agenda? This chapter examines how Norwegian comedians deal with the topic of religion. Based on interviews with nine comedians with different religious backgrounds and self-identifications, the chapter explores the comedians’ experiences of producing humor on religion and their views on acceptable and unacceptable humorous portrayals of religion. The findings show that although the comedians believe making fun of religion is fundamentally unproblematic, some religions are easier to make fun of than others; Islam, for example, is described as more challenging. The idea of the comedian as an uncompromising critic of religion and defender of freedom of speech is for some an ideal, although few of the comedians interviewed regard themselves in this way.

For many decades Catholics remained a small, alien and somewhat unnoticed minority in Norway. Beginning in the 1950s, however, Catholicism became somewhat intellectually acceptable in academic circles, often in response to what was seen as the narrow-mindedness of Lutheranism, and as a result the Catholic Church gained a stronger foothold in Norway. In addition, shifting generations of Dominicans have influenced Norwegian society and public life with a self-ironic and open style of communication. Catholics currently represent one of the largest religious minorities in Norway, with a total membership of approximately 157,000 in a country with ca. 5.3 million inhabitants. This chapter presents a case study that includes a discussion on how humor is mediated by two distinguished representatives of the Dominican order in Norway who are also well known in the Norwegian media: Pater Kjell Arild Pollestad and Pater Arnfinn Haram. The two priests have published widely in books, newspaper columns and blogs, and both of them have been central representatives in different ways for Catholicism and the Roman Catholic Church in the Norwegian public sphere.

This chapter provides an overview of the research field and the empirical context of humour and religion with a specific focus on Norway. It presents relevant theoretical perspectives which informed the project on which this book is based, including theories regarding the resurgence of religion in the public sphere, the mediatization of religion, and theories of humour. In addition, we introduce the thirteen chapters. The book is divided in two parts, namely religion in humour and humour in religion, and the chapters offer insight into the various ways religion and humour intersect, including the production of humour about religion and religious humour, media representations of humour and religion, as well as responses and attitudes to humour and religion. While the relationship between religion and humour has long been considered contradictory, this book offers examples of how religion and humour are in continuous dialogue, negotiating ways to relate to each other.