Who we are
Dr. Anh-Dao Katrín Tran is a researcher at the School of Education, University of Iceland. She graduated with a BA from Dartmouth College and an MA from Teachers College, Columbia University as a teacher for the deaf and hearing impaired. She earned her doctorate in educational science at the School of Education, University of Iceland. Her extensive research includes her dissertation, titled Untapped Resources or Deficient “Foreigners”: Students of Vietnamese Background in Icelandic Upper Secondary Schools. Her post-doctoral research was about Icelandic-born of immigrant backgrounds and the stories of their success and challenges in social and academic attainment (2015-2018). Anh-Dao Tran received the Knight’s Cross of the Icelandic Falcon for her work for the benefit of new Icelanders and Icelandic society. She also received the recognition of Barnaheill (Save the Children in Iceland) for her contribution to the benefit of children and their rights.
Dr. Hanna Ragnarsdóttir is a professor at the School of Education, University of Iceland. She completed a BA degree in anthropology and history from the University of Iceland in 1984, an MSc degree in anthropology from the London School of Economics and Political Science in 1986, and a Dr.philosophy in education from the University of Oslo in 2007. Her research has mainly focused on immigrants and refugees (children, adults, and families) in Icelandic society and schools, heritage language research, bi- and plurilingualism, multicultural education, multilingual education, and school reform. Recently published books include Ragnarsdóttir, H. & Lefever, S. (Eds.) (2018). Icelandic studies on diversity and social justice in education. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing and Ragnarsdóttir, H. & Kulbrandstad, L. A. (Eds.) (2018). Learning spaces for inclusion and social justice: Success stories from four Nordic countries. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Dr. Julia Lan Ha received her PhD in Social Psychology from Leopold Franzens University in Innsbruck (Austria) in 2013. Her research for her dissertation was on Vietnamese women and has the title Two Worlds One Origin – A Comparative Study of Vietnamese Women Living in Vietnam and Abroad. During her research, she spent some time at the University of Social Science and Humanities of Ho Chi Minh City, Viet-Nam. She works in the field of intersectionality with a focus on gender, flight and migration. Julia Ha heads the Gender & Diversity Unit at the University of Teacher Education St.Gallen (Switzerland), researches and lectures on gender, diversity and inclusion
Dr. Lise Iversen Kulbrandstad is a professor at the faculty of education at Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences. Her focuses are on Nordic languages, German, special needs, and migration education. She is a Professor in didactics – the teaching and learning of Norwegian and Norwegian as a second language. She is the chairperson of the board of NOKUT (the Norwegian Agency for Quality Assurance in Education) and also the head of the PhD program in Teaching and Teacher Education. In 2020, she was appointed as an honorary doctor by the Board of Teacher Education at Karlstad University