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Language skills
required, minimum level of B2
Programme length
2 years.
Study mode
Face-to-face learning
Application status
International students:
Students with Icelandic or Nordic citizenship:
Overview

  • Are you interested in history?
  • Do you want a wide range of graduate career options?
  • Do you want a useful and focused education which will be an asset in many different fields?
  • Do you want to do a graduate degree?

This is a two-year Master's programme with a focus on academic training and independent working practices. It is designed for students who have completed a BA in history or a comparable qualification.

The study of history has both a general educational value and is also beneficial in a range of careers. The value of history lies in the fact that it provides us with an overview and understanding of how societies operate and change. It also shows us the origins of our own society.

Emphasis is placed on critical analysis of information and independent working practices.

Programme structure

The programme is 120 ECTS and is organised as two years of full-time study.

The programme is made up of:

  • Mandatory courses, 30 ECTS
  • Restricted and free electives, 60 ECTS
  • Master's thesis, 30 ECTS

In accordance with rules at the School of Humanities, students are required to present their MA theses at a public seminar organised after submission of the thesis. Students must deliver a twenty-minute lecture, similar to a conference lecture.

When selecting courses, students are encouraged to take:

  • Ethics of science and research
  • Applied studies in culture and communication
  • Courses in academic English
  • Other available methodology courses

Main objectives

Students should:

  • receive academic training, equipping them for teaching at the upper secondary level, various academic careers and doctoral studies as applicable.
  • develop an overview of the different perspectives, methods and ideas used in research of the period or periods addressed in their own research.
  • acquire an understanding of the most recent knowledge in their specialisations within the study of history and be able to apply their knowledge and understanding in their research and can take a reasoned stance on historical issues.
  • be familiar with the major subjects and problems featuring in international discourse on their specialisation and learn to write academic articles for publication in journals, as well as academic books on history.

Organisation of teaching

This programme is taught in Icelandic but most textbooks are in English.

Other

Students who complete the programme with a first class grade may apply for doctoral studies

Completing a BA degree in History with a first class grade and a final project worth at least 10 ECTS, also awarded a first class grade, is a prerequisite for access to the Master's programme in History at the University of Iceland. Students who have not completed a final project as part of their BA studies must complete such a project before applying to the Master's programme. Should the applicant hold a BA degree or equivalent in a discipline other than History a minimum of 60 ECTS in History are required, including foundational courses.

The following documents must accompany an application for this programme:
  • CV
  • Statement of purpose
  • Reference 1, Name and email
  • Reference 2, Name and email
  • Certified copies of diplomas and transcripts

Further information on supporting documents can be found here

Programme structure

Check below to see how the programme is structured.

First year | Fall
History of Ideas after 1750 (SAG706F)
Restricted elective course, conditions apply
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

History of Ideas after 1750.

Language of instruction: Icelandic
Face-to-face learning
First year | Fall
Iceland‘s Foreign Relations (ASK103F)
Free elective course within the programme
6 ECTS, credits
Course Description

The course deals with Iceland's foreign affairs and foreign policy from 1940 to 2018. The aim of the course is to cover all major events in the history of Iceland's foreign affairs during this period such as membership of NATO, the defence and economic relationship with the USA, the cod wars and Nordic and European cooperation. The course also covers the most recent changes which are taking place in Iceland's foreign policy, i.e. more focus on developing aid and human rights. Theories in international studies and small-states studies will be used to analyse the case of Iceland.

Language of instruction: English
Face-to-face learning
Attendance required in class
First year | Fall
Thirteen Things. Historical and Contemporary Approaches to Everyday Objects (FOR701M)
Free elective course within the programme
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

Conventional sociological or historical accounts tend to portray human life as if objects either are irrelevant or at best, passive and inert. This course follows the ‘material turn’ that has occurred in the social sciences and the humanities in the past 20 years and explores the importance of things for understanding human society and history. Drawing on examples from a wide range of disciplines from design history to archaeology, each week a different object is taken for study, illustrating the various disciplinary and theoretical approaches that have been taken to material culture in recent years. The course will be organized around weekly lectures, reading and discussion. The course will be taught in english.

