Teaching and Supervision

I teach German at all levels and supervise theses with a focus on linguistics at the Bachelor's, Master's, and Magister levels. Within the framework of the Faculty of Humanities Graduate School, I have developed the course Linguistic Discourse Analysis as well as the thematic module Language and Power.

Doctoral Supervision

I currently supervise or have supervised the following doctoral students:

• Hanna Acke, University of Münster (PhD 2014): Discursive Legitimation of Christian Mission in the Publications of the Swedish Mission Covenant around 1900
• Julia Baumann, Stockholm University (PhD 2026): A Corpus and Discourse Linguistic Analysis of the German Reunification
• Henrike Bohlin, Stockholm University: (Metapragmatic) Positionings among Adolescents and Young Adults in Rural Germany)
• Anna Mammitzsch, Stockholm University (PhD 2024): German Diaspora in Sweden: Migration and Multilingualism in Stockholm
• Fabia Hultin Morger, Stockholm University (PhD 2023): Memes in Political Discourse – A Multimodal Analysis
• Viking Peterson, Stockholm University: The Long Struggle for Sweden: West German Cultural Policy during the Cold War
• Kristiina Savola, Stockholm University (PhD 2024): A Linguistic Analysis of Confrontation in the Language Use of Finnish Politicians
• Jonas Trochemowitz, University of Bremen (PhD 2025): Negotiating the Incompatible: A Linguistic Discourse Praxisography of Queer-Christian Subjectivation
• Barbara Wallsten, Stockholm University (PhD 2018): Image Captions in German and Swedish Textbooks
• Gustav Westberg, Stockholm University (PhD 2016): Legitimized Parenthood 1870–2010: A Discourse-Historical Study

In my research, I focus on the connection between language and society, politics and power by investigating historical, social and political phenomenon through linguistic concept-/text- and discourse analyses. My research mainly consists of studies on political and totalitarian language use based on discourse linguistic theories and methods, so called political discourse analysis. Swedish-German relations with a focus on both German dictatorships is an additional research interest, which connects to the question formulations mentioned above. I have also studied different key words and their functions in the current societal debate concerning e.g. north/northern, peace, Bildung, opinion corridor.

Ongoing research projects

Antisemitic manifestations - the semiotics of antisemitism in Sweden and experiences among Jewish youth

Antisemitism is a recurring phenomenon in contemporary Sweden that manifests itself in a wide range of social contexts (e.g., Bachner, 2017; BRÅ, 2019). Reports show the persistence of antisemitism in the everyday lives of Jewish youth (e.g., Katzin, 2021, Wagrell, 2022). The aim of the current research project is to investigate the semiotics of antisemitism and youth’s experiences of antisemitism in contemporary Sweden.

Theoretical and methodological insights from a Discourse-Historical Approach, Social Semiotics and New Sociology of Childhood are used to explore how antisemitism is semiotically practiced and experienced in various societal arenas. The project consists of three work packages (WP). WP A (2023–2024) will focus on the increased presence of radical nationalist propaganda in the public political space in Sweden. WP B (2024–2025) will explore radical nationalist propaganda in school contexts. WP C (2025–2027) will recruit Jewish youths as co-researchers to capture their perspectives on the antisemitic manifestations they encounter in their everyday lives. Combining discourse analytical methods and ethnography, the project will engage with the complexity and nuances of contextualized antisemitic semiotics. By maintaining dialog and collaboration with stakeholders, the project will provide much-needed knowledge about how antisemitism is semiotically manifested and how such manifestations are experienced by minority youth.

PI: Gustav Westberg, Örebro University
Co-researcher: Henning Årman, Stockholm University