Marie Gorm Aabo

Short presentation

I am a PhD student at the Copenhagen Center for Health Research in the Humanities (CoRe). My PhD is about tinnitus, sound environment and sensory methods. I have a Master's degree in European Ethnology and my areas of interest are aging, health and disease, hearing and tinnitus, senses, and working life. I have extensive experience producing podcasts and I have taught the course Ethnological Communication on the undergraduate course in European Ethnology. 

Primary fields of research

• Sound, hearing and tinnitus
• Ageing
• Disability Studies
• Senior working life, late career and retirement transitions
• Food and Meals
• Mental Health
• Communication
• Cultural analysis

Current research

Based on how tinnitus affects people's everyday lives, my PhD project explores how we can understand the impact of the sound environment on physical as well as mental health. Tinnitus is on the rise, challenging the sense of hearing and the way people perceive the everyday sound environment. The project will provide a unique opportunity to investigate the affective and bodily effects of listening practices, sound environments and hearing disorders.

The theoretical basis of the project is the ethnological exploration of everyday life, especially the practice-oriented cultural analysis with a focus on how phenomena are experienced, perceived and enacted. With hearing disorders as a prism to understand sound environments in an everyday perspective, several other relevant research fields open up. The project therefore draws on concepts from: Humanistic Health Studies, Disability Studies, Sensory Studies, and Sound Studies. The project will combine classical ethnographic methods and new experimental methods, where the informants are involved in a co-creation process with the researcher.

The research project contributes with 1) an increased focus on how sound environments affect our quality of life, 2) new qualitative knowledge on how tinnitus is experienced and managed in an everyday life perspective and 3) an exploration of the potential of sensory methods in ethnological methodological, analytical and dissemination work, which will develop the ethnological everyday life analysis and communication strategy.

CV

• Research assistant at the outreach and research project "From working life to senior life". The project is a partnership between Vordingborg Municipality, Vejle Municipality, Aarhus Municipality and the University of Copenhagen, established to develop joint, practice-oriented initiatives that strengthen citizens in transition from working life to senior living.

• Research assistant on the research project "Senior practice - mental health late in working life". Through ethnographic fieldwork in the manufacturing and financial industries, we developed industry-specific solutions to improve senior practices in Danish workplaces and thereby create better working conditions for seniors. As a result, we launched the campaign "The Experienced", which consists of a series of tools for managers, the senior workers, and trade unions, a podcast with stories from the experienced themselves, a dissemination report, a blog and a number of other publications.  

• Research assistant on the project 'Senior Practice - Mental Health in Late Working Life' supported by Velliv Foreningen. The project is hosted by the Copenhagen Centre for Health Research in the Humanities, SAXO Institute, University of Copenhagen

• External lecturer in the subject Ethnological Communication at BA level. The teaching involved planning of lectures, including contact with guest lecturers, curriculum selection, teaching classes as well as tutorials, supervision and examination of students in the broad field of communication.

• Producer and project manager in the media company Georg Works, combining visual methods from the film world with cultural theories from ethnology. My role was general running of the start-up, including client outreach, concept development and pricing, marketing strategy and social media, and project management, including organising projects and work processes that took into account practical and financial constraints.

• Project manager and consultant in the qualitative consulting company Actant. Actant's core competencies are participative processes, target group analysis, strategic analysis, concept development and organisational development. I have designed and conducted ethnographic studies, I have analysed and evaluated with qualitative methods such as pattern recognition, I have involved clients and users, and I have communicated results in tangible recommendations and tools. I was project manager on the project

• Student assistant on the research project "Appetite for food". I planned, executed and analysed a large project in collaboration with the Municipality of Copenhagen on small eaters and their challenges with appetite. I helped present the project's findings at a stakeholder workshop. The results were published as a report and as a brochure with recommendations for daily use in elderly care. The project has subsequently been replicated in other municipalities across the country and the results are still in use.

Other experience

• Ethnological Forum. Steering group member and organiser of the annual networking event for ethnologists.

• Heart Ache - a podcast about grief. Organiser, editor and host. We have over 35,000 listens on our 16 episodes.

• KULT - a network for ethnologists and anthropologists. Founder and co-chair of network for recent graduates in ethnology and anthropology.