Knut Aukland
Biographic Data
| ID | 1245257 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Knut Aukland |
| GIVEN NAMES | Knut |
| FAMILY NAME | Aukland |
| SIGNATURE | AUKLAND K |
| AFFILIATIONS | OsloMet – Oslo Metropolitan University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-6234-9801 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 17 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 10 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 17 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2013 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
What is reflexivity? A scoping review of reflexivity and related concepts in Religious Education
Reflexivity has become a key concept in RE. It plays a vital role in the interpretive approach and the broader contexts of hermeneutics, anthropology, and research methodology. Moreover, reflexivity is closely related to other terms like self-awareness and self-reflection. How can we conceptualise reflexivity and these related concepts? What are the possible purposes of reflexivity in RE, and how is it facilitated? To answer these questions, we h…
Video as Ethnographic Material in the Classroom
This article explores the integration of 360-video, framed as ethnographic materials, in RE. 360-videos of religious practices are easily available and make it possible for learners to observe and explore religious practice in virtual reality to support learning. The paper analyses written responses from student teachers (N: 17). The students were invited to compare a textbook representation and their own imagination of pilgrimage to Mecca with t…
A methodological turn in RE
In this article, I make the case for a methodological turn in the field based on the growing interest in a methodology-oriented RE. That is, the idea that we should make academic methods and methodology not just a part of, but part and parcel of the core of teaching about religion and worldviews in public education. This interest is found in research articles, new RE curricula and debates about them, and concrete approaches and teaching materials…
VR in RE and moral education
This paper reports from a symposium exploring the application of Virtual Reality (VR) in RE. The contributors presented empirical case-studies of interventions and instructional designs that had been tested in classroom settings ranging from primary to teacher education. The presentations illustrate the ways in which VR can be understood as a rapidly developing family of technologies that, as teaching and learning material, offers a new form of m…
Er Jesus hvit? Fargeblindhet og antirasistisk religionsundervisning
Fargeblindhet brukes i dag som begrep for å peke på tendensen til utad å overse forskjeller i hudfarge selv om det spiller en avgjørende rolle i hvordan man blir oppfattet og behandlet i samfunnet. I denne artikkelen forsøker vi å bidra til en antirasistisk religionsundervisning ved å undersøke hvordan religionsdidaktikken kan utfordre fargeblindhet. I artikkelens første del benytter vi oss av litteratur knyttet til rase, rasisme og kritisk raset…
Bridging the research–practice gap on Facebook
In this article I explore the research–practice gap in RE with a unique dataset: The communication by teachers, and between teachers and researchers in a Norwegian Facebook group for RE teachers. Posts and comments in the group reflect that teachers largely communicate a practical form of knowledge with little engagement with research. At the same time, there are instances where members bridge the research–practice gap through interactions betwee…
Kunnskapsproblemet og utforsking med ulike metoder
Hvilken kunnskap skal utforsking med ulike metoder lede til? Som et bidrag til å svare på dette spørsmålet presenterer artikkelen en kunnskapstabell som tilbyr et fagspesifikt språk for å beskrive ulike kunnskapsformer i religions- og livssynsfaget. Tabellen skiller mellom det å lære om religion/religioner og livssyn, og det å lære om akademiske metoder man kan bruke til å utforske dette fagområdet. Her argumenteres det for at forholdet mellom de…
Lærergrupper på Facebook II
I to sammenhengende artikler introduserer vi lærergrupper på Facebook som et nytt forskningsfelt i norsk kontekst. Vår studie undersøker RLE-lærergruppa, en Facebook-gruppe opprettet i 2015 av og for religionslærere. Gruppen har per januar 2020 over 2 800 medlemmer. Vi har samlet inn data på innhold og aktivitet i gruppen over en ettårsperiode fra 2018 til 2019 og kombinert en kvalitativ og kvantitativ koding av alle postene, samt hvem som poster…
Ti uløste problemer – KRLE og Religion og etikk 2020–2030
Lærergrupper på Facebook I
