dr. Sigurður
Gylfi
Magnússon
Societies:
Chair of the Icelandic Historical Association 1997-2000;
Chairman of the board of the Reykjavik Academy 1997-2000;
Chair of the Center for Microhistorical Research 2002 to the present;
Member of the American Historical Association;
The Social Science Historical Association;
The Icelandic Historical Association;
The Icelandic Literary Society;
The International Society for Eighteenth Century Studies
The Icelandic Historical Society.
Research fields:
Microhistory, Social and Cultural History, Everyday Life History, History of Mentality, Family History, History of Childhood, Urban History, Rural History, European - Scandinavian - Icelandic History. Teaching fields: World History, Western Civilization, European History, Social History, Microhistory, Urban - Rural European History, Scandinavian - Icelandic History.
Dissertation:
The Continuity of Everyday Life: Popular Culture in Iceland 1850-1940. Committee: Dr. Peter N. Stearns, Dr. John Modell, & Dr. Mary Lindemann.
B.A. Thesis:
"Modes of Living in Reykjavík 1930-1940."
Teaching experience:
Teaching Assistant (T.A.): Western Civilization (fall 1992), World History: (fall 1990); (fall 1991); (spring 1992); (spring 1993), and (spring 1994).
University Courses: (Instructor Carnegie Mellon University (CMU); University of Iceland (HÍ); Bifröst University (VHB); University of Reykjavík (HR)):
Dynamics of European Society (summer 1992 CMU).
Shaping of Western Civilization (summer 1993 CMU).
Autobiographies and History (fall 1995 HÍ).
Society and Individuals in the 19th Century (spring 1997 HÍ).
Microhistory - Meaning and Making (spring 1997 HÍ).
First Person Sources in History (fall 1998 HÍ).
Postmodernism in History (spring 2000 HÍ. The course was canceled due to budgetary reasons at the Department of History).
Peasants Culture (A graduate course for students in the collage of H&SS - HÍ 2000. One of few teachers).
Memory, History and First Person Sources (fall 2001 HÍ).
Rumors, Scandals, Trials and Memory (spring 2002 CMU).
Rumors, Scandals and Trials (spring 2003 HÍ).
Biography - Autobiography - Fiction (A graduate course within the Department of Icelandic Studies - fall 2003 HÍ. One of three teachers).
Methods (fall 2003 and spring 2004 HR with scholars from the Reykjavik Academy).
Methods (fall 2003 VHB with scholars from the Reykjavik Academy).
Modern Culture (fall 2003 and fall 2004 VHB with scholars from the Reykjavik Academy).
Cultural Management (spring 2005 VHB on graduate level with scholars from the Reykjavik Academy).
Research Grants and Awards:
The President's Fund Award for European Research, CMU 1987.
Research Grant from the Institute of History, University of Iceland 1989.
Research Grant from the Icelandic Council of Science (Vísindasjóður) 1991, 1992, and 1994.
Research Grant from the Icelandic Research Council (RANNÍS) 1995 and 1996, 1998 and 1999; 2001-2002; 2003-2004.
A grant awarded form the Cultural Fund in Iceland (Menningarsjóður) 1997; 2004; 2005.
The Award of the Library Fund of Authors (Bókasafnssjóður höfunda) for historical research 1999.
Research Grant from the University of Iceland Science Fund (Rannsóknarsjóður Háskóla Íslands) 1999.
Research Grant from the Icelandic parliament - Althingi - The Republic Fund (Lýðveldissjóður) 1999.
The Award of the President's Jón Sigurðsson Fund (Verðlaunasjóður gjafar Jóns Sigurðssonar) for Scholarly Monographs 1999 and 2002.
Research Grant from Hagþenkir, the Guild of Authors of Scholarly Works and Textbooks 1998, 2000 and 2002.
Fulbright-scholar in USA for six months 2002.
Grant from the Writing Fund of Authors (Launastjóður rithöfunda) 2004.
Grant from the Writing Fund of Scholars (Launasjóður fræðirithöfunda) 2004.
Research Grant and an Apartment at the Cultural House of Jón Sigurðsson (Jóns- hús) in Copenhagen, Denmark, 2005.
Other activity
Coordinator of a session on personal sources and the role of the individuals in history at the First Icelandic Historical Convention in Reykjavik in May 1997.
Served as an instructor for numerous B.A.-theses and M.A.-theses at the Department of History in the University of Iceland from 1995 to the present.
Served on a committee for the Ministry of Education which was developing new History Standards for secondary schools and high schools (gymnasium) in 1999. Was appointed by the Minister of Education.
Was appointed in the year 2000 by the Minister of Education as a board member of the "Educational Network" (Menntanetið), operated by the Ministry of Education.
