Reidar S Jessen (PhD., University of Oslo) is a clinical psychologist and postdoctoral fellow at the University of Oslo, Department of Psychology. The overarching question guiding his research is the development of self and identity, and he works at the intersection of psychology, feminist and queer studies. Jessen is currently conducting qualitative interviews with transgender youth in Norway about their subjective experiences of gender. He is also involved in ySKILLS (Youth Skills), an interdisciplinary research collaboration between LSE and the University of Oslo that explores the impact of the digital environment on children and young people. Jessen’s postdoctoral fellowship is financed by the interdisciplinary research project Living the Nordic Model and UiO:Norden. His visiting fellowship at LSE is financed by ReNEW (Reimagining Norden in an Evolving World).
During his time at LSE, Jessen will be working with Dr Sonia Livingstone and Dr Mariya Stoilova on how young people with mental health difficulties are navigating both risk and affordances in the digital environment, with a special focus on how digital media contributes to senses of self and identity. More specifically, Jessen aims to explore sources of self-knowledge that youth with mental health difficulties draw on when they engage with digital media, and how they make this content meaningful in their everyday life.