Narration as a methodological tool, and fiction as part of an aesthetic and theoretical framework for artworks is the context that this seminar is situated in. By looking at different theories and examples of narration and fictionalization within the fine arts context the seminar is intended to enable students to engage with and critically examine different aspects, dangers and outcomes telling a story can entail. Fiction and its somewhat uneasy relationship with the real will be examined as well as the role of narration and narrative structures within contemporary fine art practices. The overlapping of the personal and the public, the digital and the material, time and medium are further fields of investigation within the seminar and will be visited using tools of theory, and tools of telling a story.

The course is held at LHÍ

The aim of the course is to provide students with a more comprehensive and deeper insight into the different theoretical approaches within the humanities. In the course, the main theories that have influenced theoretical discussion in the humanities over the last decades will be presented and discussed, and the students are taught how to apply them in their own research.

Training in various aspects of the writing and editing of scientific texts. Various kinds of texts (non-fiction) examined and evaluated. Training in reviewing and commenting on scientific texts and in other aspects of editorial work. The main emphasis will be on the writing of articles, but other kinds of texts will also be considered, both shorter (conference abstracts, reviews) and longer (theses, books), as well as research proposals. Discussion of guidelines for the preparation of manuscripts. Types of plagiarism and how to avoid them and find them. Texts on different subjects will be used as examples, especially writings in linguistics, literature and history. The book Skrifaðu bæði skýrt og rétt will be used as a textbook (Höskuldur Þráinsson 2015).

This course is open to students of many MA programmes in the School of Humanities, cf. the regulations of the individual subjects. Students in the MA programmes in Icelandic literature, Icelandic linguistics, Icelandic studies and Icelandic teaching can take the course as part of the MA course requirements in Icelandic literature or Icelandic linguistics. Students in the MA programme in Icelandic teaching can, however, not have this course as the only linguistics or literature course in their MA.

This course explores artworks in the context of gender and discusses the theoretical basis of gender studies and its trans-disciplinary nature. It seeks to explore how ideas on gender influence artistic practice and discussion and writing on the fine arts. The representations and meanings of gender in language, society and culture are also analyzed with an emphasis on stereotypes and/or their deconstruction in the positions artists take in their work. The approach taken by feminists and queer theory is used to explore the role of gender in the works of artists who bend stereotypical images of femininity and masculinity and create upheaval in the dominant discourse and gender systems of the Western world. Studies on gender inequality and its diverse representations in the contemporary art world are introduced and discussed.

The the aim of the individual practice based research work is to become familiar with reserch and mediation in a museum, a gallery or other art institution, such as the University of Iceland Art Collection. It can also be carried out within an art institution abroad.

In recent decades, theoretical contexts of art historiography and art criticism have been thoroughly reexamined. New theories, new data and digital technologies have led to a drastic change in research questions and approaches. Critical concepts such as intersectionality, inclusion, sustainability, social activism, and environment have led to new methodologies and different perspectives. In this course, these approaches will be discussed though reading the latest research in the field of art and cultural history. Ideas about the global artworlds and its cultural and political connections will be examined in detail, a variety of topics will be discussed and dissected in writing.

In a historical context art has been the facet of society where innovation and progressive thinking has been of most value. This forward-looking aspect of art has non-the-less always depended upon its historical precedents—previous art practice. It is in this context that contemporary artists are constantly renewing their previous premises. At the same time contemporary art worlds are by nature complex structures—an increasing mix of different media and influences, where artists of necessity are informed by theoretical, social, political, and economic premises. In accord with that, contemporary cultural premises are in constant flux, dependent upon changes in technology, urbanisation, globalisation, and climate, in addition to a more volatile political field. It is in response to these issues that the nature of artistic practice is constantly changing. For these reasons it is adamant to constantly re-conceptualise the analysis of art and its function in society, where novel ideas and definitions, such as the 'Anthropocene' and the 'posthuman', can be utilised to understand better the situation of art in human society. In this course we re-examine the theoretical premises of contemporary art practice via research of the field of art—historical and contemporary—through research based on the interplay of art with diverse fields of study: history, philosophy, literature, media and film studies, anthropology, political theory, geography, sociology.

Drawing on landscape painting, stagecraft, urban lighting, carnival, and scientific demonstration, modern spectacles construct a nostalgic sense of a mythical past for modern viewers. This seminar examines 18th- and 19th-century spectacles (including the magic lantern, panorama, and cosmorama), early 20th-century habitat and anthropological dioramas (such as at the 1931 Paris Colonial Exhibition and at the American Museum of Natural History), and contemporary installation art, beginning with Marcel Duchamp’s Étant donnés (Given) and concluding with contemporary works by Snæbjörnsdóttir/Wilson, Richard Barnes, Kent Monkman, and Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, among others. We will examine these case studies through art historical accounts, as well as novels and contemporary reviews, placing these spectacles in relation to three overarching themes: colonialism, antisemitism, and racism more broadly; a European sense of identity and otherness, and; the history of the experience of time. We begin the course with Paris, then broaden our view to Europe and North America, culminating with a global cohort of artists and companies that employ VR and projection to create immersive experiences, such as Immersive Van Gogh, to reenchant the modern past for postmodern viewers.

In this course we examine the art museum in a historical and contemporary light. The course provides insight into the history and development of art museums globally, as well as the complicated relationship between the history of artistic practice, art history and theory and art museums. Topics discussed include: the roots of modern art museums in the private collections of nobility and political elites in Europe, the establishment of the first public museums in Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries, artists’ critiques of art museums in the 20th and 21st century, art museums’ relationship to colonialism and increased demands in recent years for the restitution of art objects and cultural heritage to communities of origin. The ideological foundation of art museums, and its correlation with aesthetic theories, will be examined, and the relationship between art museums and art history as an academic practice discussed. Students will be acquainted with different images of the art museum, e.g. the art museum as a temple, the universal survey museum, the white cube of modern art museums and recent ideas of art museums as a forum for critical dialogue. The influence of nationalism on the role and practice of art museums, and the impact of globalization on art museums internationally will be considered. The history of art museums in Iceland will be presented and discussed alongside the history of artist run spaces.

The course discusses the philosophical and theoretical foundations of gender studies, and the critical and interdisciplinary content of the field. The representation and meaning of sex and gender in language, culture, history, science, and society is explored. The analytical perspective of the field is presented, as is its relationship with methodology. Students are trained in applying theoretical concepts and methods independently and critically.

This course looks at the relationship between humans and nature from a critical theoretical perspective. We look at both „natural“ phenomena, such as plants and vegetation, as well as “cultural” phenomena, such as wilderness, gardens and landscape, from the viewpoints of environmental history and art history. Representation of nature in the Icelandic context will also be discussed. The course will be conceived of as a seminar, where each week in the syllabus adopts a new lens on the subject, in most cases in the forms of reading of chapters from either classics in the attendant fields and newer and more speculative material such as recent publications in the field of posthuman theory.
Students are expected to read all the reading material submitted and to take an active part in discussions.

An introduction to the collaboration and division of work between an editor and a graphic designer in the creation of printed work with emphasis on the importance of typography. Students will gain insight into the basis of typography and preparation for print as well as learning about the graphic designer's tools in context with principal kinds of print. The course will include readings and discourse on the influence of graphic design on legibility and understanding, as well as discourse on quality, usefulness, aesthetics and practicality in graphic design.

The student will present and hand in a written analysis on a printed good of their own choice and are also encouraged to actively participate in discussions in class. The final project consists of creating your own publishing project and communicate ideas on its editing grahpically and in writing.

Students learn and are trained in the methods of archival research, finding and evaluating sources in archives.  Practical exercises will be assigned.

The the aim of the individual practice based research work is to become familiar with reserch and mediation in a museum, a gallery or other art institution, such as the University of Iceland Art Collection. It can also be carried out within an art institution abroad.

The the aim of the individual practice based research work is to become familiar with reserch and mediation in a museum, a gallery or other art institution, such as the University of Iceland Art Collection. It can also be carried out within an art institution abroad.

The course lays the foundation for the active work of curators for practical work in the field of art and museums. We work in an interdisciplinary and critical way with concepts and theories that relate to the work of curators in the field of contemporary art. Students work in teams and set up an exhibition in collaboration with art students or artists. Students will apply knowledge and methods to practical issues, work on preparation, design, text writing and preparation of promotional material in connection with an exhibition. The course is partly run in collaboration with the Master's program in art at the University of Iceland, and students will have the opportunity to collaborate with the University of Iceland Art Museum and other recognised art museums.

The relationship between the environment and our lived totality is a recurring subject throughout art history after the enlightenment. In time based mediums such as film and video, certain aspects of this relationship, such as; sense of place, temporality, and experience of time as spatial, have been especially compelling. This course aims to explore various approaches and methods within the video art and experimental film canon that have developed to express these ideologies. The documentary film within a fine art context and landscape cinema will be considered, along with the wider context surrounding these movements. Various aspects of the relationship between physical surroundings, medium, and theoretical frameworks will also be considered as grounds for further examination of environment, materiality, politics, and visual representation.

The idea of an impending apocalypse has been a strong cultural signifier in Western thought, ranging from the historically reoccurring trends of religious expectations towards End Times, to the contemporary ennui associated with a foreseeable ecological collapse. With this as a background, the course aims to strengthen students’ theoretical understanding of the problems of defining the contemporary when faced with the ontological contradiction of radical ruptures within time itself. In this course we will therefore investigate the apocalypse from multiple perspectives to include considerations towards the ontology of time and to what extent the concepts of history, progress and time are entangled. This will involve looking at theories ranging from post-modernist declarations about the end of history, as well as the more contemporary notions of post-history and post-contemporary. It will also include speculations about cultural projection and possible psychoanalytic drives invested in the conception of an apocalypse, as well as looking at work by individual artists to see how the tradition of apocalyptic thought may stimulate art production.

The course is held at LHÍ

Narration as a methodological tool, and fiction as part of an aesthetic and theoretical framework for artworks is the context that this seminar is situated in. By looking at different theories and examples of narration and fictionalization within the fine arts context the seminar is intended to enable students to engage with and critically examine different aspects, dangers and outcomes telling a story can entail. Fiction and its somewhat uneasy relationship with the real will be examined as well as the role of narration and narrative structures within contemporary fine art practices. The overlapping of the personal and the public, the digital and the material, time and medium are further fields of investigation within the seminar and will be visited using tools of theory, and tools of telling a story.

The course is held at LHÍ

The aim of the course is to provide students with a more comprehensive and deeper insight into the different theoretical approaches within the humanities. In the course, the main theories that have influenced theoretical discussion in the humanities over the last decades will be presented and discussed, and the students are taught how to apply them in their own research.

Training in various aspects of the writing and editing of scientific texts. Various kinds of texts (non-fiction) examined and evaluated. Training in reviewing and commenting on scientific texts and in other aspects of editorial work. The main emphasis will be on the writing of articles, but other kinds of texts will also be considered, both shorter (conference abstracts, reviews) and longer (theses, books), as well as research proposals. Discussion of guidelines for the preparation of manuscripts. Types of plagiarism and how to avoid them and find them. Texts on different subjects will be used as examples, especially writings in linguistics, literature and history. The book Skrifaðu bæði skýrt og rétt will be used as a textbook (Höskuldur Þráinsson 2015).

This course is open to students of many MA programmes in the School of Humanities, cf. the regulations of the individual subjects. Students in the MA programmes in Icelandic literature, Icelandic linguistics, Icelandic studies and Icelandic teaching can take the course as part of the MA course requirements in Icelandic literature or Icelandic linguistics. Students in the MA programme in Icelandic teaching can, however, not have this course as the only linguistics or literature course in their MA.

This course explores artworks in the context of gender and discusses the theoretical basis of gender studies and its trans-disciplinary nature. It seeks to explore how ideas on gender influence artistic practice and discussion and writing on the fine arts. The representations and meanings of gender in language, society and culture are also analyzed with an emphasis on stereotypes and/or their deconstruction in the positions artists take in their work. The approach taken by feminists and queer theory is used to explore the role of gender in the works of artists who bend stereotypical images of femininity and masculinity and create upheaval in the dominant discourse and gender systems of the Western world. Studies on gender inequality and its diverse representations in the contemporary art world are introduced and discussed.