I to sammenhengende artikler introduserer vi lærergrupper på Facebook som et nytt forskningsfelt i norsk kontekst. Vår studie undersøker RLE-lærergruppa, en Facebook-gruppe opprettet i 2015 av og for religionslærere. Gruppen har per januar 2020 over 2 800 medlemmer. Vi har samlet inn data på innhold og aktivitet i gruppen over en ettårsperiode fra 2018 til 2019 og kombinert en kvalitativ og kvantitativ koding av alle postene, samt hvem som poster…
Repackaging India’s Sacred Geography
This article is an attempt to open up the study of pilgrimage and tourism by concentrating on the role of travel agencies in developing Hindu pilgrimage in India. Identifying two limitations in the ongoing debate, it makes use of less-explored themes and concepts including travel menus, package tours, itineraries, day tours, circuits, and scheduling. Surveying 46 travel brochures and popular tours promoted by travel agencies in Delhi, Haridwar, a…
Pilgrimage expansion through tourism in contemporary India
This article investigates the development and promotion of the Char Dham Yatra (or Char Dham), a Hindu pilgrimage route in the Himalayas, to challenge some prevalent assumptions and models in current scholarship concerning pilgrimage and tourism. I argue that the current prominence of the Char Dham is closely tied to the efforts of public tourism agencies and the coming together of a popular religious concept (Char Dham) with a unit of tourism de…
Krishna's Curse in the Age of Global Tourism
This article explores the strategies ofpandas (Hindu pilgrimage priests) in Vrindavan, relating changes in their trade (pandagiri) to tourism. These changes are the result of thepandas' creative adjustments to shifting travel patterns that affect their market niche. Utilizing audio-recordings of thepandas' guided tours, the article first portrays howpandas acquire ritual income from pilgrims by 'inspiring' donations of which they get a percentage…
Retailing religion
This study investigates guided tours and guide narratives in the context of Hindu pilgrimage in Rishikesh and Haridwar, two pilgrimage towns in Northern India. Combining participant observation with analysis of audio-recorded guide narratives, it finds that the overall structure of the guided tours, combined with a variety of narratives and rhetorical devises, promotes the benefits and uses of religious objects. Cooperating with retailers of reli…
The Scientization and Academization of Jainism
This article introduces the terms scientization and academization and applies them to Jainism. Scientization denotes processes by which proponents of a religion appeal to modern science, and I distinguish between four types of appeals. Academization points to processes by which proponents of a religion establish institutions and practices modeled on mainstream academia, actively use markers of such institutions, create ties with mainstream academ…
Connecting British and Indian, elite and subaltern
This article aims to investigate connections between British and Indian, and elite and subaltern, by exploring the career of colonial administrator Arthur Crawford. The level of separation between British and Indian as portrayed in post-colonial studies is challenged by Crawford's intimate connections with various Indian groups. A particular manifestation of these connections was the Crawford Scandal of 1889. Dubbed as the ‘most notorious case of…
Understanding Possession in Jainism
Possession among Jains remains an almost unexplored field of study. Based on fieldwork at a Jain pilgrimage site in India, this paper presents ethnographical material on a hitherto unknown oracular possession cult. The paper looks at the ways in which Jains themselves understand and sometimes critique possessions, as a way of understanding Jainism itself. The ethnographic material is presented on the background of other cases of Jain possession, …
Pilgrimage expansion through tourism in contemporary India
This article investigates the development and promotion of the Char Dham Yatra (or Char Dham), a Hindu pilgrimage route in the Himalayas, to challenge some prevalent assumptions and models in current scholarship concerning pilgrimage and tourism. I argue that the current prominence of the Char Dham is closely tied to the efforts of public tourism agencies and the coming together of a popular religious concept (Char Dham) with a unit of tourism de…
Krishna's Curse in the Age of Global Tourism
This article explores the strategies ofpandas (Hindu pilgrimage priests) in Vrindavan, relating changes in their trade (pandagiri) to tourism. These changes are the result of thepandas' creative adjustments to shifting travel patterns that affect their market niche. Utilizing audio-recordings of thepandas' guided tours, the article first portrays howpandas acquire ritual income from pilgrims by 'inspiring' donations of which they get a percentage…
Retailing religion
This study investigates guided tours and guide narratives in the context of Hindu pilgrimage in Rishikesh and Haridwar, two pilgrimage towns in Northern India. Combining participant observation with analysis of audio-recorded guide narratives, it finds that the overall structure of the guided tours, combined with a variety of narratives and rhetorical devises, promotes the benefits and uses of religious objects. Cooperating with retailers of reli…
Repackaging India’s Sacred Geography
This article is an attempt to open up the study of pilgrimage and tourism by concentrating on the role of travel agencies in developing Hindu pilgrimage in India. Identifying two limitations in the ongoing debate, it makes use of less-explored themes and concepts including travel menus, package tours, itineraries, day tours, circuits, and scheduling. Surveying 46 travel brochures and popular tours promoted by travel agencies in Delhi, Haridwar, a…
Understanding Possession in Jainism
Possession among Jains remains an almost unexplored field of study. Based on fieldwork at a Jain pilgrimage site in India, this paper presents ethnographical material on a hitherto unknown oracular possession cult. The paper looks at the ways in which Jains themselves understand and sometimes critique possessions, as a way of understanding Jainism itself. The ethnographic material is presented on the background of other cases of Jain possession, …
Connecting British and Indian, elite and subaltern
This article aims to investigate connections between British and Indian, and elite and subaltern, by exploring the career of colonial administrator Arthur Crawford. The level of separation between British and Indian as portrayed in post-colonial studies is challenged by Crawford's intimate connections with various Indian groups. A particular manifestation of these connections was the Crawford Scandal of 1889. Dubbed as the ‘most notorious case of…
Understanding Possession in Jainism
Possession among Jains remains an almost unexplored field of study. Based on fieldwork at a Jain pilgrimage site in India, this paper presents ethnographical material on a hitherto unknown oracular possession cult. The paper looks at the ways in which Jains themselves understand and sometimes critique possessions, as a way of understanding Jainism itself. The ethnographic material is presented on the background of other cases of Jain possession, …
Retailing religion
This study investigates guided tours and guide narratives in the context of Hindu pilgrimage in Rishikesh and Haridwar, two pilgrimage towns in Northern India. Combining participant observation with analysis of audio-recorded guide narratives, it finds that the overall structure of the guided tours, combined with a variety of narratives and rhetorical devises, promotes the benefits and uses of religious objects. Cooperating with retailers of reli…
The Scientization and Academization of Jainism
This article introduces the terms scientization and academization and applies them to Jainism. Scientization denotes processes by which proponents of a religion appeal to modern science, and I distinguish between four types of appeals. Academization points to processes by which proponents of a religion establish institutions and practices modeled on mainstream academia, actively use markers of such institutions, create ties with mainstream academ…
Krishna's Curse in the Age of Global Tourism
This article explores the strategies ofpandas (Hindu pilgrimage priests) in Vrindavan, relating changes in their trade (pandagiri) to tourism. These changes are the result of thepandas' creative adjustments to shifting travel patterns that affect their market niche. Utilizing audio-recordings of thepandas' guided tours, the article first portrays howpandas acquire ritual income from pilgrims by 'inspiring' donations of which they get a percentage…
Pilgrimage expansion through tourism in contemporary India
This article investigates the development and promotion of the Char Dham Yatra (or Char Dham), a Hindu pilgrimage route in the Himalayas, to challenge some prevalent assumptions and models in current scholarship concerning pilgrimage and tourism. I argue that the current prominence of the Char Dham is closely tied to the efforts of public tourism agencies and the coming together of a popular religious concept (Char Dham) with a unit of tourism de…
Repackaging India’s Sacred Geography
This article is an attempt to open up the study of pilgrimage and tourism by concentrating on the role of travel agencies in developing Hindu pilgrimage in India. Identifying two limitations in the ongoing debate, it makes use of less-explored themes and concepts including travel menus, package tours, itineraries, day tours, circuits, and scheduling. Surveying 46 travel brochures and popular tours promoted by travel agencies in Delhi, Haridwar, a…
