Annika Göran-Rodell

About Annika Göran-Rodell

Annika is a lecturer in culinary arts and hospitality science (RHS) at Örebro University since 2008. Her interdisciplinary background with studies in Culinary Art and Hospitality Science, Expressive arts, pedagogy and leadership contributes to a wide-ranging research interest, often with aesthetics as a starting point.

Annika's interest in research can be said to be at the intersection of aesthetics, hospitality and pedagogy. Annika was appointed to the Excellent teacher scheme at Örebro University in 2012 and got the Pedagogic award in 2020.

TEACHING
Annika was employed in 2008 to work on the aesthetic dimensions of the meal and over the years, her work has focused on what she calls the aesthetics of the meeting. It can be said to be within the framework of the new form of aesthetics called relational aesthetics, which is about creating forms of human exchange: setting up meetings and rooms where the form itself is important for knowledge acquisition. Annika argues that aesthetic working methods and a reflective practice are especially interested in what happens when we are conscious about our body as a sensual, emotional and cognitive actor. This involves questions about what happens when we are present and authentic in the actual meeting with ourselves and the other, that is, how we make relationships possible. Annika teaches in the arias of applied aesthetics, oral communication, hosting and leadership. 

Annika is responsible for RHS basic course in applied aesthetics and for a 10-week course in Development of meal experiences for year 3. In the latter course is created together with an external from the industry, who for the past 3 years has been chef Paul Svensson, now an honorary doctorate at ORU, with a focus on sustainability. In 2020, together with Paul, Annika created a prototype for a course where the gastronomist is seen as a change agent. What does a place taste like and how can the students understand the entire food chain and their place in it? In 2021, a collaboration started with the municipality of Hällefors, which acted as a client for the students. This resulted in a broader regional collaboration in 2022, where the course became a catalyst for greater work on the degree of self-sufficiency. The mission from Hällefors municipality was then: What can Hällefors as a self-sufficient municipality taste like in the future? How can students create a meal experience that can reflect a concept that puts Hällefors on the gastronomic map?

PREVIOUS RESEARCH

HAPTICA
Haptica was a three-year project in collaboration with Konstfack, University College of Arts, Crafts and Design, and RHS, funded by the Swedish Research Council. The purpose of the project was to emphasize haptic aspects of presence, movement, touch, taste and aroma in in relation to a creative process.

Annika was one of three artistic course leaders together with Cheryl Akner Koler and Mischa Billing. Annika's part of the project was about developing pedagogical methods in order to advance the sensory sensitivity of the professional meal craftsman but also methods to advance their inner capacity by sharpening the wilful attention and thereby getting a basic understanding of how to shape relations within a hospitality setting.

The project is reported on the Research Catalogue - an international database for artistic research. Parts of the project will be presented in JAR Journal of Artistic Research during 2021.

 
Reflection in the profession. Banquet as a threshold experience - a case study.
In the field of higher education research there has been an interest in what is called the threshold concept - the thresholds of knowledge that need to be passed in order to go from being a novice to becoming a master. During 2015-16 Annika has examined the threshold concept related to student participation in the Academic Banquet of Örebro University. In a professional study programme, certain questions arise as a matter of course: When does a student start to think as a professional? What thresholds need to be passed before this can happen? The research was presented as a Master’s (60 credits) dissertation.

Touched by hospitality and leadership - a means of competition
In 2010, Annika was project manager for the project "Touched by hospitality and leadership - a means of competition", an establishment project funded by the KK Foundation. Two workshops were held, at two well-known hotels in the Swedish countryside. People with good insights into the field of hospitality, nationally, regionally and locally, where invited to a dialogue about hospitality and leadership. The process method used in the dialogue was developed from Theory U (Scharmer, 2007). The establishment project did not provide any more funding, consequently the research ended. The results and interpretation of the workshops resulted in an essay on the advanced course level.

COLLABORATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS
During 2013-15, Annika, in addition to her work at RHS, held a post as academic developer at the Centre for Academic Development (PIL) at Örebro University and today she holds an academic development assignment at RHS regarding general competencies.

For the past 7 years, Annika has been one of three course leaders on the international master's course "Back to the land - reconnecting Urban and Rural Through Food Systems" run by Konstfack – University of Arts, Crafts and Design. Annika was responsible for the educational process with a focus on social co-creation based on Theory U (Scharmer, 2007; Scharmer & Kaufer, 2013; Scharmer, 2018) and meal rituals.