The the aim of the individual practice based research work is to become familiar with reserch and mediation in a museum, a gallery or other art institution, such as the University of Iceland Art Collection. It can also be carried out within an art institution abroad.

Drawing on landscape painting, stagecraft, urban lighting, carnival, and scientific demonstration, modern spectacles construct a nostalgic sense of a mythical past for modern viewers. This seminar examines 18th- and 19th-century spectacles (including the magic lantern, panorama, and cosmorama), early 20th-century habitat and anthropological dioramas (such as at the 1931 Paris Colonial Exhibition and at the American Museum of Natural History), and contemporary installation art, beginning with Marcel Duchamp’s Étant donnés (Given) and concluding with contemporary works by Snæbjörnsdóttir/Wilson, Richard Barnes, Kent Monkman, and Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, among others. We will examine these case studies through art historical accounts, as well as novels and contemporary reviews, placing these spectacles in relation to three overarching themes: colonialism, antisemitism, and racism more broadly; a European sense of identity and otherness, and; the history of the experience of time. We begin the course with Paris, then broaden our view to Europe and North America, culminating with a global cohort of artists and companies that employ VR and projection to create immersive experiences, such as Immersive Van Gogh, to reenchant the modern past for postmodern viewers.

Drawing on landscape painting, stagecraft, urban lighting, carnival, and scientific demonstration, modern spectacles construct a nostalgic sense of a mythical past for modern viewers. This seminar examines 18th- and 19th-century spectacles (including the magic lantern, panorama, and cosmorama), early 20th-century habitat and anthropological dioramas (such as at the 1931 Paris Colonial Exhibition and at the American Museum of Natural History), and contemporary installation art, beginning with Marcel Duchamp’s Étant donnés (Given) and concluding with contemporary works by Snæbjörnsdóttir/Wilson, Richard Barnes, Kent Monkman, and Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, among others. We will examine these case studies through art historical accounts, as well as novels and contemporary reviews, placing these spectacles in relation to three overarching themes: colonialism, antisemitism, and racism more broadly; a European sense of identity and otherness, and; the history of the experience of time. We begin the course with Paris, then broaden our view to Europe and North America, culminating with a global cohort of artists and companies that employ VR and projection to create immersive experiences, such as Immersive Van Gogh, to reenchant the modern past for postmodern viewers.

MA-thesis 

In this course we examine the art museum in a historical and contemporary light. The course provides insight into the history and development of art museums globally, as well as the complicated relationship between the history of artistic practice, art history and theory and art museums. Topics discussed include: the roots of modern art museums in the private collections of nobility and political elites in Europe, the establishment of the first public museums in Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries, artists’ critiques of art museums in the 20th and 21st century, art museums’ relationship to colonialism and increased demands in recent years for the restitution of art objects and cultural heritage to communities of origin. The ideological foundation of art museums, and its correlation with aesthetic theories, will be examined, and the relationship between art museums and art history as an academic practice discussed. Students will be acquainted with different images of the art museum, e.g. the art museum as a temple, the universal survey museum, the white cube of modern art museums and recent ideas of art museums as a forum for critical dialogue. The influence of nationalism on the role and practice of art museums, and the impact of globalization on art museums internationally will be considered. The history of art museums in Iceland will be presented and discussed alongside the history of artist run spaces.

The course discusses the philosophical and theoretical foundations of gender studies, and the critical and interdisciplinary content of the field. The representation and meaning of sex and gender in language, culture, history, science, and society is explored. The analytical perspective of the field is presented, as is its relationship with methodology. Students are trained in applying theoretical concepts and methods independently and critically.

This course looks at the relationship between humans and nature from a critical theoretical perspective. We look at both „natural“ phenomena, such as plants and vegetation, as well as “cultural” phenomena, such as wilderness, gardens and landscape, from the viewpoints of environmental history and art history. Representation of nature in the Icelandic context will also be discussed. The course will be conceived of as a seminar, where each week in the syllabus adopts a new lens on the subject, in most cases in the forms of reading of chapters from either classics in the attendant fields and newer and more speculative material such as recent publications in the field of posthuman theory.
Students are expected to read all the reading material submitted and to take an active part in discussions.

An introduction to the collaboration and division of work between an editor and a graphic designer in the creation of printed work with emphasis on the importance of typography. Students will gain insight into the basis of typography and preparation for print as well as learning about the graphic designer's tools in context with principal kinds of print. The course will include readings and discourse on the influence of graphic design on legibility and understanding, as well as discourse on quality, usefulness, aesthetics and practicality in graphic design.

The student will present and hand in a written analysis on a printed good of their own choice and are also encouraged to actively participate in discussions in class. The final project consists of creating your own publishing project and communicate ideas on its editing grahpically and in writing.

Students learn and are trained in the methods of archival research, finding and evaluating sources in archives.  Practical exercises will be assigned.

The the aim of the individual practice based research work is to become familiar with reserch and mediation in a museum, a gallery or other art institution, such as the University of Iceland Art Collection. It can also be carried out within an art institution abroad.

The the aim of the individual practice based research work is to become familiar with reserch and mediation in a museum, a gallery or other art institution, such as the University of Iceland Art Collection. It can also be carried out within an art institution abroad.

The course lays the foundation for the active work of curators for practical work in the field of art and museums. We work in an interdisciplinary and critical way with concepts and theories that relate to the work of curators in the field of contemporary art. Students work in teams and set up an exhibition in collaboration with art students or artists. Students will apply knowledge and methods to practical issues, work on preparation, design, text writing and preparation of promotional material in connection with an exhibition. The course is partly run in collaboration with the Master's program in art at the University of Iceland, and students will have the opportunity to collaborate with the University of Iceland Art Museum and other recognised art museums.

The relationship between the environment and our lived totality is a recurring subject throughout art history after the enlightenment. In time based mediums such as film and video, certain aspects of this relationship, such as; sense of place, temporality, and experience of time as spatial, have been especially compelling. This course aims to explore various approaches and methods within the video art and experimental film canon that have developed to express these ideologies. The documentary film within a fine art context and landscape cinema will be considered, along with the wider context surrounding these movements. Various aspects of the relationship between physical surroundings, medium, and theoretical frameworks will also be considered as grounds for further examination of environment, materiality, politics, and visual representation.

The idea of an impending apocalypse has been a strong cultural signifier in Western thought, ranging from the historically reoccurring trends of religious expectations towards End Times, to the contemporary ennui associated with a foreseeable ecological collapse. With this as a background, the course aims to strengthen students’ theoretical understanding of the problems of defining the contemporary when faced with the ontological contradiction of radical ruptures within time itself. In this course we will therefore investigate the apocalypse from multiple perspectives to include considerations towards the ontology of time and to what extent the concepts of history, progress and time are entangled. This will involve looking at theories ranging from post-modernist declarations about the end of history, as well as the more contemporary notions of post-history and post-contemporary. It will also include speculations about cultural projection and possible psychoanalytic drives invested in the conception of an apocalypse, as well as looking at work by individual artists to see how the tradition of apocalyptic thought may stimulate art production.

The course is held at LHÍ

MA-thesis 

The course will discuss visual arts from a twofold perspective of the individual artist and the society. It will survey artistic creation as driven by individual motivations and the status of artists and artworks within contexts of the societal and cultural politics. Artistic creation that embodies the promise of individual expression, freedom and the formation of the self must confront the society and consider external factors including theoretical discourse, and cultural politics that impact the reception of artworks, and artists prominence in any given period. The course applies interdisciplinary methods of art history and art theory to analyze connections between individual intentions and power, histories of art and role of educational institutions, resistance and compliance, the modern art world in context of colonialism and industrialization, and the influence of identity politics and globalization on art and artists in recent decades. An emphasis will be placed on examining the courses issues in connection to Iceland’s visual art’s context in conjunction with broader international and global contexts. The aim is to further a clear vision of the correlation between the individual and the outside world, and between the artist’s self and social identities.

This course is taught in LHÍ

The idea of an impending apocalypse has been a strong cultural signifier in Western thought, ranging from the historically reoccurring trends of religious expectations towards End Times, to the contemporary ennui associated with a foreseeable ecological collapse. With this as a background, the course aims to strengthen students’ theoretical understanding of the problems of defining the contemporary when faced with the ontological contradiction of radical ruptures within time itself. In this course we will therefore investigate the apocalypse from multiple perspectives to include considerations towards the ontology of time and to what extent the concepts of history, progress and time are entangled. This will involve looking at theories ranging from post-modernist declarations about the end of history, as well as the more contemporary notions of post-history and post-contemporary. It will also include speculations about cultural projection and possible psychoanalytic drives invested in the conception of an apocalypse, as well as looking at work by individual artists to see how the tradition of apocalyptic thought may stimulate art production.

The course is held at LHÍ

This seminar deals with the cultural milieu of Bohemianism, focusing on the various mythological guises of the Bohemian. Idlers and workaholics, aristocrats and outcasts, hedonists and ascetics, drunkards and teetotallers, misunderstood geniuses and scapegraces, all find their place in this history. The main aspect linking these different images is the position at the margin of bourgeois culture and the seminar aims to arrive at an understanding of the role of this counter-cultural milieu. The main emphasis is on the image of the Bohemian in modern European literature, but students will also deal with manifestations of Bohemia in film, visual art, advertising and other media from the mid-19th century to the present day.

The course is run in cooperation with the state radio station: RÚV - Rás 1. Discussion will take place into the presentation of radio/audio material, various examples being examined. Attention will be given to the nature of audio communication and the possibilities of audio communication in the present media environment. Attention is also paid to concept development, interview techniques, recording techniques, dramaturgy and editing, accentuating sustainability and self-reliance. All students will complete a final project involving the making of radio programmes.

Many students, who finish their studies in the School of Humanities, in particular students from the Department of Icelandic and Comparative Cultural Studies, are likely to be employed in the future by media-companies, publishing houses and cultural institutions and asked to write criticism or news about books and art-events. The course focuses on the role and characteristics of cultural journalism in Iceland. Students will get acquainted with most of the genres of cultural journalism, such as interviews, criticism, news-releases and blog. They will work on practical assignments that will be related to specific cultural events in Iceland in the spring of 2018.

The course will examine the history and development of documentaries.  Key works and authors will be presented, along with trends that have been throughout the history of documentaries such as direct cinema, cinema vérité, Grierson movement, Kinoks, film-diary.  We will look at how technological developments affected the making of documentaries.

The course is based on teachers' lectures, seminar discussions and specific films will be presented to the students.

The basics of editing will be taught, with students doing one project recorded on a phone and another project where archive material is edited.  The students will be taught how to use Adobe Premiere Pro editing software, reviewing basics such as how to upload content, edit footage, simple audio editing, text insertion and minor color correction.

Students are expected to take an active part in the course and practical projects.

The course reviews cultural studies on the whole and focuses on its value as a radical form of social and cultural criticism. Texts of key authors from the 19th Century and until recent years are discussed with the very concept of culture as a central issue and the question of its meaning for critical reflexion on society, history and contemporaneity. The interpellation of cultural criticism and the study of culture is scrutinized and the way in which this relationship is central for cultural studies. This conflict, which can be felt in older and recent texts has for the last decades been a fertile gound for the humanities in general and characterizes their connection to cultural politics. Concepts such as ideology, power, hegemony, gender and discourse play a central role in the discussion.

Constant technological development and emphasis on digital solutions has brought about frequent and numerous changes in the role of the webmaster. In this course, Efforts will be made to provide students with good insight into the main aspects of the webmaster's work. The writings of experts and scholars will be examined, and students will be introduced to the necessary tools and equipment. Professionals in the field will visit and share their experience with students.

The job of a web editor is often integrated with general web management. Students get a good insight into web editing and writing for digital media. The main aspects that a webmaster / web editor needs to be able to master will be discussed, such as information architecture, writing for the web, presentation of images, fundamentals in web design, accessibility, usability, security, analytics, content management systems (CMS), and basic web interface technology.

