About

Birgitta Haga Gripsrud is Professor of Health Humanities and Psychosocial Studies at the Department of Caring and Ethics, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Stavanger, Norway. Gripsrud has a humanities background and holds a PhD in Cultural Studies (University of Leeds, 2006). Her research is broadly characterized by interdisciplinary engagement across the humanities, social sciences, health sciences and medicine. A longstanding research interest is in Psychosocial Studies of enculturated and embodied experience (e.g. of the breast and of breast cancer, of ageing and dying-death). This has included collaborations on developing psychosocial methodology and new methods (Visual Matrix), as well as new forms of writing, that are appropriate for inquiry into psychosocially complex and/or emotionally challenging topics. Gripsrud is also engaged in research to develop a psychosocial understanding of conditions for helping professionals’ relational work and ethics of care. Her interest in creative qualitative inquiry extends to ‘applied’ research concerning projects that are situated in-between the arts, culture and sciences.

Gripsrud is a collaborating researcher in the research project, Caring Futures: Developing Care Ethics for Technology-Mediated Care Practices, funded by the Research Council of Norway (2020-2024). She is a longstanding member of the Professional Relations research group and an affiliated researcher at the Centre for Gender Studies – both at the University of Stavanger. From 2015-2022, she was a member of the Executive Committee in the International Research Group for Psycho-Societal Analysis, where she continues to be an active participant. Gripsrud is a founding member of a new Nordic Network for Psychosocial Studies, as well as the Association for Psychosocial Studies, Stavanger Breast Cancer Research Group at Stavanger University Hospital, and the Nordic researcher network Death: Emotions, Relations & Culture (DERC).

Key Publications

Birgitta Haga Gripsrud. (2023). Life pushing through: Coming to writing and mining for deep reflexivity. Qualitative Studies. 8(1): 194-226.

Birgitta Haga Gripsrud. (2021). Mothering death: A psychosocial interpretation of breast cancer biography. Special issue on “Suffering in Contemporary Society”. Qualitative Studies.

Birgitta Haga Gripsrud, Ellen Ramvi & Bjørn Ribers. (2020). Couldn’t care less? A psychosocial analysis of contemporary cancer care policy as a case of borderline welfare. Special issue on Psychosocial approaches to neoliberal policies, institutional settings and welfare practices. Journal of Psychosocial Studies. 13(3): 247-262.