Dr Hilde Haualand is a Deaf professor and researcher at Oslo Metropolitan University (OsloMet), where she holds a position in the Department of International Studies and Interpreting. Her academic work explores the intersections of sign language interpreting, accessibility, Deaf epistemologies, and Actor-Network Theory, particularly in Nordic contexts.
Academic Background and Positions
Haualand completed her doctoral degree in 2012. Since the early 2000s, she has taught and conducted research related to sign language interpreting and Deaf community inclusion. As of 2025, she is Professor of Interpreting and Deaf Studies at OsloMet and an affiliated researcher at the University of Bern’s Center for the Study of Language and Society (CSLS), where she participates in projects addressing Deaf people’s sociolinguistic lives[2].
Research Contributions and Theoretical Framework
A core focus of Haualand’s work is the sociotechnical politics of interpreting services, especially video relay interpreting. Using Actor-Network Theory, she analyses the role of technologies and institutions in shaping access for Deaf individuals, challenging simplified notions of inclusion through interpretation[1].
One of her significant arguments is that interpreting is often seen as a “quick fix” to systemic barriers, while in practice it reproduces new forms of dependency or exclusion. She has explored these issues in publications such as Licence to inform: Norwegian sign language interpreters in a bureaucratic organisation and her widely cited report Interpreting services – a quick fix for inclusion?[3].
Her research has also addressed the ideologies surrounding sign language in Norway and Sweden, contributing to a deeper understanding of how Deaf people experience linguistic belonging, recognition, and stigma in different national contexts[3].
Teaching, Outreach, and Leadership
At OsloMet, Dr Haualand teaches across several programs, particularly in the sign language interpreting education curriculum. Her courses cover interpreter professionalism, social theory, accessibility, and Deaf epistemologies. She has also coordinated international projects such as COIL (Collaborative Online International Learning) modules for Deaf Studies students, as well as initiatives within the Erasmus Mundus programs[1].
Her academic impact includes over 25 peer-reviewed publications, contributions to policy development, and active involvement in Nordic and international Deaf studies networks. She has presented expert testimony on Deaf rights and language access in public forums and works to advance Deaf-led knowledge production in the academy[2].
Legacy and Vision
Dr Hilde Haualand is widely recognized for reframing sign language interpreting as more than a technical solution to communication, but as a sociopolitical practice embedded in systems of power, recognition, and access. Her work contributes not only to academic scholarship but to the structural transformation of how inclusion and accessibility are understood and implemented in society[3].
- OsloMet – Oslo Metropolitan University. (n.d.). Hilde Haualand – Professor, Department of International Studies and Interpreting.
- University of Bern – Center for the Study of Language and Society. (n.d.). Hilde Haualand.
- The Mind Hears. (2021, March 31). Profile: Dr Hilde Haualand.
