Anna Niia Varfolomeeva

Tag: writing

  • Reconnecting with Hungary

    As busy May comes to an end, it’s time to recap my recent two-week research visit to the Center for Contemporary Challenges at the University of Pécs in Hungary, hosted by Dr. Judit Farkas. This visit was generously supported by a mobility grant from the Frontiers of Arctic and Global Resilience (FRONT) research program at the University of Oulu.

    I had not been to Hungary since my PhD defense at Central European University, so I saw this visit as an opportunity to reconnect with the Hungarian research environment. The history of higher education in Pécs dates back to 1367, and, as you can see, the main university building looks quite a bit like Hogwarts (and feels like a labyrinth at times, too).

    (more…)

  • Teaching the Arctic in the midst of a pandemic

    Five years ago, I was preparing to teach my first Arctic-themed course.

    Spring 2020 was a difficult time for many, myself included. I had just come out of hospital quarantine after being one of the first diagnosed COVID-19 patients in my region (I’ve documented this experience here). My university was frantically switching to online teaching. For the first time in my life, I was giving lectures from my kitchen to a sea of black Zoom squares, with only the occasional student face appearing. How could I keep them interested? Why should they even care about permafrost or Indigenous identity when the world around them seemed to be collapsing?

    (more…)