Students set up their own websites and use a CMS of their choice, e.g., WordPress or Wix, which are both available in free versions, and some of the assignments are submitted on there. In this way, students gain training in setting up a simple website. Particular attention is drawn to the fact that instruction in the use of the CMS is not part of the course. Those who have no or limited experience, in the use of CMS, are advised that YouTube has numerous videos where you can learn about the systems, from the basics to much more complex aspects that are expected in this course.

Performance Studies is the study of how humans create meaning and identity through shared activities ranging from traditional ritual and religion to storytelling and the arts as well as sports, stand-up comedy, festivals, masking traditions, civic ceremonies, political action and protest, dinner parties, and the virtual world. The course introduces students to theories about the wide range of semiotics involved in performance, from spoken text, to costume and appearance, expression and gesture, gender, social contexts, timing and use of space, as well as audience reception.

What is cultural heritage and what purpose does it serve? Why does it always seem to be endangered? How does it tie together the past and the present? What's it got to do with the nation and the state? Historical consciousness? Globalization? Capitalism? Politics? The course will seek to answer these questions with reference to new research in folklore, ethnology, anthropology, art history, sociology, museology, history and archaeology and with a view to understanding what is going on in this expanding field of study.

The course is designed as a review of Icelandic art history (1875 to 1975) with an emphasis on the contribution of Icelandic women artists to art history. A picture of the diverse artistic creations of women during the period in the various art media (e.g. painting and sculpture, photography and textiles) will be created, and the harmony and uniqueness of those Icelandic women artists will be considered in an international, art-historical context. The main concepts and research questions within feminist art theory will be introduced, with an emphasis on gender and how discourse analysis can be used to shed light on the gendered discourse on art that directly and indirectly shaped the idea and definition of the (male) genius and Icelandic art. Reference will also be made to the important struggle of women in general during the period against discrimination in the field of culture and art. Furthermore, it will be examined how an interdisciplinary approach can be applied to get a more comprehensive picture of the position of the sexes in society, artistic and cultural historical context at any given time. The course is based for the most part on the results of the doctoral thesis of the teacher of the course in history and art history, from autumn 2023 (see, Paint like a man, woman! Women, gender and discourse on art in Iceland from the late nineteenth century to 1960, which can be accessed on opinvisindi.is).

By focusing on folk tales, literature and other relevant sources, the course discusses the manifestations of nature and the supernatural in Icelandic narrative culture throughout the centuries. Students will learn about the significance, interface, and unclear boundaries of these phenomena and how they have shaped society and the environment as well. Students will thus get to know different ideas about the position of people and (other) animals within, above or "outside" of nature. Through diverse lectures and assignments, topics such as humanity vs. animality, the known world vs. other worlds, and materiality vs. the supernatural, will be discussed from critical points of view. The roles and forms of landscape, organisms, bodies, weather, and natural phenomena in the narrative culture will be explored. The latest research in this broad field will be presented, such as on the representation of earthquakes and celestial bodies, bears, whales, seals, and domestic animals, and on the supernatural creatures of nature and other mythological creatures such as fairies, ghosts, trolls, and berserks. Students will learn how story worlds and folklore have left their mark on the perception of nature, folk traditions, folk customs, and social spaces such as enchanted spots, sacred places and hunted places. We also ask how these narratives appear in folk art and visual art, from previous centuries to the present. Finally, we will explore the significance of nature narratives and the supernatural in the context of the Anthropocene, human perspectives, climate change, and the different statuses of social groups and species

In this course, diverse manifestations of innovation in culture and communication, will be discussed, with focus on digital technology. Emphasis will be placed on the activities and management of organisations that work in communication and the creative industries. The role of innovation and the creative economy, societal innovation, and how to sustain entrepreneurship in projects will be discussed. Opportunities for utilisation will be explored and methods will be introduced to support the discovery, analysis and application of such opportunities. 

Different approaches in show rooms will be examined. A variety of exhibitions will be viewed and the diverse underlying ideologies analysed. The main elements of museum operation will be discussed, listing different material and methods. Students will create an exhibition project.

The basic types of documentaries will be discussed as well as methods of documentary making, editing and cinematography. Emphasis will be put on practical projects and students will be required to make at least one documentary during the course.

Recent years have seen an increased focus on data collection and statistical analysis within the humanities. This is particularly apparent in growing branches such as psycholinguistics, cognitive literary studies and experimental philosophy, to name a few. The push towards quantitative methods occurs at a time where the validity and reliability of well-established statistical methods are called into question in other fields, with increased demands of replicability and open access as well as data protection and responsibility. In this course, students explore the value of quantitative methods in their field while getting training in the collection and analysis of data. A diverse set of research methods will be introduced, ranging from surveys to corpus analysis and experiments in which participants’ response to stimuli (such as words, texts or audio-visual materials) is quantified. Basic concepts in statistics will be reviewed, enabling students to know the difference between descriptive and inferential statistics, understand statistical significance and interpret visual representations of data in graphs. The course will be largely practical and students are expected to apply their knowledge of data collection and analysis under the instructor’s guidance. Students will work on a project within their own discipline but will also explore the possibility of cross-disciplinary work. Open source tools such as R Studio will be used for all assignments but no prior knowledge of the software or statistics in general is required. The course is suitable for all students within the humanities who want to collect quantitative data to answer interesting questions and could therefore be a useful preparation for a BA or MA project.

The course deals with interconnections between political radicalism, culture, tradition and power. We will focus on contemporary representations of dissent in particular, look at the discourse of democracy and cultural difference, reactions to and criticism of protest in the Western political tradition and dissent in more repressive political systems. The role of intellectuals and writers will be explored as well as the function of artistic expression and design in transforming cultural and social environments. We will also discuss media and social media discourse in connection with an attempt to understand the various and sometimes contradictory objectives of public institutions. A few points of conflict will be discussed that to some extent expose fundamental conflicts in liberal democratic societies such as questions about the wisdom and ignorance of publics, reactions to climate change, inequality, extreme poverty and war. Finally corruption and power will be discussed as well as social and cultural expression, the possibilities and limitations of freedom of speech, the use and abuse of information, disinformation, secrecy, fake and “fake news”.

This course examines professionalism, using case studies from museum work in Iceland, from a broad, interdisciplinary theoretical perspectives and debates. This course should therefore appeal to students from a variety of disciplines, including museology, archaeology, art studies, cultural studies, anthropology and folklore. The case studies are related to the variable works of museums, including management, organisation, collection, conservation, research and communication.

Furthermore, methods of assessment will be considered, both from the angle of the museum visitor as well as self-appraisals of the museums themselves (approaches to - and processing of information). The subject of the case studies are variable, including administration, gender considerations, accessibility, conservation of archaeological artefacts, research into visual cultural heritage, freedom of expression, housing and building affairs, gifts to museums and more.

In this course, experts and specialists (from Iceland and abroad), working in museum sector will give talks, sharing their knowledge and their experience. Students will choose one day over the semester, for a one day career day at a museum in Reykjavík, where a member of staff will tell them about the museum‘s main activities and demonstrate basic entry input in their electronic database. Students will work with the staff for the remainder of the day.

The course is taught distance learning, with short, online lectures by teachers and guest-lecturers. It also includes three full day on-campus (or Zoom, should that be needed) lecture days, where students will visit museums around Reykjavík and listen to lectures from a variety of people. Attendance is required during the three day on-campus and Zoom days.

Final grade is based on completing written assignments during the semester, attendance for full-day on-campus/zoom days and the career day.

The course is intended for students at the masters and diploma level.

The societal role of museums will be discussed from several angles: economic, political, cultural, social and last but not least in an international context. Examples of topics that will be discussed in the course are the role of museums in building the concept of the nation; the legal environment of museums; how museums are run; the status and role of the main museums; museums owned and run by local authorities and other museums; the financing of museums, and the policies of authorities regarding museums. Both national and foreign examples will be taken. The course is intended for students at the masters and diploma levels (but is open to BA students in their final year).

Work format

Teaching will take the form of lectures and discussions.

What is cultural heritage and what purpose does it serve? Why does it always seem to be endangered? How does it tie together the past and the present? What's it got to do with the nation and the state? Historical consciousness? Globalization? Capitalism? Politics? The course will seek to answer these questions with reference to new research in folklore, ethnology, anthropology, art history, sociology, museology, history and archaeology and with a view to understanding what is going on in this expanding field of study.

Narration as a methodological tool, and fiction as part of an aesthetic and theoretical framework for artworks is the context that this seminar is situated in. By looking at different theories and examples of narration and fictionalization within the fine arts context the seminar is intended to enable students to engage with and critically examine different aspects, dangers and outcomes telling a story can entail. Fiction and its somewhat uneasy relationship with the real will be examined as well as the role of narration and narrative structures within contemporary fine art practices. The overlapping of the personal and the public, the digital and the material, time and medium are further fields of investigation within the seminar and will be visited using tools of theory, and tools of telling a story.

The course is held at LHÍ

The aim of the course is to provide students with a more comprehensive and deeper insight into the different theoretical approaches within the humanities. In the course, the main theories that have influenced theoretical discussion in the humanities over the last decades will be presented and discussed, and the students are taught how to apply them in their own research.

Training in various aspects of the writing and editing of scientific texts. Various kinds of texts (non-fiction) examined and evaluated. Training in reviewing and commenting on scientific texts and in other aspects of editorial work. The main emphasis will be on the writing of articles, but other kinds of texts will also be considered, both shorter (conference abstracts, reviews) and longer (theses, books), as well as research proposals. Discussion of guidelines for the preparation of manuscripts. Types of plagiarism and how to avoid them and find them. Texts on different subjects will be used as examples, especially writings in linguistics, literature and history. The book Skrifaðu bæði skýrt og rétt will be used as a textbook (Höskuldur Þráinsson 2015).

This course is open to students of many MA programmes in the School of Humanities, cf. the regulations of the individual subjects. Students in the MA programmes in Icelandic literature, Icelandic linguistics, Icelandic studies and Icelandic teaching can take the course as part of the MA course requirements in Icelandic literature or Icelandic linguistics. Students in the MA programme in Icelandic teaching can, however, not have this course as the only linguistics or literature course in their MA.

This course explores artworks in the context of gender and discusses the theoretical basis of gender studies and its trans-disciplinary nature. It seeks to explore how ideas on gender influence artistic practice and discussion and writing on the fine arts. The representations and meanings of gender in language, society and culture are also analyzed with an emphasis on stereotypes and/or their deconstruction in the positions artists take in their work. The approach taken by feminists and queer theory is used to explore the role of gender in the works of artists who bend stereotypical images of femininity and masculinity and create upheaval in the dominant discourse and gender systems of the Western world. Studies on gender inequality and its diverse representations in the contemporary art world are introduced and discussed.

The the aim of the individual practice based research work is to become familiar with reserch and mediation in a museum, a gallery or other art institution, such as the University of Iceland Art Collection. It can also be carried out within an art institution abroad.

In recent decades, theoretical contexts of art historiography and art criticism have been thoroughly reexamined. New theories, new data and digital technologies have led to a drastic change in research questions and approaches. Critical concepts such as intersectionality, inclusion, sustainability, social activism, and environment have led to new methodologies and different perspectives. In this course, these approaches will be discussed though reading the latest research in the field of art and cultural history. Ideas about the global artworlds and its cultural and political connections will be examined in detail, a variety of topics will be discussed and dissected in writing.

In a historical context art has been the facet of society where innovation and progressive thinking has been of most value. This forward-looking aspect of art has non-the-less always depended upon its historical precedents—previous art practice. It is in this context that contemporary artists are constantly renewing their previous premises. At the same time contemporary art worlds are by nature complex structures—an increasing mix of different media and influences, where artists of necessity are informed by theoretical, social, political, and economic premises. In accord with that, contemporary cultural premises are in constant flux, dependent upon changes in technology, urbanisation, globalisation, and climate, in addition to a more volatile political field. It is in response to these issues that the nature of artistic practice is constantly changing. For these reasons it is adamant to constantly re-conceptualise the analysis of art and its function in society, where novel ideas and definitions, such as the 'Anthropocene' and the 'posthuman', can be utilised to understand better the situation of art in human society. In this course we re-examine the theoretical premises of contemporary art practice via research of the field of art—historical and contemporary—through research based on the interplay of art with diverse fields of study: history, philosophy, literature, media and film studies, anthropology, political theory, geography, sociology.