Language of instruction: English
Face-to-face learning
Prerequisites
Not taught this semester
First year | Fall
Development cooperation: Approaches and Institutions. Reading course. (MAN018F)
Free elective course within the programme
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

This course treats the debate on aid effectiveness, and institutions and actors within international aid, approaches to development cooperation, and their strengths and weaknesses. Multilateral institutions, bilateral donors, non-governmental organizations and emerging donors will be presented. Important approaches to aid, such as project support, sector-wide approach, budget support, result-based management, participatory methods and gender sensitive approaches will be introduced. as well as challenges in environmental and resource management and disaster aid.

Note: The course is only open to students that are yet to complete this course as a mandatory option, i.e. students registered for a postgraduate diploma in Development studies or Global health, and Global study MA-students with development studies as area of specialization.

Language of instruction: English
Face-to-face learning
Prerequisites
First year | Fall
Cultural Studies and Social Critique (MFR701F)
Free elective course within the programme
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

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.

Language of instruction: English
Face-to-face learning
First year | Fall
Reading documents 1550-1850 (SAG813F)
Restricted elective course, conditions apply
5 ECTS, credits
Course Description

A survey of Icelandic handwriting in the period and of methods of transcription. Students learn to read different kinds of handwriting from the period.

Language of instruction: Icelandic
Face-to-face learning
First year | Fall
Women's Day Off 1975: Myths and communication (SAG510M)
Restricted elective course, conditions apply
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

"The struggle does not end today," was written on a banner held by one of the 25,000 women who rallied in downtown Reykjavík on the 24th of October 1975. The Women's Day Off, as the organizers ironically called it, was essentially a strike to protest gender-based discrimination and wage differentials. The banner mentioned above is only one example of many of how the women communicated their views and demands through different media such as music, print, public speeches, and mass media. The Women's Day Off was the result of a collective agency of Icelandic actors, but their initiative should still be regarded in an international context as the women were urged to unite under the theme of the International Women's Year: "EQUALITY - DEVELOPMENT - PEACE. "

The course is built around the Women's Day Off in 1975, but as teachers and students research its historical legacy in Icelandic and international context, they will explore and implement new ways of communicating history with younger generations. The course is organized in collaboration with Rúv and The Women's History Archives, which will celebrate its 50th anniversary with an exhibition at the National Library.

Language of instruction: Icelandic
Face-to-face learning
Prerequisites
First year | Fall
From Fascism to Populism: Democratic Crises, Radical Nationalism, and Authoritarian Regimes in the 20th and 21st Centuries (SAG604M)
Restricted elective course, conditions apply
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

The current surge of nationalist, populist right-wing parties and authoritarian regimes not only poses a challenge to traditional political elites and to the functioning of liberal-democratic systems. It also invites comparisons with historical fascism and authoritarian rule in the interwar period, raising the question of how to define, classify, and position these parties, regimes, and ideologies on the political spectrum. The course deals with crises of the liberal order and the effects of ultra-nationalism in Europe in the 20th and 21st centuries by focusing on historical fascism and Nazism as well as contemporary populist and authoritarian formations. While the focus will be on Europe, ultra-nationalist and anti-liberal ideologies in other parts of the world will also be considered. The emphasis will be on historiographical and theoretical problems relating to the ideologies of fascism, authoritarianism, and populism; the effects of economic and political crises on the rise of radical nationalist movements; the roles of race, ethnicity, and gender; ideas about modernization, culture, welfare and racism, and foreign policy platforms. Populist and authoritarian regimes in the present will be put in a historical context, their programs and policies explored, and an attempt will be made to explain what has been termed “populist authoritarianism.”

Language of instruction: Icelandic
Face-to-face learning
Prerequisites
First year | Fall
Individual Special Subject A (SAG014F, SAG023F, SAG604F)
Restricted elective course, conditions apply
20 ECTS, credits
Course Description

Einstaklingsverkefni A

Language of instruction: Icelandic
First year | Fall
Individual Project B (SAG014F, SAG023F, SAG604F)
Restricted elective course, conditions apply
20 ECTS, credits
Course Description

Individual Course

Language of instruction: Icelandic
First year | Fall
Individual Subject C (SAG014F, SAG023F, SAG604F)
Restricted elective course, conditions apply
20 ECTS, credits
Course Description

.

