Unni Wikan is professor of social anthropology at the University of Oslo, Norway, andthe author of numerous books. She has also taught at Harvard University, Beersheba University, L'ecole des hautes etudes en sciences sociales, and the London School of Economics. In 2004 she received the Norwegian Fritt Ord Award for "her insightful, openhearted and challenging contributions to the public debate on the value conflicts in multicultural societies."She is a member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters.