Björn Þorsteinsson 

About me

I have been a Full Professor of philosophy at the University of Iceland since 2016. Two years earlier, I was appointed Assistant Professor of philosophy (lektor). From 2004 to 2014, I served various positions at the University, worked as part-time lecturer and served as research fellow and post-doc, and worked at the Rector’s Office as project manager responsible for creating the University for Young People (Háskóli unga fólksins) as well as participating in other projects that had to do with most if not all the different faculties and departments of the University.

Throughout the years, I have gathered extensive teaching, research and management experience within the University. I have been blessed with good fortune in my work, and I have proved to be a popular teacher and a successful researcher. I have been entrusted with a variety of administrative tasks that require judgment, diligence and determination. I am skilled at settling disputes and it is important to me that people feel comfortable in the workplace, but I do not shy away from making difficult decisions when necessary.

The administrative roles that I have held within the University since my appointment in 2014 include: Chair of the School of Humanities Teaching Committee and Representative of the Humanities in the University of Iceland Teaching Committee; Chair of the School of Humanities Evaluative Committee at the University of Iceland Research Fund (UI Doctoral Grants Fund/Eimskip University Fund) as well as being Representative of the Humanities on the Research Fund’s central committee; Representative on the University’s Science Committee; Representative on the School of Humanities Equality and Diversity Committee; Member of the evaluation committee for the Evaluation System for Public Higher Education Systems in Iceland that was appointed at the initiative of the Rector in 2015; and Representative of the Humanities at the University Forum (Háskólaþing), in addition to serving as Chair of the Department of Philosophy and Director of the Institute of Philosophy.

I have had the good fortune of participating in and leading several large research projects that have received a Centre of Excellence grant from the Icelandic Centre for Research (Rannis) and generous grants from the European Union (Horizon 2020) and the European Research Council (ERC). I enjoy interdisciplinary research and have worked with scholars from all over the University.

I am author of academic books in Icelandic and French and have published dozens of articles in philosophical journals and anthologies, international and domestic, in Icelandic, English and other languages. In addition, I have edited a large number of books and journal issues. I have translated numerous books and articles into Icelandic from Danish, English, French and German. The total number of works in my bibliography is well over three hundred. In my research, I place great emphasis on the Icelandic language and believe that one of the University’s central tasks consists in ensuring and upholding academic practice in Icelandic.

For more information about my academic work, please refer to my UI-staff page and my IRIS research profile.