The founder, co-editor and co-publisher of a book series called Anthology of Icelandic Popular Culture (Sýnisbók íslenskrar alþýðumenningar) which is published by the Icelandic University Press. Eleven books have already been published and six more are ready for publication.
One of the founders and a member of editorial board (one of five) until 2001 of the book series Atvik (Incidence) which is published by the Reykjavik Academy and Bjartur the publishing house.
Was one of two editors of the book Microhistory - Conflicting Paths which was published by the Icelandic University Press in 1998. The authors of the papers in the book had been participating in a seminar on the importance of personal sources for historical writing for two years, and the results of this dialogue was the publication of the book. The editors ran the seminar which was held at the National Library of Iceland every third week.
Was one of two editors of an online publications (book) called: Rumors, Scandals and Trials: Eight Review Essays. Kistan.is (Vef). It was the work of my students which came out of a coursework at the University of Iceland with the same name.
Took part in founding and developing the Reykjavik Academy (RA), an independent research institute located in the West End of Reykjavik. Was on the preliminary board from 1997 and the chair of the first board of the RA from 1998 to 2000. Ten scholars participated at the beginning, but 80 scholars now belong to RA at the end of the year 2005 and take part in its daily function. They are from the humanities and the social sciences. It is funded by the City of Reykavik, the Icelandic Parliament and the Ministry of Finance. See home page of the RA: www.akademia.is.
Was the founder and the coordinator of the Luncheon Lecture (Hádegisfyrirlestrar Sagnfræðingafélags Íslands) of the Icelandic Historical Associations (IHA) from January 1998 into the spring of 2001. Put together and arranged 64 lectures for this function in cooperation with other board members of the Icelandic Historical Association during my tenure as the chair of the IHA.
Was the co-founder and the coordinator of on-line web-forum called Gammabrekka for the Icelandic Historical Association from January 1998 to the present. Over 400 hundred members participate in the web-forum.
Arranged and was in charge of numerous conferences and meetings for the Icelandic Historical Association and the Reykjavik Academy during my tenure as the chair of both institutions, in Reykjavík, Ísafjörður, Hafnafjörður, Viðey and Sauðárkrók.
Was the co-designer of the home page of the Icelandic Historical Association (www.akademia.is/saga) - which is still developing - and the home page of the Reykjavik Academy (www.akademia.is).
Was the chairman of a committee who worked on an ethical code for historians from 1998-2000 on the behalf of the Icelandic Historical Association. The code of conduct was passed in September 2000 in a general assembly of the Icelandic Historical Association in its annual meeting.
Had the initiative of putting together a committee on the behalf of the Icelandic Historical Associations which has worked since 1997 on a book which will include the genealogy of all Icelandic historians in the twentieth century, their professional records, and an overview over the development of the discipline of history in this time period. I am one of the editors for this project; the first part of it was published in 2002 under the name of "Historians in Iceland" (Íslenskir sagnfræðingar) and the second part will be published 2006.
Was the chief coordinator of a national wide campaign called "the Day of the Diary", held the 15th of October 1998. Icelandic citizens were asked to keep a dairy for that particular day and to send it to the National Museum of Iceland, the Department of Ethnology. The general public was also asked to donate old manuscripts, such as letters, diaries, autobiographies or other source material to the Manuscript Department at the National Library. The campaign was a great success and over 3% of the nation kept a dairy that day and over one hundred individuals donated old manuscripts to the National Library of Iceland, some of which were very valuable and others part of large private collections. Ten months after the national campaign the committee published a "best of" the diaries book. The book was called The Diaries of Icelanders (Dagbók Íslendinga) and was published by the publishing house Mál og menning. The preparation for the campaign took five months and was done voluntarily.
Wrote a 50 page report on the execution of "the Day of the Diary" campaign called: "The Day of the Diary: Behind the scenes: A Report form the Committee. Sigurður Gylfi Magnússon" See www.akademia.is/sigm.
Designed and wrote my own home page which includes over three hundred pages of material (www.akademia.is/sigm).
Co-founder and a board member of the Institute of the Primary Sources (Heimildastofnun) which has on its agenda a plan to put Icelandic cultural texts from the eleventh century to the twentieth century in digital format. The project received a grant from the Icelandic Research Council in 1999.
Is currently the chair of the Center for Microhistorical Research at the Reykjavik Academy which runs an online web called microhistory.org, organises meetings and seminars, publishes book series like the Nameless series, the Anthology of Icelandic Pupular Culture and participates in research projects relating to the use personal historical sources in historical studies.
Served as secretary of the board of a industrial factory in Iceland, called Harpa paint (a family company), from 1994 to 2004. Now Harpa holding.
The Reykjavík Academy Íslensk heimasíða |