Language of instruction: Icelandic
First year | Fall
Public archiving and records management (SAG103M)
Restricted elective course, conditions apply
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

This course covers the role of public archives and archiving and record management in the past and present. The importance of the principle of provenance for archives and history. A summary of the history of administration. The activities and legal environment of public archives in Iceland will be discussed and their role in records management in public administration. What organizations are obliged to transfer their records to public archives. The evolution of archiving and records management in the 20th and 21st centuries will be examined. Methods of records managements, old and new. The sorting and cataloguing of archives.

Language of instruction: Icelandic
Distance learning
Prerequisites
First year | Fall
The Medieval North (SAG716M)
Restricted elective course, conditions apply
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

Historical and historiographical survey of major topics in the history of the medieval North, with special emphasis on Iceland and Norway from the Viking Age into the fourteenth century. Topics include: power, kingship and state; law and feud; kinship, gender and social ties; religious and mental outlook(s); conversion, Christianity and church; economic conditions. Prior knowledge of the “factual” narrative is helpful but not necessary. Reading ability in German and/or the modern Scandinavian languages is also helpful but, again, not necessary (all mandatory readings are in English). Students produce a paper and lead discussion; no final exam.

Language of instruction: English
Face-to-face learning
Prerequisites
First year | Fall
Theories in Humanities (FOR709F)
A mandatory (required) course for the programme
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

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.

Language of instruction: Icelandic/English
Face-to-face learning
First year | Fall
Communication channels I, documentaries, texts, images (HMM122F)
Free elective course within the programme
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

In the courses Communication channels I and Communication channels II, the basics of methods for the dissemination of cultural material in the humanities and social sciences are presented. Communication channels I is in the fall semester, while Communication channels II is in the spring semester. 

In Communication channels I, the students are working with a) text and images in the first half of the semester and b) short documentaries in the second half of the course. Each subject weighs 50% in the course. Concerning a) Students will receive training in article writing and discourse analysis on the one hand and use of images and image analysis on the other.  Concerning b) Students work on making short documentaries. It includes basic training in screenwriting, shooting and editing, and students work in groups on a documentary, according to a specific theme. 

There are no exams in the course. Instead, students work on projects, individual and group projects. They are the following:

  1. Analysis of texts and images
  2. An article with an image on a specific theme for publication, about 800 words.
  3. A group project where students work on a short documentary that is shown at the end of the course. Emphasis is placed on common themes and group work in the course. The course is not taught remotely.
Language of instruction: Icelandic
Face-to-face learning
First year | Fall
The Viking Age (MIS704M)
Free elective course within the programme
5 ECTS, credits
Course Description

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.

Language of instruction: English
Face-to-face learning
Prerequisites
Not taught this semester
First year | Fall
History of Science and Technology in Iceland (EÐL524M)
Free elective course within the programme
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

Course description: Examples from the history of science and technology in Iceland are discussed in the light of national and international developments. Among the lecturers are experts in the natural sciences, technology and medical sciences. The students write a paper on a topic chosen in consultation with one or more of the teachers and give a short oral presentation.

Language of instruction: Icelandic
Prerequisites
First year | Fall
Radio production and podcasting (HMM235F)
Free elective course within the programme
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

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.

Language of instruction: Icelandic
Face-to-face learning
Not taught this semester
First year | Fall
Theories in Museum Studies (SAF002F)
Free elective course within the programme
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

The reading material be based on on essential theoretical works as well as recent research. The history of the field will be critically examined in light of trends at the beginning of the 21st century. 

Work format

Teaching will take the form of lectures and discussions.

Language of instruction: Icelandic
Face-to-face learning
First year | Fall
Theory and Writing (ENS231F)
Free elective course within the programme
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

This seminar engages with theories on culture, narrative, and mediation. Active class participation is required.

Language of instruction: English
Face-to-face learning
First year | Fall
Contemporary art and society (LIS701F)
Free elective course within the programme
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

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.

Language of instruction: Icelandic/English
Face-to-face learning
Not taught this semester
First year | Fall
Humanimals: Relations between humans and animals (ÞJÓ110F)
Free elective course within the programme
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

Relations between humans and animals are the focus of this course, which will be approached from both an academic and an artistic standpoint. Students will complete independent projects on an animal of their choice and attend field trips in nature and museums. The lectures will focus on diverse animals, such as polar bears, whales, great auks and puffins and recent scholarship on them. We will dig into visual and material representations of these, and other, animals in varied cultural contexts, including medieval literature, folktales, oral tradition, film, news reports, material culture and tourism. Consideration will be given to the idea of an “afterlife” of animals in the form of artworks, museum artefacts and souvenirs. We will examine artefacts in both private and public collections and pose the questions of what happens when a living animal is turned into a museum object, and how the meaning that we bestow upon an animal can be subject to development and change under different circumstances. The role of animals in the creation of knowledge and formation of discourse surrounding climate change and issues of the Arctic regions will also be addressed, in addition to animals’ connections to specific places and cultural groups and their role in identity formations of past and present. An attempt will be made to step outside of “traditional” dualism in which an emphasis is placed on distinctions between humans and animals as we acquaint ourselves with the ways in which human/animal (ecological, social and cultural) habitats are intertwined.

Aim

The aim is to explore urgent questions and topical issues regarding human/animal co-existence, climate change, biodiversity loss and environmental sustainability. We will consider how artists, researchers, activists and museums have been engaging with these questions and how they can further contribute to the discussion. We will examine how diverse museums convey their ideas and information on human/animal relations through their collections. Students will be encouraged to critically engage with visual material, objects and texts, both online and through visits to museums and exhibitions. 

Language of instruction: Icelandic/English
Face-to-face learning
Distance learning
Attendance required in class
Not taught this semester
First year | Fall
Cultural Heritage (ÞJÓ506M)
Free elective course within the programme
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

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.

Language of instruction: Icelandic/English
Face-to-face learning
Distance learning
Attendance required in class
First year | Spring 1
Culture and Dissent (MFR703M)
Free elective course within the programme
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

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 and extreme poverty. 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”.

Language of instruction: English
Face-to-face learning
Prerequisites
First year | Spring 1
The Icelandic Household in the 18th Century (SAG414M)
Restricted elective course, conditions apply
5 ECTS, credits
Course Description

The course offers an in-depth study of the Icelandic 18th Century household. What different types of households were there and what was the difference between the households of peasants, fishermen, pastors, lodgers or paupers? How did young people move out of their parents’ households and start their own? How did households provide for their members and what additional expenses such as rent, taxes and dues did they need to pay? How did subsistence farming work and did the households engage in any trading? The course introduces the rich sources of the time period to students, which provide us with insights into daily life in the period, from the census of 1703 to travel journals and magazine articles of Enlightment writers of the late 18th century. Among other exercises, students practice methods of digital data entry for quantitative study.

Language of instruction: Icelandic
Face-to-face learning
Prerequisites
Course taught second half of the semester
First year | Spring 1
Wretched Girls and Virtuous Ladies: Women in Iceland from the late eighteenth century to the twentieth century (SAG412M)
Restricted elective course, conditions apply
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

This course examines the status of women in Iceland during the long nineteenth century. The aim is to explore sources that shed light on women's circumstances, opportunities, and agency, both in rural areas and villages. The period will be examined both thematically and chronologically, exploring and analysing changes in women's status and agency. The course will explore what legal rights women had – were they autonomous? Could they travel abroad for education or travel at all? Could they marry whom they wanted? Run their own business? What kind of clothes did they wear? What work did they do inside and outside of the home? The status of women in Iceland will be examined in a transnational context, both concerning legal rights and agency, as well as in relation to major theoretical frameworks about women's history in the nineteenth century (e.g., separate spheres). The period spans from the late eighteenth century, from which time sources such as private letters and biographical texts are preserved, to c. 1900 when the struggle for women's rights had begun in Iceland and new times were ahead. The course will delve into memoirs, funeral speeches, and correspondence along with other sources and scholarly works about the period to get as close as possible to women's experiences and attitudes.

