Eivind Engebretsen

Eivind Engebretsen

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Prof. Eivind Engebretsen

A medical humanities scholar and professor of interdisciplinary health science at the University of Oslo, serving since 2023 as Dean of the Open Campus at the European University Alliance Circle U, and founding head of the Sustainable Health Unit (SUSTAINIT) and the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare Education (SHE), a Norwegian government-funded Centre of Excellence in Education.

Meet Eivind

my focus

Knowledge in Translation

My research explores how medical knowledge is generated, applied, documented, evaluated, and communicated in clinical encounters as well as in broader societal contexts.

Translational Medical Humanities

I conceptualize empathetic and compassionate care not as discrete acts of kindness, but as translational processes—where biomedical data and protocols are negotiated through patients’ stories.

Understanding Translational Dynamics

I examine how medical knowledge is mobilized and applied in societal debates on topics like abortion, sustainability, and evidence-based practice.

Co-Creation with Grassroots Communities

I develop community-oriented approaches for collaboration between medical experts and grassroots constituencies.

Teaching Sustainable Development

I design educational approaches for sustainable development rooted in translational medical humanities.

my latest book

Rethinking Evidence in the Time of Pandemics

This book shows how concepts of evidence vary across contexts, and how multiple rationalities shape COVID-19 debates on masks, lockdowns, and vaccines. By examining different narratives, it reveals why some knowledge gains acceptance while other claims face resistance.

Read Now

Blog

  • Video Summary of Rethinking Evidence in the Time of Pandemics

    Video Summary of Rethinking Evidence in the Time of Pandemics

    Jan 31, 2024
  • Poster Presentation: Rethinking Evidence in the Time of Pandemics

    Poster Presentation: Rethinking Evidence in the Time of Pandemics

    Dec 27, 2023
  • Teaching sustainable health care through the critical medical humanities

    Teaching sustainable health care through the critical medical humanities

    May 17, 2023
  • SUSTAINIT Strategy Seminar: Bridging Disciplinary Boundaries for a Sustainable Future

    SUSTAINIT Strategy Seminar: Bridging Disciplinary Boundaries for a Sustainable Future

    Apr 25, 2023
  • SDG Conference Bergen 2023

    SDG Conference Bergen 2023

    Feb 10, 2023
  • What is the Sustainable Health Unit (SUSTAINIT)?

    What is the Sustainable Health Unit (SUSTAINIT)?

    Feb 5, 2023

courses & lectures

Take a Course

Online Course

Bridging Humanities and Medicine for Sustainable Societal Impact – An Introduction to Translational Medical Humanities

Availability

Lecture series open to all, full course open to Circle U.-students.

about the lecture

This course focuses on the critical interdependencies and synergies between the humanities and medicine in enhancing sustainable social change. Traditionally seen as separate realms – arts and sciences – the course demonstrates the power of their convergence in addressing some of the world’s most pressing challenges. 

Learn More

Circle U. Open Campus

The Open Campus is a virtual university campus where students can find all joint offers developed by our nine partner universities. You will find different formats and subjects, varying from hackatons to talks to online and physical courses and summer schools – and many things in-between. Be sure to check out what you can apply for now, what’s coming up and what is available online. Want to know what’s happening?

Learn more

Power in global health governance is influenced not only by knowledge and norms, but also by language and concepts (Engebretsen & Heggen 2015:115). To address health inequalities, we must question key concepts that shape global health policies. In response, SHE at the University of Oslo, working with the Genealogies of Knowledge Research Network (see Baker et al. 2021), will use the Sustainability and Health Corpus and a new open-source analysis tool to drive conceptual research in modern medicine and global health.

More info

Contact Me

Email: 
eivind.engebretsen@medisin.uio.no

ORCID: 0000-0001-9455-110X

University of Oslo
Problemveien 11 
0371 Oslo NORWAY

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