Drawing on landscape painting, stagecraft, urban lighting, carnival, and scientific demonstration, modern spectacles construct a nostalgic sense of a mythical past for modern viewers. This seminar examines 18th- and 19th-century spectacles (including the magic lantern, panorama, and cosmorama), early 20th-century habitat and anthropological dioramas (such as at the 1931 Paris Colonial Exhibition and at the American Museum of Natural History), and contemporary installation art, beginning with Marcel Duchamp’s Étant donnés (Given) and concluding with contemporary works by Snæbjörnsdóttir/Wilson, Richard Barnes, Kent Monkman, and Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, among others. We will examine these case studies through art historical accounts, as well as novels and contemporary reviews, placing these spectacles in relation to three overarching themes: colonialism, antisemitism, and racism more broadly; a European sense of identity and otherness, and; the history of the experience of time. We begin the course with Paris, then broaden our view to Europe and North America, culminating with a global cohort of artists and companies that employ VR and projection to create immersive experiences, such as Immersive Van Gogh, to reenchant the modern past for postmodern viewers.

In this course we examine the art museum in a historical and contemporary light. The course provides insight into the history and development of art museums globally, as well as the complicated relationship between the history of artistic practice, art history and theory and art museums. Topics discussed include: the roots of modern art museums in the private collections of nobility and political elites in Europe, the establishment of the first public museums in Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries, artists’ critiques of art museums in the 20th and 21st century, art museums’ relationship to colonialism and increased demands in recent years for the restitution of art objects and cultural heritage to communities of origin. The ideological foundation of art museums, and its correlation with aesthetic theories, will be examined, and the relationship between art museums and art history as an academic practice discussed. Students will be acquainted with different images of the art museum, e.g. the art museum as a temple, the universal survey museum, the white cube of modern art museums and recent ideas of art museums as a forum for critical dialogue. The influence of nationalism on the role and practice of art museums, and the impact of globalization on art museums internationally will be considered. The history of art museums in Iceland will be presented and discussed alongside the history of artist run spaces.

The course discusses the philosophical and theoretical foundations of gender studies, and the critical and interdisciplinary content of the field. The representation and meaning of sex and gender in language, culture, history, science, and society is explored. The analytical perspective of the field is presented, as is its relationship with methodology. Students are trained in applying theoretical concepts and methods independently and critically.

This course looks at the relationship between humans and nature from a critical theoretical perspective. We look at both „natural“ phenomena, such as plants and vegetation, as well as “cultural” phenomena, such as wilderness, gardens and landscape, from the viewpoints of environmental history and art history. Representation of nature in the Icelandic context will also be discussed. The course will be conceived of as a seminar, where each week in the syllabus adopts a new lens on the subject, in most cases in the forms of reading of chapters from either classics in the attendant fields and newer and more speculative material such as recent publications in the field of posthuman theory.
Students are expected to read all the reading material submitted and to take an active part in discussions.

An introduction to the collaboration and division of work between an editor and a graphic designer in the creation of printed work with emphasis on the importance of typography. Students will gain insight into the basis of typography and preparation for print as well as learning about the graphic designer's tools in context with principal kinds of print. The course will include readings and discourse on the influence of graphic design on legibility and understanding, as well as discourse on quality, usefulness, aesthetics and practicality in graphic design.

The student will present and hand in a written analysis on a printed good of their own choice and are also encouraged to actively participate in discussions in class. The final project consists of creating your own publishing project and communicate ideas on its editing grahpically and in writing.

Students learn and are trained in the methods of archival research, finding and evaluating sources in archives.  Practical exercises will be assigned.

The the aim of the individual practice based research work is to become familiar with reserch and mediation in a museum, a gallery or other art institution, such as the University of Iceland Art Collection. It can also be carried out within an art institution abroad.

The the aim of the individual practice based research work is to become familiar with reserch and mediation in a museum, a gallery or other art institution, such as the University of Iceland Art Collection. It can also be carried out within an art institution abroad.

The course lays the foundation for the active work of curators for practical work in the field of art and museums. We work in an interdisciplinary and critical way with concepts and theories that relate to the work of curators in the field of contemporary art. Students work in teams and set up an exhibition in collaboration with art students or artists. Students will apply knowledge and methods to practical issues, work on preparation, design, text writing and preparation of promotional material in connection with an exhibition. The course is partly run in collaboration with the Master's program in art at the University of Iceland, and students will have the opportunity to collaborate with the University of Iceland Art Museum and other recognised art museums.

The relationship between the environment and our lived totality is a recurring subject throughout art history after the enlightenment. In time based mediums such as film and video, certain aspects of this relationship, such as; sense of place, temporality, and experience of time as spatial, have been especially compelling. This course aims to explore various approaches and methods within the video art and experimental film canon that have developed to express these ideologies. The documentary film within a fine art context and landscape cinema will be considered, along with the wider context surrounding these movements. Various aspects of the relationship between physical surroundings, medium, and theoretical frameworks will also be considered as grounds for further examination of environment, materiality, politics, and visual representation.

The idea of an impending apocalypse has been a strong cultural signifier in Western thought, ranging from the historically reoccurring trends of religious expectations towards End Times, to the contemporary ennui associated with a foreseeable ecological collapse. With this as a background, the course aims to strengthen students’ theoretical understanding of the problems of defining the contemporary when faced with the ontological contradiction of radical ruptures within time itself. In this course we will therefore investigate the apocalypse from multiple perspectives to include considerations towards the ontology of time and to what extent the concepts of history, progress and time are entangled. This will involve looking at theories ranging from post-modernist declarations about the end of history, as well as the more contemporary notions of post-history and post-contemporary. It will also include speculations about cultural projection and possible psychoanalytic drives invested in the conception of an apocalypse, as well as looking at work by individual artists to see how the tradition of apocalyptic thought may stimulate art production.

The course is held at LHÍ

Narration as a methodological tool, and fiction as part of an aesthetic and theoretical framework for artworks is the context that this seminar is situated in. By looking at different theories and examples of narration and fictionalization within the fine arts context the seminar is intended to enable students to engage with and critically examine different aspects, dangers and outcomes telling a story can entail. Fiction and its somewhat uneasy relationship with the real will be examined as well as the role of narration and narrative structures within contemporary fine art practices. The overlapping of the personal and the public, the digital and the material, time and medium are further fields of investigation within the seminar and will be visited using tools of theory, and tools of telling a story.

The course is held at LHÍ

The aim of the course is to provide students with a more comprehensive and deeper insight into the different theoretical approaches within the humanities. In the course, the main theories that have influenced theoretical discussion in the humanities over the last decades will be presented and discussed, and the students are taught how to apply them in their own research.

Training in various aspects of the writing and editing of scientific texts. Various kinds of texts (non-fiction) examined and evaluated. Training in reviewing and commenting on scientific texts and in other aspects of editorial work. The main emphasis will be on the writing of articles, but other kinds of texts will also be considered, both shorter (conference abstracts, reviews) and longer (theses, books), as well as research proposals. Discussion of guidelines for the preparation of manuscripts. Types of plagiarism and how to avoid them and find them. Texts on different subjects will be used as examples, especially writings in linguistics, literature and history. The book Skrifaðu bæði skýrt og rétt will be used as a textbook (Höskuldur Þráinsson 2015).

This course is open to students of many MA programmes in the School of Humanities, cf. the regulations of the individual subjects. Students in the MA programmes in Icelandic literature, Icelandic linguistics, Icelandic studies and Icelandic teaching can take the course as part of the MA course requirements in Icelandic literature or Icelandic linguistics. Students in the MA programme in Icelandic teaching can, however, not have this course as the only linguistics or literature course in their MA.

This course explores artworks in the context of gender and discusses the theoretical basis of gender studies and its trans-disciplinary nature. It seeks to explore how ideas on gender influence artistic practice and discussion and writing on the fine arts. The representations and meanings of gender in language, society and culture are also analyzed with an emphasis on stereotypes and/or their deconstruction in the positions artists take in their work. The approach taken by feminists and queer theory is used to explore the role of gender in the works of artists who bend stereotypical images of femininity and masculinity and create upheaval in the dominant discourse and gender systems of the Western world. Studies on gender inequality and its diverse representations in the contemporary art world are introduced and discussed.

The the aim of the individual practice based research work is to become familiar with reserch and mediation in a museum, a gallery or other art institution, such as the University of Iceland Art Collection. It can also be carried out within an art institution abroad.

Drawing on landscape painting, stagecraft, urban lighting, carnival, and scientific demonstration, modern spectacles construct a nostalgic sense of a mythical past for modern viewers. This seminar examines 18th- and 19th-century spectacles (including the magic lantern, panorama, and cosmorama), early 20th-century habitat and anthropological dioramas (such as at the 1931 Paris Colonial Exhibition and at the American Museum of Natural History), and contemporary installation art, beginning with Marcel Duchamp’s Étant donnés (Given) and concluding with contemporary works by Snæbjörnsdóttir/Wilson, Richard Barnes, Kent Monkman, and Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, among others. We will examine these case studies through art historical accounts, as well as novels and contemporary reviews, placing these spectacles in relation to three overarching themes: colonialism, antisemitism, and racism more broadly; a European sense of identity and otherness, and; the history of the experience of time. We begin the course with Paris, then broaden our view to Europe and North America, culminating with a global cohort of artists and companies that employ VR and projection to create immersive experiences, such as Immersive Van Gogh, to reenchant the modern past for postmodern viewers.

Drawing on landscape painting, stagecraft, urban lighting, carnival, and scientific demonstration, modern spectacles construct a nostalgic sense of a mythical past for modern viewers. This seminar examines 18th- and 19th-century spectacles (including the magic lantern, panorama, and cosmorama), early 20th-century habitat and anthropological dioramas (such as at the 1931 Paris Colonial Exhibition and at the American Museum of Natural History), and contemporary installation art, beginning with Marcel Duchamp’s Étant donnés (Given) and concluding with contemporary works by Snæbjörnsdóttir/Wilson, Richard Barnes, Kent Monkman, and Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, among others. We will examine these case studies through art historical accounts, as well as novels and contemporary reviews, placing these spectacles in relation to three overarching themes: colonialism, antisemitism, and racism more broadly; a European sense of identity and otherness, and; the history of the experience of time. We begin the course with Paris, then broaden our view to Europe and North America, culminating with a global cohort of artists and companies that employ VR and projection to create immersive experiences, such as Immersive Van Gogh, to reenchant the modern past for postmodern viewers.

MA-thesis 

In this course we examine the art museum in a historical and contemporary light. The course provides insight into the history and development of art museums globally, as well as the complicated relationship between the history of artistic practice, art history and theory and art museums. Topics discussed include: the roots of modern art museums in the private collections of nobility and political elites in Europe, the establishment of the first public museums in Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries, artists’ critiques of art museums in the 20th and 21st century, art museums’ relationship to colonialism and increased demands in recent years for the restitution of art objects and cultural heritage to communities of origin. The ideological foundation of art museums, and its correlation with aesthetic theories, will be examined, and the relationship between art museums and art history as an academic practice discussed. Students will be acquainted with different images of the art museum, e.g. the art museum as a temple, the universal survey museum, the white cube of modern art museums and recent ideas of art museums as a forum for critical dialogue. The influence of nationalism on the role and practice of art museums, and the impact of globalization on art museums internationally will be considered. The history of art museums in Iceland will be presented and discussed alongside the history of artist run spaces.

The course discusses the philosophical and theoretical foundations of gender studies, and the critical and interdisciplinary content of the field. The representation and meaning of sex and gender in language, culture, history, science, and society is explored. The analytical perspective of the field is presented, as is its relationship with methodology. Students are trained in applying theoretical concepts and methods independently and critically.

This course looks at the relationship between humans and nature from a critical theoretical perspective. We look at both „natural“ phenomena, such as plants and vegetation, as well as “cultural” phenomena, such as wilderness, gardens and landscape, from the viewpoints of environmental history and art history. Representation of nature in the Icelandic context will also be discussed. The course will be conceived of as a seminar, where each week in the syllabus adopts a new lens on the subject, in most cases in the forms of reading of chapters from either classics in the attendant fields and newer and more speculative material such as recent publications in the field of posthuman theory.
Students are expected to read all the reading material submitted and to take an active part in discussions.

