Gjessing is broadly acknowledged for his wide-ranging research scope, his combining of past and present perspectives, successfully merging history and the social sciences. Gjessing is remembered as an archaeologist for his ground-breaking research on Stone Age societies, Circumpolar archaeology and Cultural Theory. Gjessing's anthropological education and stature made him a honorary member of the British Royal Anthropological Institute. Among Gjessing's anthropological endeavours, his works on Sami culture is paramount. From early on in his career Gjessing was politically engaged. He was convinced of anthropology's responsibility to critically engage global inequality and injustice, including issues such as the growth and power of multinational corporations and the nature of Western privileges.
Gjessing’s scholarship resonates with core areas of research and engagement critical to the Museum of Cultural History’s interpretation of our role, in academia and society, in the 21st century.
Read Professor Emeritus Einar Østmo's introduction to Gutorm Gjessing: Gutorm Gjessing, archaeologist and ethnographer.
Read Professor Emeritus Tom G. Svensson's introduction to Gutorm Gjessing.
See list of coming and previous lectures in the Gutorm Gjessing Lecture series