Lærergrupper på Facebook II
I to sammenhengende artikler introduserer vi lærergrupper på Facebook som et nytt forskningsfelt i norsk kontekst. Vår studie undersøker RLE-lærergruppa, en Facebook-gruppe opprettet i 2015 av og for religionslærere. Gruppen har per januar 2020 over 2 800 medlemmer. Vi har samlet inn data på innhold og aktivitet i gruppen over en ettårsperiode fra 2018 til 2019 og kombinert en kvalitativ og kvantitativ koding av alle postene, samt hvem som poster…
Ti uløste problemer – KRLE og Religion og etikk 2020–2030
Lærergrupper på Facebook I
I to sammenhengende artikler introduserer vi lærergrupper på Facebook som et nytt forskningsfelt i norsk kontekst. Vår studie undersøker RLE-lærergruppa, en Facebook-gruppe opprettet i 2015 av og for religionslærere. Gruppen har per januar 2020 over 2 800 medlemmer. Vi har samlet inn data på innhold og aktivitet i gruppen over en ettårsperiode fra 2018 til 2019 og kombinert en kvalitativ og kvantitativ koding av alle postene, samt hvem som poster…
Bridging the research–practice gap on Facebook
In this article I explore the research–practice gap in RE with a unique dataset: The communication by teachers, and between teachers and researchers in a Norwegian Facebook group for RE teachers. Posts and comments in the group reflect that teachers largely communicate a practical form of knowledge with little engagement with research. At the same time, there are instances where members bridge the research–practice gap through interactions betwee…
Kunnskapsproblemet og utforsking med ulike metoder
Hvilken kunnskap skal utforsking med ulike metoder lede til? Som et bidrag til å svare på dette spørsmålet presenterer artikkelen en kunnskapstabell som tilbyr et fagspesifikt språk for å beskrive ulike kunnskapsformer i religions- og livssynsfaget. Tabellen skiller mellom det å lære om religion/religioner og livssyn, og det å lære om akademiske metoder man kan bruke til å utforske dette fagområdet. Her argumenteres det for at forholdet mellom de…
Er Jesus hvit? Fargeblindhet og antirasistisk religionsundervisning
Fargeblindhet brukes i dag som begrep for å peke på tendensen til utad å overse forskjeller i hudfarge selv om det spiller en avgjørende rolle i hvordan man blir oppfattet og behandlet i samfunnet. I denne artikkelen forsøker vi å bidra til en antirasistisk religionsundervisning ved å undersøke hvordan religionsdidaktikken kan utfordre fargeblindhet. I artikkelens første del benytter vi oss av litteratur knyttet til rase, rasisme og kritisk raset…
A methodological turn in RE
In this article, I make the case for a methodological turn in the field based on the growing interest in a methodology-oriented RE. That is, the idea that we should make academic methods and methodology not just a part of, but part and parcel of the core of teaching about religion and worldviews in public education. This interest is found in research articles, new RE curricula and debates about them, and concrete approaches and teaching materials…
VR in RE and moral education
This paper reports from a symposium exploring the application of Virtual Reality (VR) in RE. The contributors presented empirical case-studies of interventions and instructional designs that had been tested in classroom settings ranging from primary to teacher education. The presentations illustrate the ways in which VR can be understood as a rapidly developing family of technologies that, as teaching and learning material, offers a new form of m…
What is reflexivity? A scoping review of reflexivity and related concepts in Religious Education
Reflexivity has become a key concept in RE. It plays a vital role in the interpretive approach and the broader contexts of hermeneutics, anthropology, and research methodology. Moreover, reflexivity is closely related to other terms like self-awareness and self-reflection. How can we conceptualise reflexivity and these related concepts? What are the possible purposes of reflexivity in RE, and how is it facilitated? To answer these questions, we h…
Video as Ethnographic Material in the Classroom
This article explores the integration of 360-video, framed as ethnographic materials, in RE. 360-videos of religious practices are easily available and make it possible for learners to observe and explore religious practice in virtual reality to support learning. The paper analyses written responses from student teachers (N: 17). The students were invited to compare a textbook representation and their own imagination of pilgrimage to Mecca with t…
Sociology (11 works) · Philosophy (8 works) · Religious Education and Schools (7 works) · Ancient history (6 works) · Art (6 works) · History (6 works) · Political science (6 works) · Archaeology (5 works) · History (5 works) · Pilgrimage (5 works)