Language of instruction: Icelandic
Face-to-face learning
Prerequisites
First year | Spring 1
Echoes of a Global Medieval Ages in Contemporary History (SAG413M)
Restricted elective course, conditions apply
5 ECTS, credits
Course Description

"Echoes of a Global Medieval Ages in Contemporary History" is a course that explores the intersection of medieval and contemporary eras, considering how memories, symbols, and narratives from the medieval world continue to shape current ideologies, identities, and global perspectives. Through a thematic, regional examination, the course analyzes how different societies today reinterpret and reconstruct their medieval pasts, addressing legacies of imperialism, nationalism, and cultural exchange. Key topics include the influence of medieval governance, cultural symbols, trade networks, and ideological conflicts on contemporary issues.

Language of instruction: English
Face-to-face learning
Prerequisites
Course taught first half of the semester
First year | Spring 1
Research and sources in archives (SAG206M)
Restricted elective course, conditions apply
5 ECTS, credits
Course Description

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

Language of instruction: Icelandic
Distance learning
Prerequisites
First year | Spring 1
New researches in history (SAG201F)
A mandatory (required) course for the programme
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

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.

Language of instruction: Icelandic
Face-to-face learning
First year | Spring 1
Research and sources in archives (SAG206M)
Free elective course within the programme
5 ECTS, credits
Course Description

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

Language of instruction: Icelandic
Distance learning
Prerequisites
First year | Spring 1
Communication channels II. Oral presentations, exhibitions, digital communication (HMM242F)
Free elective course within the programme
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

In the course Communication channels II during the spring semester the students work with the following communication methods: a) oral presentation and b) exhibitions of cultural and historical material. Digital communication will be integrated into both aspects.

The students will work with the basics of oral presentation and practice in smaller and larger groups. Basic issues regarding the organization of conferences and seminars and their management will also be reviewed and a conference is held where all students present their projects. Digital communication will also be integrated into this section. Following is a section about exhibitions with connection to digital communication. The basics of exhibitions and different ways of presentation will be discussed.  The basics of digital communication will be covered, what are the main channels, advantages and disadvantages, and what rules apply to the presentation of texts on the web.

There are no exams in the course. Instead, students work on projects, individual and group projects. They are the following:

  1. Lecture at a conference and other projects in that context
  2. Exhibition analysis and a practical project in connection with exhibitions organized by the City History Museum (Borgarsögusafn)
  3. Digital communication will be integrated into both aspects. Emphasis is placed on common themes and group work in the course.

The course is not taught remotely.

Language of instruction: Icelandic
Not taught this semester
First year | Spring 1
Museums and Society: The Circus of Death? (SAF603M)
Free elective course within the programme
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

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. 

Work format

Teaching will take the form of lectures and discussions.

Language of instruction: Icelandic
First year | Spring 1
Theories in Gender Studies (KYN211F)
Free elective course within the programme
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

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.

Language of instruction: Icelandic
Face-to-face learning
Online learning
First year | Spring 1
Viking Age Archaeology (FOR102F)
Free elective course within the programme
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

Overview of the history of the Viking age and history of Viking research. Emphasis is placed on the archaeological evidence, the sites and the objects, and discussing how archaeological data has contributed to our understanding of this period. Particular attention is given to economic patterns, issues of ethnicity and state formation.

Language of instruction: English
Face-to-face learning
First year | Spring 1
Postmedieval archaeology (FOR702M)
Free elective course within the programme
5 ECTS, credits
Course Description

Living in the contemporary world it is easy to think of the past as something remote and separate from everyday life - whether it is a trip to a museum or even studying archaeology at university, history seems to always be placed at one remove from our everyday life. Something we encounter for fun or interest. The aim of this course is to look at our modern world through an archaeological and historical lens: how are the patterns of our lives today the product of things that happened in the past? This course will show how the past is alive in the present – not as a heritage site or archaeology textbook but as something which still shapes our daily routines and the material world around us. Although the roots of this go back to our biological evolution, arguably most of these effects emerged in the last 500 years.

