Scandinavian Literature (DAN502F)

A Nordic literature canon will be presented and discussed form a critical perspective and the canon concept will be in focus. An important Nordic literature selection will be presented, read and studied. There will be a literature seminar in connection with this course with participation from critics and authors from the Nordic countries.

Nordic Modernism and Avant-Garde - From Edith Södergran to Anarchy on the Internet (DAN501F)

The course will explore the history of modernism and of the avant-garde in the Nordic countries through key texts of Nordic modernism. Avant-garde movements such as expressionism and surrealism and their effects on Nordic literature in the years between the World wars will be studied. The course will also focus on groups of writers and other artists that operated under the banner of modernism in the Nordic countries in the post war period, ranging from the publishers of the magazines Heretica in Denmark and Birtíngur in Iceland in the post war period to diverse groups and forums of artists and writers operating today on the internet.

The course will also deal with fundamental questions such as the reaction of modernism to the "grand narratives of modernity and whether modernism itself has become such a "grand narrative" of literary history and culture.

MA-thesis in Danish (DAN441L)

MA thesis in Danish.

Language Usage and Expression: Danish (DAN703F)

This course is theoretical as well as practical. Students refresh important rules in Danish language, language use and stylistics. They analyse how different types of texts have different purpose of communication. Emphasis will be on the students' writing skills in Danish language and their training in use of theoretical as well as practical aids.

Languages and Culture I (MOM301F)

This course concerns the diverse connections between culture and language, as seen from the perspective of cultural history, social sciences and linguistics. Ancient and modern world languages will be introduced and their origins, influence and effects investigated. Written and spoken language will be discussed: what sorts of things are written, why and how? Rules and alternate perspectives on the nature of language will be considered, raising the question of how we understand man with respect to thought and language.

The Viking Age (MIS704M)

This class surveys the history, society and archaeology of Viking Age Iceland. We will read parts of medieval Icelandic sagas, the Eddas and Skaldic poetry, and modern historical, anthropological and literary studies will be discussed. We will explore the ways in which Icelandic society evolved throughout the Viking Age (ca. 790–1100 AD) in its interrelation with different cultural spheres, and dive into aspects of everyday life, politics, belief systems, ship building and traveling.

A regular focus of this class will be on saga literature (Fornaldarsögur, Íslendingasögur, Konungasögur), as this literature is our main source for interpreting archaeological findings, on the one hand, for exploring later medieval ideas of the Viking Age, on the other hand. With that said, the source value of written artifacts for Viking Age Iceland will be discussed, and this even includes a closer look at modern popular and academic reception, where different sources are regularly mingled without any distinct source criticism. Last but not least, we will discuss the so-called Vikings and their so-called age in the light of recent populist movements, and scholarly reactions to it.

Vernacular Culture and the Aesthetics of Everyday Life (ÞJÓ212F)

The course examines the folkloristic/ethnological perspective on culture and society with an emphasis on everyday life - the prose of the world. The history of the discipline is engaged with in a critical fashion in the context of neighboring fields and together students and teacher will examine where the field is headed in the 21st century. Central concepts will be investigated, including cultural difference and diversity, nationality, gender, the popular, tradition, group, authorship, globalization, pluralism, the eleventh hour, hegemony, heritage, and cultural ownership.

The goal is to understand how people create their everyday lives and how they invest their daily environs with meaning, how people make their own history under circumstances not of their own choosing, whether in the peasant society of previous centuries or in contemporary urban society. This course is for graduate students, but it is also open to advanced undergraduates in their last year of study.

Literature Translations (DAN702F)

This course deals with literary translation between Icelandic and Danish. Students get a summary of the history of the Danish-Icelandic literary translation tradition and practice translation critic by analysing different translations from different periods. Students will face the challenges in translation as well as which strategies and methods they have to consider while finding solutions.

Individual Project (DAN805F)

Individual project.

Individual Project (DAN901F)

Individual project.

MA-thesis in Danish (DAN441L)

MA thesis in Danish.

Danish System of Governance, History and Culture (DAN802F)

The aim of this course is to give students a good overview of the historical, political and cultural development in Danish governance through the 20. century till now – from absolutism to representative democracy. The course will among other things be devoted to the Danish welfare model and the democratic safety net in light of the state finances, geography, demography and religion, the Danish labour market, the political system, the healthcare and educational system, Denmark’s international relations and general tendencies in Danish society. Students will make presentations during the semester and the course is closed with a written home assignment.

New researches in history (SAG201F)

In the course, well-known historical studies from Western culture will be read that deal with a variety of topics. An attempt will be made to show how historians, both at the end of the twentieth century and at the beginning of the twenty-first century, struggle with different topics in their research. The discussion will be put into an ideological context and emphasis will be placed on showing the different approaches of historians when the subject has been connected to the aforementioned field of study. An attempt was made to select interesting books that are likely to give us an interesting picture of the state of the arts of history today.

Sustainable Tourism Development in Northern Environment (FER214F)

The course Sustainable Tourism Development in Northern Environment is offered as an online course from University of OULU in Finland. This course is an offering from the Thematic Network on Northern Tourism.

Announcement about access to the course is sent out at the end of each year. Students need to apply for access and registration through SENS' student service, MS-SENS (mssesns@hi.is)

The number of students able to register is limited.

The course will address tourism in the circumpolar north from a societal perspective. It will present different views on the phenomenon and its dimensions, resources and implications for nature, places and cultures involved. The place of northern tourism in times of globalization and emergent global issues like climate changes will be explored, together with the relevant governance aspects.

Multicultural society and migration (MAN017F)

Human mobility and multicultural societies are often seen as the main characteristics of the contemporary world. In the course, we look at main theories approaching mobility and multicultural society, critically addressing them and analyzing their utility. The concept of multiculturalism and related concepts such as culture, assimilation and integration are critically evaluated, as well as mobility in the past and the relationship between mobility and multiculturalism. Different approaches in the social sciences are introduced and main research themes in anthropology in particular and social sciences in general will be examined.

The teaching methods are lectures and discussions.

Vernacular Culture and the Aesthetics of Everyday Life (ÞJÓ212F)

The course examines the folkloristic/ethnological perspective on culture and society with an emphasis on everyday life - the prose of the world. The history of the discipline is engaged with in a critical fashion in the context of neighboring fields and together students and teacher will examine where the field is headed in the 21st century. Central concepts will be investigated, including cultural difference and diversity, nationality, gender, the popular, tradition, group, authorship, globalization, pluralism, the eleventh hour, hegemony, heritage, and cultural ownership.

The goal is to understand how people create their everyday lives and how they invest their daily environs with meaning, how people make their own history under circumstances not of their own choosing, whether in the peasant society of previous centuries or in contemporary urban society. This course is for graduate students, but it is also open to advanced undergraduates in their last year of study.

Individual Project (DAN803F)

Individual project.

Individual Project (DAN804F)

Individual project.

Languages and Culture II: The European Intellectual Tradition (MOM402M)

The European intellectual tradition is characterized by the strong links between academia and society. Many of the most important European thinkers of the 19th and 20th Centuries worked outside of the universities – and many of those who did pursue an ordinary academic career also were public commentators frequently intervening in political discussion of the day and in some cases gaining considerable influence. In this course we present a selection of European thinkers who have been important both as scholars and as public intellectuals. We read and discuss samples of their work and look at critical discussion of their ideas. We also reflect on the time and place of the "European" – to what extent their work is quinessentially Eurocentric and to what extent awareness of cultural contingency emerges.