University of Iceland

Icelandic descendants in Brazil

“I consider the destiny of the Icelanders that emigrated to Brazil and that of their descendants to be a hidden part of the History of Iceland. Those who emigrated to Brazil have been forgotten, whereas knowledge on Icelandic descendants in Canada and the United States is considerable. However, the story of the Brazilian Icelanders and their descendants is remarkable in many was and deserves more coverage and visibility,” says Eyrún Eyþórsdóttir, doctoral student in Anthropology.

Eyþórsdóttir studies the descendants of the almost 40 Icelanders who emigrated to Brazil at the end of the nineteenth century in the theoretical context of diaspora and globalized identity. She says that the globalized Icelandic identity is interesting in many respects but especially so among the Icelandic descendants in Brazil.

Opportunities in technology

Anna Sigríður Ólafsdóttir, Associate Professor of Nutritional Science at the Faculty of Sport, Leisure Studies and Social Education, runs the Icelandic part of the Leonardo project eQuity which is intended to increase the equality of disadvantaged groups to achieve better health. “The basic idea with the project is to create a European communication network concerning health and nutrition specially suited to this group. The opportunities offered by technology are innumerable and we believe we can better reach this diverse group through the help of technology than by other means,” Ólafsdóttir explains.

The financial crash reduced smoking and alcohol consumption

“The study aims to find out whether and how the economic crash influenced alcohol and tobacco consumption, specifically considering changes in the labour market, i.e. the reduction in the number of work hours and lowering of real income. Such labour market changes can influence health behaviour, i.e. how people invest in their present and future health,” says Þórhildur Ólafsdóttir, Doctoral Student of economics on a study that forms part of her doctoral thesis.

Ólafsdóttir points out that recent research shows that general physical health improves in many ways during economic downturns. “Changes in health related behaviour, for example reduction in consumption of alcohol and tobacco may be one of the underlying factors in that context,” says Ólafsdóttir. She got the opportunity to investigate this connection in Iceland by using data from the postal survey the Health and Wellbeing of Icelanders that was carried out pre- and post crash in 2007 and 2009.

Self-control is important for success in school

“I hope that my research/study will increase understanding in schools, on all levels, of the importance of students’ self-control, and thus contribute to the well being of children and adolescents,” says Steinunn Gestsdóttir, Associate Professor in Social Education. She has been working on a long-term study with her co-workers at the School of Education; Professor Hrafnhildur Ragnarsdóttir and Freyja Birgisdóttir, Assistant Professor, on self-control, development of speech and literacy in children aged four to eight. Furthermore, Gestsdóttir recently launched a study on self-control in Icelandic teenagers.

“The core of my studies is how young people control, change or hold back their feelings, thoughts and behaviour. I find it extremely important to launch the study on self-control in Icelandic adolescents as self-control carries special weight during adolescence; a period that proves difficult to many.”

Unhealthy influences of economic upswings

The aim is to research how economic change influences health. In other countries it has been established that physical health improves in many ways during economic downturns. It is unclear whether this is caused by changes in behaviour, or direct changes in external conditions,” says Þórhildur Ólafsdóttir, student of economics about her doctoral thesis.
The study continues a project she worked on with her supervisor after finishing a master’s degree in health-economics; Ólafsdóttir received a Student Innovation grant for this project.

Bullying in cyberspace

Bullying takes many forms. The most recent one is the so-called cyber bullying; when the Internet and mobile phones are used to put forward derogative and defamatory information on a person. Bullying in cyberspace is the subject of Helga Lind Pálsdóttir’s MA thesis in Social Work.

Crisis stories of 100 Icelanders

“The study, based on gathering interviews with more than 100 Icelanders from all over the country from different demographics, examines how Icelanders experienced and dealt with the crash of 2008; its prelude and repercussions, and what political understanding they have of these events. The goal is to find out how the events of the winter 2008-2009 were a watershed in Icelanders’ personal lives,” says Magnús Sveinn Helgason.

His study is titled “Crisis stories: Icelanders’ experience of the economic crisis 2008-2009 and their ideas on its influence on family, politics and society.” The study is carried out within the Centre for Oral History, headed by Guðmundur Jónsson, Professor of History.

Regulates the Self

“The study concerns the nature of the self, its correct demarcation and the connections between various well known self-concepts such as self-image, self-esteem, self-respect, and not least the consequences these phenomena have for people’s happiness and results in education, life and work,” says Kristján Kristjánsson, Professor in the Philosophy of Education on his study “The Self and its educational ramifications.”

Kristjánsson says that he has encountered various inconsistencies and misconceptions in discussions of the self and self-concepts; both in everyday discourse and in academia. “It especially vexed me how scholars in different fields such as philosophy, psychology and education have not endeavoured to compare their results in this area and learn from each other”, says Kristjánsson.

Physical activity needs to be integrated with general education

“It is important to increase and maintain the most important factor in our lives; health; in the most important period of life; childhood,” says Kristján Þór Magnússon, Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Sports, Leisure Studies and Social Education; who was the first student ever to defend a doctoral thesis in Sports and Health studies at the University of Iceland.