The Kristiansand Interfaith Dialogue

Nancy Lystad Herz (1996) is a Norwegian-Lebanese sociologist, author and senior-advisor in the Norwegian Humanist Association. She has written the books "Shameless" and "Aren`t you getting married soon". She has also written several articles about freedom of choice, growing up between two cultures and negative social control, as well as freedom of expression. From october 2021 to March 2023 she was appointed State Secretary in the Norwegian Ministry of Labour and Social Inclusion. 

Kristine Gripsgård is the debate editor at the Norwegian newspaper Vårt Land. She holds a master degree in law from The University of Bergen. During spring 2025 she hosted the podcast Epleskrotten (Vårt Land) - that seeks to explore ideas about purity culture and christian sexuality. She has former worked as an executive policy adviser to Rebekka Ljosland and Dag Inge Ulstein (KrF). 

Ida McFadzean is a gynaecologist and obstetrician who also works with sexual assaults. She has been working in humanitarian settings for the Red Cross. She is a member of the church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints and has had several leadership positions there.

Mohammed Isak Abdullahi is a project manager at the Islamic Council of Norway, where he leads complex projects focused on religious freedom, anti-Muslim racism, and interfaith dialogue. He holds a Master’s degree in Political Science from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). Mohammed has broad experience from the public sector, humanitarian work, and civil society organizations. He is the co-founder and current chair of Tabantaabo Development Organization, which supports climate resilience and development initiatives in Somalia. He actively participates in public debate in Norway on issues related to integration, international politics, the role of religion in polarized societies, and development policy.

Hi, my name is Lili Reid, I am 19 and originally I'm from Canada and Germany. I am part of the Lutheran Christian faith and am very active within my church, helping out during Sunday service and children's cathedral. Beides being active within my church community i am also interested in politics hosting events like EYP.

Sunniva Whittaker has been the elected rector of the University of Agder since 2019. She was reelected i 2023 for a new four year term ending in 2027.

She is also the elected Chair of Universities Norway til 2025. 

As rector, she is the Chair of the University Board. She represents the university externally in matters connected to UiA and higher education in general. She is also frequently consulted on various issues by private and public sector stakeholders locally, regionally and nationally.

Sunniva aims to create a culture of learning where students feel like partners in a community of knowledge. She works to achieve close collaboration with students through cooperation with student organizations and associations and by having her own student mentors.

Ensuring good research conditions for research groups and individual researchers is also a top priority.

In line with UiA’s vision of co-creating for tomorrow’s knowledge, she stresses the importance of further development of collaboration between industry and public institutions in the region,  including ensuring that students are connected to the labour market during their education.

An important aspect of this collaboration is promoting the knowledge that is co-created with industry and society. She works to strengthen the position of knowledge in the public debate, and consequently contribute to understanding and solving challenges in society.

Sunniva is aware of the importance of the university’s role in societal debate. In 2018, she arranged a conference where researchers from Norway and abroad discussed what role researchers of philosophy, literature, history and other humanities subjects should play in the public debate.

Sunniva was born in Trondheim and was raised in Canada, and considers both Norwegian and English as her mother tongues. She is a full professor, holding a PhD in French Linguistics from the University of Bergen and was formerly the Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Education at UiA. She has also held positions as Department Head and Vice Rector at NHH Norwegian School of Economics. She has studied French, Literary Science and Russian and is also a trained conference interpreter. Her PhD dissertation, which was written in French, explores how argumentation is integrated into language structures.

While working at NHH, she studied macroeconomics, marketing, organizational psychology, management and organizational theory. Her background in the humanities has given her a high level of cultural competence and human understanding. Sunniva recognizes the value of her interdisciplinary background and works to strengthen interdisciplinary collaboration at UiA