An introduction to the collaboration and division of work between an editor and a graphic designer in the creation of printed work with emphasis on the importance of typography. Students will gain insight into the basis of typography and preparation for print as well as learning about the graphic designer's tools in context with principal kinds of print. The course will include readings and discourse on the influence of graphic design on legibility and understanding, as well as discourse on quality, usefulness, aesthetics and practicality in graphic design.

The student will present and hand in a written analysis on a printed good of their own choice and are also encouraged to actively participate in discussions in class. The final project consists of creating your own publishing project and communicate ideas on its editing grahpically and in writing.

Students learn and are trained in the methods of archival research, finding and evaluating sources in archives.  Practical exercises will be assigned.

The the aim of the individual practice based research work is to become familiar with reserch and mediation in a museum, a gallery or other art institution, such as the University of Iceland Art Collection. It can also be carried out within an art institution abroad.

The the aim of the individual practice based research work is to become familiar with reserch and mediation in a museum, a gallery or other art institution, such as the University of Iceland Art Collection. It can also be carried out within an art institution abroad.

The course lays the foundation for the active work of curators for practical work in the field of art and museums. We work in an interdisciplinary and critical way with concepts and theories that relate to the work of curators in the field of contemporary art. Students work in teams and set up an exhibition in collaboration with art students or artists. Students will apply knowledge and methods to practical issues, work on preparation, design, text writing and preparation of promotional material in connection with an exhibition. The course is partly run in collaboration with the Master's program in art at the University of Iceland, and students will have the opportunity to collaborate with the University of Iceland Art Museum and other recognised art museums.

The relationship between the environment and our lived totality is a recurring subject throughout art history after the enlightenment. In time based mediums such as film and video, certain aspects of this relationship, such as; sense of place, temporality, and experience of time as spatial, have been especially compelling. This course aims to explore various approaches and methods within the video art and experimental film canon that have developed to express these ideologies. The documentary film within a fine art context and landscape cinema will be considered, along with the wider context surrounding these movements. Various aspects of the relationship between physical surroundings, medium, and theoretical frameworks will also be considered as grounds for further examination of environment, materiality, politics, and visual representation.

The idea of an impending apocalypse has been a strong cultural signifier in Western thought, ranging from the historically reoccurring trends of religious expectations towards End Times, to the contemporary ennui associated with a foreseeable ecological collapse. With this as a background, the course aims to strengthen students’ theoretical understanding of the problems of defining the contemporary when faced with the ontological contradiction of radical ruptures within time itself. In this course we will therefore investigate the apocalypse from multiple perspectives to include considerations towards the ontology of time and to what extent the concepts of history, progress and time are entangled. This will involve looking at theories ranging from post-modernist declarations about the end of history, as well as the more contemporary notions of post-history and post-contemporary. It will also include speculations about cultural projection and possible psychoanalytic drives invested in the conception of an apocalypse, as well as looking at work by individual artists to see how the tradition of apocalyptic thought may stimulate art production.

The course is held at LHÍ

MA-thesis 

The course will discuss visual arts from a twofold perspective of the individual artist and the society. It will survey artistic creation as driven by individual motivations and the status of artists and artworks within contexts of the societal and cultural politics. Artistic creation that embodies the promise of individual expression, freedom and the formation of the self must confront the society and consider external factors including theoretical discourse, and cultural politics that impact the reception of artworks, and artists prominence in any given period. The course applies interdisciplinary methods of art history and art theory to analyze connections between individual intentions and power, histories of art and role of educational institutions, resistance and compliance, the modern art world in context of colonialism and industrialization, and the influence of identity politics and globalization on art and artists in recent decades. An emphasis will be placed on examining the courses issues in connection to Iceland’s visual art’s context in conjunction with broader international and global contexts. The aim is to further a clear vision of the correlation between the individual and the outside world, and between the artist’s self and social identities.

This course is taught in LHÍ

The idea of an impending apocalypse has been a strong cultural signifier in Western thought, ranging from the historically reoccurring trends of religious expectations towards End Times, to the contemporary ennui associated with a foreseeable ecological collapse. With this as a background, the course aims to strengthen students’ theoretical understanding of the problems of defining the contemporary when faced with the ontological contradiction of radical ruptures within time itself. In this course we will therefore investigate the apocalypse from multiple perspectives to include considerations towards the ontology of time and to what extent the concepts of history, progress and time are entangled. This will involve looking at theories ranging from post-modernist declarations about the end of history, as well as the more contemporary notions of post-history and post-contemporary. It will also include speculations about cultural projection and possible psychoanalytic drives invested in the conception of an apocalypse, as well as looking at work by individual artists to see how the tradition of apocalyptic thought may stimulate art production.

The course is held at LHÍ

This seminar deals with the cultural milieu of Bohemianism, focusing on the various mythological guises of the Bohemian. Idlers and workaholics, aristocrats and outcasts, hedonists and ascetics, drunkards and teetotallers, misunderstood geniuses and scapegraces, all find their place in this history. The main aspect linking these different images is the position at the margin of bourgeois culture and the seminar aims to arrive at an understanding of the role of this counter-cultural milieu. The main emphasis is on the image of the Bohemian in modern European literature, but students will also deal with manifestations of Bohemia in film, visual art, advertising and other media from the mid-19th century to the present day.

The course is run in cooperation with the state radio station: RÚV - Rás 1. Discussion will take place into the presentation of radio/audio material, various examples being examined. Attention will be given to the nature of audio communication and the possibilities of audio communication in the present media environment. Attention is also paid to concept development, interview techniques, recording techniques, dramaturgy and editing, accentuating sustainability and self-reliance. All students will complete a final project involving the making of radio programmes.

Many students, who finish their studies in the School of Humanities, in particular students from the Department of Icelandic and Comparative Cultural Studies, are likely to be employed in the future by media-companies, publishing houses and cultural institutions and asked to write criticism or news about books and art-events. The course focuses on the role and characteristics of cultural journalism in Iceland. Students will get acquainted with most of the genres of cultural journalism, such as interviews, criticism, news-releases and blog. They will work on practical assignments that will be related to specific cultural events in Iceland in the spring of 2018.

The course will examine the history and development of documentaries.  Key works and authors will be presented, along with trends that have been throughout the history of documentaries such as direct cinema, cinema vérité, Grierson movement, Kinoks, film-diary.  We will look at how technological developments affected the making of documentaries.

The course is based on teachers' lectures, seminar discussions and specific films will be presented to the students.

The basics of editing will be taught, with students doing one project recorded on a phone and another project where archive material is edited.  The students will be taught how to use Adobe Premiere Pro editing software, reviewing basics such as how to upload content, edit footage, simple audio editing, text insertion and minor color correction.

Students are expected to take an active part in the course and practical projects.

The course reviews cultural studies on the whole and focuses on its value as a radical form of social and cultural criticism. Texts of key authors from the 19th Century and until recent years are discussed with the very concept of culture as a central issue and the question of its meaning for critical reflexion on society, history and contemporaneity. The interpellation of cultural criticism and the study of culture is scrutinized and the way in which this relationship is central for cultural studies. This conflict, which can be felt in older and recent texts has for the last decades been a fertile gound for the humanities in general and characterizes their connection to cultural politics. Concepts such as ideology, power, hegemony, gender and discourse play a central role in the discussion.

Constant technological development and emphasis on digital solutions has brought about frequent and numerous changes in the role of the webmaster. In this course, Efforts will be made to provide students with good insight into the main aspects of the webmaster's work. The writings of experts and scholars will be examined, and students will be introduced to the necessary tools and equipment. Professionals in the field will visit and share their experience with students.

The job of a web editor is often integrated with general web management. Students get a good insight into web editing and writing for digital media. The main aspects that a webmaster / web editor needs to be able to master will be discussed, such as information architecture, writing for the web, presentation of images, fundamentals in web design, accessibility, usability, security, analytics, content management systems (CMS), and basic web interface technology.

Students set up their own websites and use a CMS of their choice, e.g., WordPress or Wix, which are both available in free versions, and some of the assignments are submitted on there. In this way, students gain training in setting up a simple website. Particular attention is drawn to the fact that instruction in the use of the CMS is not part of the course. Those who have no or limited experience, in the use of CMS, are advised that YouTube has numerous videos where you can learn about the systems, from the basics to much more complex aspects that are expected in this course.

Performance Studies is the study of how humans create meaning and identity through shared activities ranging from traditional ritual and religion to storytelling and the arts as well as sports, stand-up comedy, festivals, masking traditions, civic ceremonies, political action and protest, dinner parties, and the virtual world. The course introduces students to theories about the wide range of semiotics involved in performance, from spoken text, to costume and appearance, expression and gesture, gender, social contexts, timing and use of space, as well as audience reception.

What is cultural heritage and what purpose does it serve? Why does it always seem to be endangered? How does it tie together the past and the present? What's it got to do with the nation and the state? Historical consciousness? Globalization? Capitalism? Politics? The course will seek to answer these questions with reference to new research in folklore, ethnology, anthropology, art history, sociology, museology, history and archaeology and with a view to understanding what is going on in this expanding field of study.

The course is designed as a review of Icelandic art history (1875 to 1975) with an emphasis on the contribution of Icelandic women artists to art history. A picture of the diverse artistic creations of women during the period in the various art media (e.g. painting and sculpture, photography and textiles) will be created, and the harmony and uniqueness of those Icelandic women artists will be considered in an international, art-historical context. The main concepts and research questions within feminist art theory will be introduced, with an emphasis on gender and how discourse analysis can be used to shed light on the gendered discourse on art that directly and indirectly shaped the idea and definition of the (male) genius and Icelandic art. Reference will also be made to the important struggle of women in general during the period against discrimination in the field of culture and art. Furthermore, it will be examined how an interdisciplinary approach can be applied to get a more comprehensive picture of the position of the sexes in society, artistic and cultural historical context at any given time. The course is based for the most part on the results of the doctoral thesis of the teacher of the course in history and art history, from autumn 2023 (see, Paint like a man, woman! Women, gender and discourse on art in Iceland from the late nineteenth century to 1960, which can be accessed on opinvisindi.is).

By focusing on folk tales, literature and other relevant sources, the course discusses the manifestations of nature and the supernatural in Icelandic narrative culture throughout the centuries. Students will learn about the significance, interface, and unclear boundaries of these phenomena and how they have shaped society and the environment as well. Students will thus get to know different ideas about the position of people and (other) animals within, above or "outside" of nature. Through diverse lectures and assignments, topics such as humanity vs. animality, the known world vs. other worlds, and materiality vs. the supernatural, will be discussed from critical points of view. The roles and forms of landscape, organisms, bodies, weather, and natural phenomena in the narrative culture will be explored. The latest research in this broad field will be presented, such as on the representation of earthquakes and celestial bodies, bears, whales, seals, and domestic animals, and on the supernatural creatures of nature and other mythological creatures such as fairies, ghosts, trolls, and berserks. Students will learn how story worlds and folklore have left their mark on the perception of nature, folk traditions, folk customs, and social spaces such as enchanted spots, sacred places and hunted places. We also ask how these narratives appear in folk art and visual art, from previous centuries to the present. Finally, we will explore the significance of nature narratives and the supernatural in the context of the Anthropocene, human perspectives, climate change, and the different statuses of social groups and species

In this course, diverse manifestations of innovation in culture and communication, will be discussed, with focus on digital technology. Emphasis will be placed on the activities and management of organisations that work in communication and the creative industries. The role of innovation and the creative economy, societal innovation, and how to sustain entrepreneurship in projects will be discussed. Opportunities for utilisation will be explored and methods will be introduced to support the discovery, analysis and application of such opportunities. 

Different approaches in show rooms will be examined. A variety of exhibitions will be viewed and the diverse underlying ideologies analysed. The main elements of museum operation will be discussed, listing different material and methods. Students will create an exhibition project.

The basic types of documentaries will be discussed as well as methods of documentary making, editing and cinematography. Emphasis will be put on practical projects and students will be required to make at least one documentary during the course.

