I have earlier investigaged intercultural differences and cultural patterns in the use and perception of nature, starting from my dissertation on the American nature writer Edward Abbey. I have written about ecomuseums, beauty in vernacular landscapes, the varying meaning of landscape, anti-landscapes, German allotment gardens,  Norwegian outdoor life, and the role of national imaginaries in environmentalism. Currently I am working on the question how intercultural communication can form a part of English teaching. There are two main problem areas in this field: First, the fact that while English is a global language, the meaning of many concepts (such as "family") derives from the particular cultural contexts of its speakers. Second, the way literature is chosen and interpreted in the West (using for example poststructuralist or related theoretical approaches) is ideologically charged, which becomes apparent when these approaches are used in a non-Western context.