The HT Faculties are delighted to welcome Christina Matthiesen as the new Professor of Rhetoric. Christina brings strong Nordic networks, and we aim to establish Lund University as a central hub in developing an internationally leading Nordic Rhetoric network. Additionally, Christina’s interest in building a centre for rhetoric didactics in Lund is particularly exciting, given our recent recruitments of Alastair Henry (Professor in Language Education, especially English), Anette Svensson (Professor in Comparative Literature with Specialization in Literature Education), Katarina Lundin (Professor in Language Education, especially Swedish), Mona Holmqvist (Professor in Educational Science with a specialization in school and the teaching profession), and Kristina Juter (Professor in Mathematics Education). Not to forget the strong research environments we have since before on educational technology (Agneta Gulz and the Educational Technology Group) and LAMINATE, Language Acquisition, Multilingualism, and Teaching (Marianne Gullberg). The professorship of Rhetoric was made possible by a generous donation from Christian W. Jansson, and I would like to take this opportunity to express my and Lund University’s gratitude.
Christina introduces herself as follows:
“In August 2025, I will join Lund University as Professor of Rhetoric. I hold a PhD in Rhetoric from the University of Copenhagen, supervised by Professor Christian Kock, University of Copenhagen, and Professor Linda Flower, Carnegie Mellon University. My dissertation examined the ancient rhetorician Quintilian’s precepts for writing and imitation and involved, beyond the historical dimension, two action-research-oriented case studies within present-day teaching practices.
My research interests stem from the educational tradition of rhetoric, the history of rhetoric, textbook studies, the teaching of rhetoric, writing pedagogy, community literacy, ethnographic studies, and action research. Additionally, I have become increasingly interested in Scandinavian text culture in relation to education, public life, and democracy.
I have served as Associate Professor of Rhetoric at the University of Copenhagen and Aarhus University, and Assistant Professor within the field of L1 education at the Danish School of Education, Aarhus University. Furthermore, I have been a visiting scholar at Purdue University and affiliated with the section of rhetoric at the University of Oslo. Since 2014, I have been involved with the Scandinavian journal Sakprosa as country editor and now as a board member.
Currently, I am co-editing an anthology on female rhetors in Scandinavia with Källström, in collaboration with Aarhus Universitetsforlag. I am also working on a monograph on the Swedish speaker and educator, feminist, and political thinker Ellen Key, supported by a grant from the International Society for the History of Rhetoric. Recently, I have been involved in research projects exploring subject didactics in the context of civic education and textbooks, and cultural change in Nordic education (with Berge, Edgren, Hiidenmaa, and Roos).
At Lund, I hope to pursue interdisciplinary work on teaching, persuasive texts in context, vernacular rhetoric, and dialogue and problem-solving across different social strata. I am very much looking forward to connecting with new and old colleagues, exchanging knowledge and ideas, and contributing to the development of the research environment.”
Warmly welcome to Lund, Christina!
Johannes