Recent years have seen an increased focus on data collection and statistical analysis within the humanities. This is particularly apparent in growing branches such as psycholinguistics, cognitive literary studies and experimental philosophy, to name a few. The push towards quantitative methods occurs at a time where the validity and reliability of well-established statistical methods are called into question in other fields, with increased demands of replicability and open access as well as data protection and responsibility. In this course, students explore the value of quantitative methods in their field while getting training in the collection and analysis of data. A diverse set of research methods will be introduced, ranging from surveys to corpus analysis and experiments in which participants’ response to stimuli (such as words, texts or audio-visual materials) is quantified. Basic concepts in statistics will be reviewed, enabling students to know the difference between descriptive and inferential statistics, understand statistical significance and interpret visual representations of data in graphs. The course will be largely practical and students are expected to apply their knowledge of data collection and analysis under the instructor’s guidance. Students will work on a project within their own discipline but will also explore the possibility of cross-disciplinary work. Open source tools such as R Studio will be used for all assignments but no prior knowledge of the software or statistics in general is required. The course is suitable for all students within the humanities who want to collect quantitative data to answer interesting questions and could therefore be a useful preparation for a BA or MA project.

The course deals with interconnections between political radicalism, culture, tradition and power. We will focus on contemporary representations of dissent in particular, look at the discourse of democracy and cultural difference, reactions to and criticism of protest in the Western political tradition and dissent in more repressive political systems. The role of intellectuals and writers will be explored as well as the function of artistic expression and design in transforming cultural and social environments. We will also discuss media and social media discourse in connection with an attempt to understand the various and sometimes contradictory objectives of public institutions. A few points of conflict will be discussed that to some extent expose fundamental conflicts in liberal democratic societies such as questions about the wisdom and ignorance of publics, reactions to climate change, inequality, extreme poverty and war. Finally corruption and power will be discussed as well as social and cultural expression, the possibilities and limitations of freedom of speech, the use and abuse of information, disinformation, secrecy, fake and “fake news”.

This course examines professionalism, using case studies from museum work in Iceland, from a broad, interdisciplinary theoretical perspectives and debates. This course should therefore appeal to students from a variety of disciplines, including museology, archaeology, art studies, cultural studies, anthropology and folklore. The case studies are related to the variable works of museums, including management, organisation, collection, conservation, research and communication.

Furthermore, methods of assessment will be considered, both from the angle of the museum visitor as well as self-appraisals of the museums themselves (approaches to - and processing of information). The subject of the case studies are variable, including administration, gender considerations, accessibility, conservation of archaeological artefacts, research into visual cultural heritage, freedom of expression, housing and building affairs, gifts to museums and more.

In this course, experts and specialists (from Iceland and abroad), working in museum sector will give talks, sharing their knowledge and their experience. Students will choose one day over the semester, for a one day career day at a museum in Reykjavík, where a member of staff will tell them about the museum‘s main activities and demonstrate basic entry input in their electronic database. Students will work with the staff for the remainder of the day.

The course is taught distance learning, with short, online lectures by teachers and guest-lecturers. It also includes three full day on-campus (or Zoom, should that be needed) lecture days, where students will visit museums around Reykjavík and listen to lectures from a variety of people. Attendance is required during the three day on-campus and Zoom days.

Final grade is based on completing written assignments during the semester, attendance for full-day on-campus/zoom days and the career day.

The course is intended for students at the masters and diploma level.

The societal role of museums will be discussed from several angles: economic, political, cultural, social and last but not least in an international context. Examples of topics that will be discussed in the course are the role of museums in building the concept of the nation; the legal environment of museums; how museums are run; the status and role of the main museums; museums owned and run by local authorities and other museums; the financing of museums, and the policies of authorities regarding museums. Both national and foreign examples will be taken. The course is intended for students at the masters and diploma levels (but is open to BA students in their final year).

Work format

Teaching will take the form of lectures and discussions.

What is cultural heritage and what purpose does it serve? Why does it always seem to be endangered? How does it tie together the past and the present? What's it got to do with the nation and the state? Historical consciousness? Globalization? Capitalism? Politics? The course will seek to answer these questions with reference to new research in folklore, ethnology, anthropology, art history, sociology, museology, history and archaeology and with a view to understanding what is going on in this expanding field of study.

Narration as a methodological tool, and fiction as part of an aesthetic and theoretical framework for artworks is the context that this seminar is situated in. By looking at different theories and examples of narration and fictionalization within the fine arts context the seminar is intended to enable students to engage with and critically examine different aspects, dangers and outcomes telling a story can entail. Fiction and its somewhat uneasy relationship with the real will be examined as well as the role of narration and narrative structures within contemporary fine art practices. The overlapping of the personal and the public, the digital and the material, time and medium are further fields of investigation within the seminar and will be visited using tools of theory, and tools of telling a story.

The course is held at LHÍ

The aim of the course is to provide students with a more comprehensive and deeper insight into the different theoretical approaches within the humanities. In the course, the main theories that have influenced theoretical discussion in the humanities over the last decades will be presented and discussed, and the students are taught how to apply them in their own research.

Training in various aspects of the writing and editing of scientific texts. Various kinds of texts (non-fiction) examined and evaluated. Training in reviewing and commenting on scientific texts and in other aspects of editorial work. The main emphasis will be on the writing of articles, but other kinds of texts will also be considered, both shorter (conference abstracts, reviews) and longer (theses, books), as well as research proposals. Discussion of guidelines for the preparation of manuscripts. Types of plagiarism and how to avoid them and find them. Texts on different subjects will be used as examples, especially writings in linguistics, literature and history. The book Skrifaðu bæði skýrt og rétt will be used as a textbook (Höskuldur Þráinsson 2015).

This course is open to students of many MA programmes in the School of Humanities, cf. the regulations of the individual subjects. Students in the MA programmes in Icelandic literature, Icelandic linguistics, Icelandic studies and Icelandic teaching can take the course as part of the MA course requirements in Icelandic literature or Icelandic linguistics. Students in the MA programme in Icelandic teaching can, however, not have this course as the only linguistics or literature course in their MA.

This course explores artworks in the context of gender and discusses the theoretical basis of gender studies and its trans-disciplinary nature. It seeks to explore how ideas on gender influence artistic practice and discussion and writing on the fine arts. The representations and meanings of gender in language, society and culture are also analyzed with an emphasis on stereotypes and/or their deconstruction in the positions artists take in their work. The approach taken by feminists and queer theory is used to explore the role of gender in the works of artists who bend stereotypical images of femininity and masculinity and create upheaval in the dominant discourse and gender systems of the Western world. Studies on gender inequality and its diverse representations in the contemporary art world are introduced and discussed.

The the aim of the individual practice based research work is to become familiar with reserch and mediation in a museum, a gallery or other art institution, such as the University of Iceland Art Collection. It can also be carried out within an art institution abroad.

In recent decades, theoretical contexts of art historiography and art criticism have been thoroughly reexamined. New theories, new data and digital technologies have led to a drastic change in research questions and approaches. Critical concepts such as intersectionality, inclusion, sustainability, social activism, and environment have led to new methodologies and different perspectives. In this course, these approaches will be discussed though reading the latest research in the field of art and cultural history. Ideas about the global artworlds and its cultural and political connections will be examined in detail, a variety of topics will be discussed and dissected in writing.

In a historical context art has been the facet of society where innovation and progressive thinking has been of most value. This forward-looking aspect of art has non-the-less always depended upon its historical precedents—previous art practice. It is in this context that contemporary artists are constantly renewing their previous premises. At the same time contemporary art worlds are by nature complex structures—an increasing mix of different media and influences, where artists of necessity are informed by theoretical, social, political, and economic premises. In accord with that, contemporary cultural premises are in constant flux, dependent upon changes in technology, urbanisation, globalisation, and climate, in addition to a more volatile political field. It is in response to these issues that the nature of artistic practice is constantly changing. For these reasons it is adamant to constantly re-conceptualise the analysis of art and its function in society, where novel ideas and definitions, such as the 'Anthropocene' and the 'posthuman', can be utilised to understand better the situation of art in human society. In this course we re-examine the theoretical premises of contemporary art practice via research of the field of art—historical and contemporary—through research based on the interplay of art with diverse fields of study: history, philosophy, literature, media and film studies, anthropology, political theory, geography, sociology.

Drawing on landscape painting, stagecraft, urban lighting, carnival, and scientific demonstration, modern spectacles construct a nostalgic sense of a mythical past for modern viewers. This seminar examines 18th- and 19th-century spectacles (including the magic lantern, panorama, and cosmorama), early 20th-century habitat and anthropological dioramas (such as at the 1931 Paris Colonial Exhibition and at the American Museum of Natural History), and contemporary installation art, beginning with Marcel Duchamp’s Étant donnés (Given) and concluding with contemporary works by Snæbjörnsdóttir/Wilson, Richard Barnes, Kent Monkman, and Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, among others. We will examine these case studies through art historical accounts, as well as novels and contemporary reviews, placing these spectacles in relation to three overarching themes: colonialism, antisemitism, and racism more broadly; a European sense of identity and otherness, and; the history of the experience of time. We begin the course with Paris, then broaden our view to Europe and North America, culminating with a global cohort of artists and companies that employ VR and projection to create immersive experiences, such as Immersive Van Gogh, to reenchant the modern past for postmodern viewers.

In this course we examine the art museum in a historical and contemporary light. The course provides insight into the history and development of art museums globally, as well as the complicated relationship between the history of artistic practice, art history and theory and art museums. Topics discussed include: the roots of modern art museums in the private collections of nobility and political elites in Europe, the establishment of the first public museums in Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries, artists’ critiques of art museums in the 20th and 21st century, art museums’ relationship to colonialism and increased demands in recent years for the restitution of art objects and cultural heritage to communities of origin. The ideological foundation of art museums, and its correlation with aesthetic theories, will be examined, and the relationship between art museums and art history as an academic practice discussed. Students will be acquainted with different images of the art museum, e.g. the art museum as a temple, the universal survey museum, the white cube of modern art museums and recent ideas of art museums as a forum for critical dialogue. The influence of nationalism on the role and practice of art museums, and the impact of globalization on art museums internationally will be considered. The history of art museums in Iceland will be presented and discussed alongside the history of artist run spaces.

The course discusses the philosophical and theoretical foundations of gender studies, and the critical and interdisciplinary content of the field. The representation and meaning of sex and gender in language, culture, history, science, and society is explored. The analytical perspective of the field is presented, as is its relationship with methodology. Students are trained in applying theoretical concepts and methods independently and critically.

This course looks at the relationship between humans and nature from a critical theoretical perspective. We look at both „natural“ phenomena, such as plants and vegetation, as well as “cultural” phenomena, such as wilderness, gardens and landscape, from the viewpoints of environmental history and art history. Representation of nature in the Icelandic context will also be discussed. The course will be conceived of as a seminar, where each week in the syllabus adopts a new lens on the subject, in most cases in the forms of reading of chapters from either classics in the attendant fields and newer and more speculative material such as recent publications in the field of posthuman theory.
Students are expected to read all the reading material submitted and to take an active part in discussions.

An introduction to the collaboration and division of work between an editor and a graphic designer in the creation of printed work with emphasis on the importance of typography. Students will gain insight into the basis of typography and preparation for print as well as learning about the graphic designer's tools in context with principal kinds of print. The course will include readings and discourse on the influence of graphic design on legibility and understanding, as well as discourse on quality, usefulness, aesthetics and practicality in graphic design.

The student will present and hand in a written analysis on a printed good of their own choice and are also encouraged to actively participate in discussions in class. The final project consists of creating your own publishing project and communicate ideas on its editing grahpically and in writing.

Students learn and are trained in the methods of archival research, finding and evaluating sources in archives.  Practical exercises will be assigned.

The the aim of the individual practice based research work is to become familiar with reserch and mediation in a museum, a gallery or other art institution, such as the University of Iceland Art Collection. It can also be carried out within an art institution abroad.

The the aim of the individual practice based research work is to become familiar with reserch and mediation in a museum, a gallery or other art institution, such as the University of Iceland Art Collection. It can also be carried out within an art institution abroad.

