Josefine Thorén
Graduated: spring 2016
Work as: Project manager at Tillsammans - Helsingborg’s adult education association Since graduation, I´ve worked as a project manager, both professionally and on a non-profit basis. I´ve arranged a national conference IntegrationTalks and one of Sweden’s largest #metoo- demonstrations. During the Bachelor programme I did an internship at the Anti-discrimination bureau Norra Skåne and I was a SI mentor as well as student ambassador at Lund University. I was published in and acted as a student editor for the journal Provocatio. I wrote two bachelor theses, the first one about the book Malleus Maleficarum and the second one on a periodical by and for women, Tidskrift för hemmet. At first, I had other plans for what to write about, but these two publications caused an irritation in me that I could not get rid of. The Malleus Maleficarum since it is oozing of misogyny. Tidskrift för hemmet, because these women never got acknowledgement in the history books. My theses gave me opportunity to dive deeply into theories about how ideas of gender not only affect identity formation, but also nationality and religion and how it persists over time. Why the bachelor programme in human rights studies? What makes me angry fascinates and drives me, so human rights studies were a simple choice. During my studies I got to dwell on injustices in the world with like-minded. We also got tools and opportunity to develop ideas on how to take our ambitions further, small or big. This became more and more important throughout my studies. What have you been doing since you graduated? Since 2016 my main work has been project managing for all adult educational associations in the city of Helsingborg’s common human rights project Tillsammans. I´m also writing about feminism and human rights for the daily newspaper Helsingborgs Dagblad and am the founder and spokesperson for the feminist organization FemHbg. Beside this I have my company and give talks about the history of feminism using the Swedish serial killer Hilda Nilsson’s life and deeds as point of departure. I´ve also worked as a coordinator in Helsingborg in the regional integration project Nätverk-Aktivitet-Delaktighet (NAD). How did you come across your current employment? I applied for my job at Tillsammans - Helsingborg’s adult education association on Folkuniversitetet’s webpage. I found it because a mentor at my internship shared it on Facebook. The job sounded perfect for me, and I am happy that my employer thought the same. All other jobs or missions I´ve created myself or been headhunted to. One thing leads to another. Could you describe a normal workday? No day is like the other. I always start with checking my emails. After that, it could be meetings with collaborators, follow up the to-do-list before an upcoming event, or write reports. During lunch I try to attend a seminar or an event to get to know new people in the city. What are your recommendations to other students that would like to pursue a career in the same field? Three things. 1) Build a network, no matter if it`s via LinkedIn or attending events. You want your name to be on people’s mind when competence is needed. 2) Your time is not for free. For a lot of us, our work is our passion and from time to time we are expected to do things on a non-profit basis. I´ve heard things like “but it´s your passion” and “it will give you experience”, but no one can live on air. 3) Find your area of expertise. Find an area that you are passionate about and become an expert within it. This way it will be easier to find work and to argue your unique value in the business. What are your thoughts of the new MA programme in Human Rights Studies? Already as a student/alumni representative, in the group of external experts, I thought that it seemed awesome. Then when the programme was advertised, I looked at the webpage and the feeling just grew stronger. The MA programme has potential to become an important addition with a perspective you cannot find anywhere else in Sweden.
Work as: Project manager at Tillsammans - Helsingborg’s adult education association Since graduation, I´ve worked as a project manager, both professionally and on a non-profit basis. I´ve arranged a national conference IntegrationTalks and one of Sweden’s largest #metoo- demonstrations. During the Bachelor programme I did an internship at the Anti-discrimination bureau Norra Skåne and I was a SI mentor as well as student ambassador at Lund University. I was published in and acted as a student editor for the journal Provocatio. I wrote two bachelor theses, the first one about the book Malleus Maleficarum and the second one on a periodical by and for women, Tidskrift för hemmet. At first, I had other plans for what to write about, but these two publications caused an irritation in me that I could not get rid of. The Malleus Maleficarum since it is oozing of misogyny. Tidskrift för hemmet, because these women never got acknowledgement in the history books. My theses gave me opportunity to dive deeply into theories about how ideas of gender not only affect identity formation, but also nationality and religion and how it persists over time. Why the bachelor programme in human rights studies? What makes me angry fascinates and drives me, so human rights studies were a simple choice. During my studies I got to dwell on injustices in the world with like-minded. We also got tools and opportunity to develop ideas on how to take our ambitions further, small or big. This became more and more important throughout my studies. What have you been doing since you graduated? Since 2016 my main work has been project managing for all adult educational associations in the city of Helsingborg’s common human rights project Tillsammans. I´m also writing about feminism and human rights for the daily newspaper Helsingborgs Dagblad and am the founder and spokesperson for the feminist organization FemHbg. Beside this I have my company and give talks about the history of feminism using the Swedish serial killer Hilda Nilsson’s life and deeds as point of departure. I´ve also worked as a coordinator in Helsingborg in the regional integration project Nätverk-Aktivitet-Delaktighet (NAD). How did you come across your current employment? I applied for my job at Tillsammans - Helsingborg’s adult education association on Folkuniversitetet’s webpage. I found it because a mentor at my internship shared it on Facebook. The job sounded perfect for me, and I am happy that my employer thought the same. All other jobs or missions I´ve created myself or been headhunted to. One thing leads to another. Could you describe a normal workday? No day is like the other. I always start with checking my emails. After that, it could be meetings with collaborators, follow up the to-do-list before an upcoming event, or write reports. During lunch I try to attend a seminar or an event to get to know new people in the city. What are your recommendations to other students that would like to pursue a career in the same field? Three things. 1) Build a network, no matter if it`s via LinkedIn or attending events. You want your name to be on people’s mind when competence is needed. 2) Your time is not for free. For a lot of us, our work is our passion and from time to time we are expected to do things on a non-profit basis. I´ve heard things like “but it´s your passion” and “it will give you experience”, but no one can live on air. 3) Find your area of expertise. Find an area that you are passionate about and become an expert within it. This way it will be easier to find work and to argue your unique value in the business. What are your thoughts of the new MA programme in Human Rights Studies? Already as a student/alumni representative, in the group of external experts, I thought that it seemed awesome. Then when the programme was advertised, I looked at the webpage and the feeling just grew stronger. The MA programme has potential to become an important addition with a perspective you cannot find anywhere else in Sweden.