The course lays the foundation for the active work of curators for practical work in the field of art and museums. We work in an interdisciplinary and critical way with concepts and theories that relate to the work of curators in the field of contemporary art. Students work in teams and set up an exhibition in collaboration with art students or artists. Students will apply knowledge and methods to practical issues, work on preparation, design, text writing and preparation of promotional material in connection with an exhibition. The course is partly run in collaboration with the Master's program in art at the University of Iceland, and students will have the opportunity to collaborate with the University of Iceland Art Museum and other recognised art museums.

The relationship between the environment and our lived totality is a recurring subject throughout art history after the enlightenment. In time based mediums such as film and video, certain aspects of this relationship, such as; sense of place, temporality, and experience of time as spatial, have been especially compelling. This course aims to explore various approaches and methods within the video art and experimental film canon that have developed to express these ideologies. The documentary film within a fine art context and landscape cinema will be considered, along with the wider context surrounding these movements. Various aspects of the relationship between physical surroundings, medium, and theoretical frameworks will also be considered as grounds for further examination of environment, materiality, politics, and visual representation.

The idea of an impending apocalypse has been a strong cultural signifier in Western thought, ranging from the historically reoccurring trends of religious expectations towards End Times, to the contemporary ennui associated with a foreseeable ecological collapse. With this as a background, the course aims to strengthen students’ theoretical understanding of the problems of defining the contemporary when faced with the ontological contradiction of radical ruptures within time itself. In this course we will therefore investigate the apocalypse from multiple perspectives to include considerations towards the ontology of time and to what extent the concepts of history, progress and time are entangled. This will involve looking at theories ranging from post-modernist declarations about the end of history, as well as the more contemporary notions of post-history and post-contemporary. It will also include speculations about cultural projection and possible psychoanalytic drives invested in the conception of an apocalypse, as well as looking at work by individual artists to see how the tradition of apocalyptic thought may stimulate art production.

The course is held at LHÍ

Narration as a methodological tool, and fiction as part of an aesthetic and theoretical framework for artworks is the context that this seminar is situated in. By looking at different theories and examples of narration and fictionalization within the fine arts context the seminar is intended to enable students to engage with and critically examine different aspects, dangers and outcomes telling a story can entail. Fiction and its somewhat uneasy relationship with the real will be examined as well as the role of narration and narrative structures within contemporary fine art practices. The overlapping of the personal and the public, the digital and the material, time and medium are further fields of investigation within the seminar and will be visited using tools of theory, and tools of telling a story.

The course is held at LHÍ

The aim of the course is to provide students with a more comprehensive and deeper insight into the different theoretical approaches within the humanities. In the course, the main theories that have influenced theoretical discussion in the humanities over the last decades will be presented and discussed, and the students are taught how to apply them in their own research.

Training in various aspects of the writing and editing of scientific texts. Various kinds of texts (non-fiction) examined and evaluated. Training in reviewing and commenting on scientific texts and in other aspects of editorial work. The main emphasis will be on the writing of articles, but other kinds of texts will also be considered, both shorter (conference abstracts, reviews) and longer (theses, books), as well as research proposals. Discussion of guidelines for the preparation of manuscripts. Types of plagiarism and how to avoid them and find them. Texts on different subjects will be used as examples, especially writings in linguistics, literature and history. The book Skrifaðu bæði skýrt og rétt will be used as a textbook (Höskuldur Þráinsson 2015).

This course is open to students of many MA programmes in the School of Humanities, cf. the regulations of the individual subjects. Students in the MA programmes in Icelandic literature, Icelandic linguistics, Icelandic studies and Icelandic teaching can take the course as part of the MA course requirements in Icelandic literature or Icelandic linguistics. Students in the MA programme in Icelandic teaching can, however, not have this course as the only linguistics or literature course in their MA.

This course explores artworks in the context of gender and discusses the theoretical basis of gender studies and its trans-disciplinary nature. It seeks to explore how ideas on gender influence artistic practice and discussion and writing on the fine arts. The representations and meanings of gender in language, society and culture are also analyzed with an emphasis on stereotypes and/or their deconstruction in the positions artists take in their work. The approach taken by feminists and queer theory is used to explore the role of gender in the works of artists who bend stereotypical images of femininity and masculinity and create upheaval in the dominant discourse and gender systems of the Western world. Studies on gender inequality and its diverse representations in the contemporary art world are introduced and discussed.

The the aim of the individual practice based research work is to become familiar with reserch and mediation in a museum, a gallery or other art institution, such as the University of Iceland Art Collection. It can also be carried out within an art institution abroad.

Drawing on landscape painting, stagecraft, urban lighting, carnival, and scientific demonstration, modern spectacles construct a nostalgic sense of a mythical past for modern viewers. This seminar examines 18th- and 19th-century spectacles (including the magic lantern, panorama, and cosmorama), early 20th-century habitat and anthropological dioramas (such as at the 1931 Paris Colonial Exhibition and at the American Museum of Natural History), and contemporary installation art, beginning with Marcel Duchamp’s Étant donnés (Given) and concluding with contemporary works by Snæbjörnsdóttir/Wilson, Richard Barnes, Kent Monkman, and Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, among others. We will examine these case studies through art historical accounts, as well as novels and contemporary reviews, placing these spectacles in relation to three overarching themes: colonialism, antisemitism, and racism more broadly; a European sense of identity and otherness, and; the history of the experience of time. We begin the course with Paris, then broaden our view to Europe and North America, culminating with a global cohort of artists and companies that employ VR and projection to create immersive experiences, such as Immersive Van Gogh, to reenchant the modern past for postmodern viewers.

Drawing on landscape painting, stagecraft, urban lighting, carnival, and scientific demonstration, modern spectacles construct a nostalgic sense of a mythical past for modern viewers. This seminar examines 18th- and 19th-century spectacles (including the magic lantern, panorama, and cosmorama), early 20th-century habitat and anthropological dioramas (such as at the 1931 Paris Colonial Exhibition and at the American Museum of Natural History), and contemporary installation art, beginning with Marcel Duchamp’s Étant donnés (Given) and concluding with contemporary works by Snæbjörnsdóttir/Wilson, Richard Barnes, Kent Monkman, and Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, among others. We will examine these case studies through art historical accounts, as well as novels and contemporary reviews, placing these spectacles in relation to three overarching themes: colonialism, antisemitism, and racism more broadly; a European sense of identity and otherness, and; the history of the experience of time. We begin the course with Paris, then broaden our view to Europe and North America, culminating with a global cohort of artists and companies that employ VR and projection to create immersive experiences, such as Immersive Van Gogh, to reenchant the modern past for postmodern viewers.

MA-thesis 

In this course we examine the art museum in a historical and contemporary light. The course provides insight into the history and development of art museums globally, as well as the complicated relationship between the history of artistic practice, art history and theory and art museums. Topics discussed include: the roots of modern art museums in the private collections of nobility and political elites in Europe, the establishment of the first public museums in Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries, artists’ critiques of art museums in the 20th and 21st century, art museums’ relationship to colonialism and increased demands in recent years for the restitution of art objects and cultural heritage to communities of origin. The ideological foundation of art museums, and its correlation with aesthetic theories, will be examined, and the relationship between art museums and art history as an academic practice discussed. Students will be acquainted with different images of the art museum, e.g. the art museum as a temple, the universal survey museum, the white cube of modern art museums and recent ideas of art museums as a forum for critical dialogue. The influence of nationalism on the role and practice of art museums, and the impact of globalization on art museums internationally will be considered. The history of art museums in Iceland will be presented and discussed alongside the history of artist run spaces.

The course discusses the philosophical and theoretical foundations of gender studies, and the critical and interdisciplinary content of the field. The representation and meaning of sex and gender in language, culture, history, science, and society is explored. The analytical perspective of the field is presented, as is its relationship with methodology. Students are trained in applying theoretical concepts and methods independently and critically.

This course looks at the relationship between humans and nature from a critical theoretical perspective. We look at both „natural“ phenomena, such as plants and vegetation, as well as “cultural” phenomena, such as wilderness, gardens and landscape, from the viewpoints of environmental history and art history. Representation of nature in the Icelandic context will also be discussed. The course will be conceived of as a seminar, where each week in the syllabus adopts a new lens on the subject, in most cases in the forms of reading of chapters from either classics in the attendant fields and newer and more speculative material such as recent publications in the field of posthuman theory.
Students are expected to read all the reading material submitted and to take an active part in discussions.

An introduction to the collaboration and division of work between an editor and a graphic designer in the creation of printed work with emphasis on the importance of typography. Students will gain insight into the basis of typography and preparation for print as well as learning about the graphic designer's tools in context with principal kinds of print. The course will include readings and discourse on the influence of graphic design on legibility and understanding, as well as discourse on quality, usefulness, aesthetics and practicality in graphic design.

The student will present and hand in a written analysis on a printed good of their own choice and are also encouraged to actively participate in discussions in class. The final project consists of creating your own publishing project and communicate ideas on its editing grahpically and in writing.

Students learn and are trained in the methods of archival research, finding and evaluating sources in archives.  Practical exercises will be assigned.

The the aim of the individual practice based research work is to become familiar with reserch and mediation in a museum, a gallery or other art institution, such as the University of Iceland Art Collection. It can also be carried out within an art institution abroad.

The the aim of the individual practice based research work is to become familiar with reserch and mediation in a museum, a gallery or other art institution, such as the University of Iceland Art Collection. It can also be carried out within an art institution abroad.

The course lays the foundation for the active work of curators for practical work in the field of art and museums. We work in an interdisciplinary and critical way with concepts and theories that relate to the work of curators in the field of contemporary art. Students work in teams and set up an exhibition in collaboration with art students or artists. Students will apply knowledge and methods to practical issues, work on preparation, design, text writing and preparation of promotional material in connection with an exhibition. The course is partly run in collaboration with the Master's program in art at the University of Iceland, and students will have the opportunity to collaborate with the University of Iceland Art Museum and other recognised art museums.

The relationship between the environment and our lived totality is a recurring subject throughout art history after the enlightenment. In time based mediums such as film and video, certain aspects of this relationship, such as; sense of place, temporality, and experience of time as spatial, have been especially compelling. This course aims to explore various approaches and methods within the video art and experimental film canon that have developed to express these ideologies. The documentary film within a fine art context and landscape cinema will be considered, along with the wider context surrounding these movements. Various aspects of the relationship between physical surroundings, medium, and theoretical frameworks will also be considered as grounds for further examination of environment, materiality, politics, and visual representation.

The idea of an impending apocalypse has been a strong cultural signifier in Western thought, ranging from the historically reoccurring trends of religious expectations towards End Times, to the contemporary ennui associated with a foreseeable ecological collapse. With this as a background, the course aims to strengthen students’ theoretical understanding of the problems of defining the contemporary when faced with the ontological contradiction of radical ruptures within time itself. In this course we will therefore investigate the apocalypse from multiple perspectives to include considerations towards the ontology of time and to what extent the concepts of history, progress and time are entangled. This will involve looking at theories ranging from post-modernist declarations about the end of history, as well as the more contemporary notions of post-history and post-contemporary. It will also include speculations about cultural projection and possible psychoanalytic drives invested in the conception of an apocalypse, as well as looking at work by individual artists to see how the tradition of apocalyptic thought may stimulate art production.

The course is held at LHÍ

MA-thesis 

The course will discuss visual arts from a twofold perspective of the individual artist and the society. It will survey artistic creation as driven by individual motivations and the status of artists and artworks within contexts of the societal and cultural politics. Artistic creation that embodies the promise of individual expression, freedom and the formation of the self must confront the society and consider external factors including theoretical discourse, and cultural politics that impact the reception of artworks, and artists prominence in any given period. The course applies interdisciplinary methods of art history and art theory to analyze connections between individual intentions and power, histories of art and role of educational institutions, resistance and compliance, the modern art world in context of colonialism and industrialization, and the influence of identity politics and globalization on art and artists in recent decades. An emphasis will be placed on examining the courses issues in connection to Iceland’s visual art’s context in conjunction with broader international and global contexts. The aim is to further a clear vision of the correlation between the individual and the outside world, and between the artist’s self and social identities.

This course is taught in LHÍ

The idea of an impending apocalypse has been a strong cultural signifier in Western thought, ranging from the historically reoccurring trends of religious expectations towards End Times, to the contemporary ennui associated with a foreseeable ecological collapse. With this as a background, the course aims to strengthen students’ theoretical understanding of the problems of defining the contemporary when faced with the ontological contradiction of radical ruptures within time itself. In this course we will therefore investigate the apocalypse from multiple perspectives to include considerations towards the ontology of time and to what extent the concepts of history, progress and time are entangled. This will involve looking at theories ranging from post-modernist declarations about the end of history, as well as the more contemporary notions of post-history and post-contemporary. It will also include speculations about cultural projection and possible psychoanalytic drives invested in the conception of an apocalypse, as well as looking at work by individual artists to see how the tradition of apocalyptic thought may stimulate art production.

The course is held at LHÍ

This seminar deals with the cultural milieu of Bohemianism, focusing on the various mythological guises of the Bohemian. Idlers and workaholics, aristocrats and outcasts, hedonists and ascetics, drunkards and teetotallers, misunderstood geniuses and scapegraces, all find their place in this history. The main aspect linking these different images is the position at the margin of bourgeois culture and the seminar aims to arrive at an understanding of the role of this counter-cultural milieu. The main emphasis is on the image of the Bohemian in modern European literature, but students will also deal with manifestations of Bohemia in film, visual art, advertising and other media from the mid-19th century to the present day.

The course is run in cooperation with the state radio station: RÚV - Rás 1. Discussion will take place into the presentation of radio/audio material, various examples being examined. Attention will be given to the nature of audio communication and the possibilities of audio communication in the present media environment. Attention is also paid to concept development, interview techniques, recording techniques, dramaturgy and editing, accentuating sustainability and self-reliance. All students will complete a final project involving the making of radio programmes.

Many students, who finish their studies in the School of Humanities, in particular students from the Department of Icelandic and Comparative Cultural Studies, are likely to be employed in the future by media-companies, publishing houses and cultural institutions and asked to write criticism or news about books and art-events. The course focuses on the role and characteristics of cultural journalism in Iceland. Students will get acquainted with most of the genres of cultural journalism, such as interviews, criticism, news-releases and blog. They will work on practical assignments that will be related to specific cultural events in Iceland in the spring of 2018.

The course will examine the history and development of documentaries.  Key works and authors will be presented, along with trends that have been throughout the history of documentaries such as direct cinema, cinema vérité, Grierson movement, Kinoks, film-diary.  We will look at how technological developments affected the making of documentaries.

The course is based on teachers' lectures, seminar discussions and specific films will be presented to the students.

The basics of editing will be taught, with students doing one project recorded on a phone and another project where archive material is edited.  The students will be taught how to use Adobe Premiere Pro editing software, reviewing basics such as how to upload content, edit footage, simple audio editing, text insertion and minor color correction.

Students are expected to take an active part in the course and practical projects.

The course reviews cultural studies on the whole and focuses on its value as a radical form of social and cultural criticism. Texts of key authors from the 19th Century and until recent years are discussed with the very concept of culture as a central issue and the question of its meaning for critical reflexion on society, history and contemporaneity. The interpellation of cultural criticism and the study of culture is scrutinized and the way in which this relationship is central for cultural studies. This conflict, which can be felt in older and recent texts has for the last decades been a fertile gound for the humanities in general and characterizes their connection to cultural politics. Concepts such as ideology, power, hegemony, gender and discourse play a central role in the discussion.

Constant technological development and emphasis on digital solutions has brought about frequent and numerous changes in the role of the webmaster. In this course, Efforts will be made to provide students with good insight into the main aspects of the webmaster's work. The writings of experts and scholars will be examined, and students will be introduced to the necessary tools and equipment. Professionals in the field will visit and share their experience with students.

The job of a web editor is often integrated with general web management. Students get a good insight into web editing and writing for digital media. The main aspects that a webmaster / web editor needs to be able to master will be discussed, such as information architecture, writing for the web, presentation of images, fundamentals in web design, accessibility, usability, security, analytics, content management systems (CMS), and basic web interface technology.

Students set up their own websites and use a CMS of their choice, e.g., WordPress or Wix, which are both available in free versions, and some of the assignments are submitted on there. In this way, students gain training in setting up a simple website. Particular attention is drawn to the fact that instruction in the use of the CMS is not part of the course. Those who have no or limited experience, in the use of CMS, are advised that YouTube has numerous videos where you can learn about the systems, from the basics to much more complex aspects that are expected in this course.

Performance Studies is the study of how humans create meaning and identity through shared activities ranging from traditional ritual and religion to storytelling and the arts as well as sports, stand-up comedy, festivals, masking traditions, civic ceremonies, political action and protest, dinner parties, and the virtual world. The course introduces students to theories about the wide range of semiotics involved in performance, from spoken text, to costume and appearance, expression and gesture, gender, social contexts, timing and use of space, as well as audience reception.

What is cultural heritage and what purpose does it serve? Why does it always seem to be endangered? How does it tie together the past and the present? What's it got to do with the nation and the state? Historical consciousness? Globalization? Capitalism? Politics? The course will seek to answer these questions with reference to new research in folklore, ethnology, anthropology, art history, sociology, museology, history and archaeology and with a view to understanding what is going on in this expanding field of study.

The course is designed as a review of Icelandic art history (1875 to 1975) with an emphasis on the contribution of Icelandic women artists to art history. A picture of the diverse artistic creations of women during the period in the various art media (e.g. painting and sculpture, photography and textiles) will be created, and the harmony and uniqueness of those Icelandic women artists will be considered in an international, art-historical context. The main concepts and research questions within feminist art theory will be introduced, with an emphasis on gender and how discourse analysis can be used to shed light on the gendered discourse on art that directly and indirectly shaped the idea and definition of the (male) genius and Icelandic art. Reference will also be made to the important struggle of women in general during the period against discrimination in the field of culture and art. Furthermore, it will be examined how an interdisciplinary approach can be applied to get a more comprehensive picture of the position of the sexes in society, artistic and cultural historical context at any given time. The course is based for the most part on the results of the doctoral thesis of the teacher of the course in history and art history, from autumn 2023 (see, Paint like a man, woman! Women, gender and discourse on art in Iceland from the late nineteenth century to 1960, which can be accessed on opinvisindi.is).

By focusing on folk tales, literature and other relevant sources, the course discusses the manifestations of nature and the supernatural in Icelandic narrative culture throughout the centuries. Students will learn about the significance, interface, and unclear boundaries of these phenomena and how they have shaped society and the environment as well. Students will thus get to know different ideas about the position of people and (other) animals within, above or "outside" of nature. Through diverse lectures and assignments, topics such as humanity vs. animality, the known world vs. other worlds, and materiality vs. the supernatural, will be discussed from critical points of view. The roles and forms of landscape, organisms, bodies, weather, and natural phenomena in the narrative culture will be explored. The latest research in this broad field will be presented, such as on the representation of earthquakes and celestial bodies, bears, whales, seals, and domestic animals, and on the supernatural creatures of nature and other mythological creatures such as fairies, ghosts, trolls, and berserks. Students will learn how story worlds and folklore have left their mark on the perception of nature, folk traditions, folk customs, and social spaces such as enchanted spots, sacred places and hunted places. We also ask how these narratives appear in folk art and visual art, from previous centuries to the present. Finally, we will explore the significance of nature narratives and the supernatural in the context of the Anthropocene, human perspectives, climate change, and the different statuses of social groups and species

In this course, diverse manifestations of innovation in culture and communication, will be discussed, with focus on digital technology. Emphasis will be placed on the activities and management of organisations that work in communication and the creative industries. The role of innovation and the creative economy, societal innovation, and how to sustain entrepreneurship in projects will be discussed. Opportunities for utilisation will be explored and methods will be introduced to support the discovery, analysis and application of such opportunities. 

Different approaches in show rooms will be examined. A variety of exhibitions will be viewed and the diverse underlying ideologies analysed. The main elements of museum operation will be discussed, listing different material and methods. Students will create an exhibition project.

The basic types of documentaries will be discussed as well as methods of documentary making, editing and cinematography. Emphasis will be put on practical projects and students will be required to make at least one documentary during the course.

Recent years have seen an increased focus on data collection and statistical analysis within the humanities. This is particularly apparent in growing branches such as psycholinguistics, cognitive literary studies and experimental philosophy, to name a few. The push towards quantitative methods occurs at a time where the validity and reliability of well-established statistical methods are called into question in other fields, with increased demands of replicability and open access as well as data protection and responsibility. In this course, students explore the value of quantitative methods in their field while getting training in the collection and analysis of data. A diverse set of research methods will be introduced, ranging from surveys to corpus analysis and experiments in which participants’ response to stimuli (such as words, texts or audio-visual materials) is quantified. Basic concepts in statistics will be reviewed, enabling students to know the difference between descriptive and inferential statistics, understand statistical significance and interpret visual representations of data in graphs. The course will be largely practical and students are expected to apply their knowledge of data collection and analysis under the instructor’s guidance. Students will work on a project within their own discipline but will also explore the possibility of cross-disciplinary work. Open source tools such as R Studio will be used for all assignments but no prior knowledge of the software or statistics in general is required. The course is suitable for all students within the humanities who want to collect quantitative data to answer interesting questions and could therefore be a useful preparation for a BA or MA project.

The course deals with interconnections between political radicalism, culture, tradition and power. We will focus on contemporary representations of dissent in particular, look at the discourse of democracy and cultural difference, reactions to and criticism of protest in the Western political tradition and dissent in more repressive political systems. The role of intellectuals and writers will be explored as well as the function of artistic expression and design in transforming cultural and social environments. We will also discuss media and social media discourse in connection with an attempt to understand the various and sometimes contradictory objectives of public institutions. A few points of conflict will be discussed that to some extent expose fundamental conflicts in liberal democratic societies such as questions about the wisdom and ignorance of publics, reactions to climate change, inequality, extreme poverty and war. Finally corruption and power will be discussed as well as social and cultural expression, the possibilities and limitations of freedom of speech, the use and abuse of information, disinformation, secrecy, fake and “fake news”.

This course examines professionalism, using case studies from museum work in Iceland, from a broad, interdisciplinary theoretical perspectives and debates. This course should therefore appeal to students from a variety of disciplines, including museology, archaeology, art studies, cultural studies, anthropology and folklore. The case studies are related to the variable works of museums, including management, organisation, collection, conservation, research and communication.

Furthermore, methods of assessment will be considered, both from the angle of the museum visitor as well as self-appraisals of the museums themselves (approaches to - and processing of information). The subject of the case studies are variable, including administration, gender considerations, accessibility, conservation of archaeological artefacts, research into visual cultural heritage, freedom of expression, housing and building affairs, gifts to museums and more.

In this course, experts and specialists (from Iceland and abroad), working in museum sector will give talks, sharing their knowledge and their experience. Students will choose one day over the semester, for a one day career day at a museum in Reykjavík, where a member of staff will tell them about the museum‘s main activities and demonstrate basic entry input in their electronic database. Students will work with the staff for the remainder of the day.

The course is taught distance learning, with short, online lectures by teachers and guest-lecturers. It also includes three full day on-campus (or Zoom, should that be needed) lecture days, where students will visit museums around Reykjavík and listen to lectures from a variety of people. Attendance is required during the three day on-campus and Zoom days.

Final grade is based on completing written assignments during the semester, attendance for full-day on-campus/zoom days and the career day.

The course is intended for students at the masters and diploma level.

The societal role of museums will be discussed from several angles: economic, political, cultural, social and last but not least in an international context. Examples of topics that will be discussed in the course are the role of museums in building the concept of the nation; the legal environment of museums; how museums are run; the status and role of the main museums; museums owned and run by local authorities and other museums; the financing of museums, and the policies of authorities regarding museums. Both national and foreign examples will be taken. The course is intended for students at the masters and diploma levels (but is open to BA students in their final year).

Work format

Teaching will take the form of lectures and discussions.

What is cultural heritage and what purpose does it serve? Why does it always seem to be endangered? How does it tie together the past and the present? What's it got to do with the nation and the state? Historical consciousness? Globalization? Capitalism? Politics? The course will seek to answer these questions with reference to new research in folklore, ethnology, anthropology, art history, sociology, museology, history and archaeology and with a view to understanding what is going on in this expanding field of study.