Language of instruction: English
Face-to-face learning
Prerequisites
First year | Spring 1
Medieval Archaeology (FOR812F)
Free elective course within the programme
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

During the last decades, medieval archaeology has experienced significant growth as a discipline concerned with material culture. Initially, the use of material culture was marginalized to the role of confirming or refuting historical knowledge about this period but today it is understood as having equal historical importance to the archived material. The course is thus intended to improve student’s understanding of Medieval Europe during the period 800–1600 AD through the study of material culture. It deals with general themes in medieval archaeology, such as identity, social status, rural and urban landscapes, religion, life and death, rather than the historical development of the Middle Ages in chronological order. The aim is to give students insight into the different fields of theory and method of medieval archaeology through both material and documentary evidences in accordance with the current state of research. A special emphasis will be put on medieval Iceland, as a part of European culture and society, but even on how medieval archaeologists gather their sources, analyse them and reach conclusions of historical importance.

Language of instruction: English
Face-to-face learning
First year | Spring 1
Ethics of Science and Research (HSP806F)
Free elective course within the programme
6 ECTS, credits
Course Description

The course is intended for postgraduate students only. It is adapted to the needs of students from different fields of study. The course is taught over a six-week period.

The course is taught over the first six weeks of spring semester on Fridays from 1:20 pm - 3:40 pm.

Description: 
The topics of the course include: Professionalism and the scientist’s responsibilities. Demands for scientific objectivity and the ethics of research. Issues of equality and standards of good practice. Power and science. Conflicts of interest and misconduct in research. Science, academia and industry. Research ethics and ethical decision making.

Objectives: 
In this course, the student gains knowledge about ethical issues in science and research and is trained in reasoning about ethical controversies relating to science and research in contemporary society.

The instruction takes the form of lectures and discussion. The course is viewed as an academic community where students are actively engaged in a focused dialogue about  the topics. Each student (working as a member of a two-person team) gives a presentation according to a plan designed at the beginning of the course, and other students acquaint themselves with the topic as well for the purpose of participating in a teacher-led discussion.

Language of instruction: English
Face-to-face learning
Course taught first half of the semester
Not taught this semester
First year | Spring 1
Dwellings, Disneylands and Deserts: Ethnology of Place (ÞJÓ446M)
Free elective course within the programme
5 ECTS, credits
Course Description

The objective of the course is to explore how people relate to places in different ways. A variety of places - from private homes to airports, from city-centres to wastelands, form summer resorts to places of worship - will be explored in terms of affect and meaning, accumulated by passing though and dwelling as well as socio-political constructions. What creates and maintains place attachment? How do people relate differently to a place of their youth and place of destination? What constitutes a sense of belonging to a place? How do refugees, migrant workers and other migrants relate to new places and new landscapes and how do they maintain or sever ties to their place of origin. What role does experience, affect, memory, aesthetics, identification and sense of history play in who can claim a place and how? How do social structures, political objectives and conceptual understandings of place condition the meaning and sense of place for individuals and communities?

Language of instruction: English
Face-to-face learning
Course taught first half of the semester
Second year | Fall
History of Ideas after 1750 (SAG706F)
Restricted elective course, conditions apply
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

History of Ideas after 1750.

Language of instruction: Icelandic
Face-to-face learning
Second year | Fall
Iceland‘s Foreign Relations (ASK103F)
Free elective course within the programme
6 ECTS, credits
Course Description

The course deals with Iceland's foreign affairs and foreign policy from 1940 to 2018. The aim of the course is to cover all major events in the history of Iceland's foreign affairs during this period such as membership of NATO, the defence and economic relationship with the USA, the cod wars and Nordic and European cooperation. The course also covers the most recent changes which are taking place in Iceland's foreign policy, i.e. more focus on developing aid and human rights. Theories in international studies and small-states studies will be used to analyse the case of Iceland.

Language of instruction: English
Face-to-face learning
Attendance required in class
Second year | Fall
Thirteen Things. Historical and Contemporary Approaches to Everyday Objects (FOR701M)
Free elective course within the programme
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

Conventional sociological or historical accounts tend to portray human life as if objects either are irrelevant or at best, passive and inert. This course follows the ‘material turn’ that has occurred in the social sciences and the humanities in the past 20 years and explores the importance of things for understanding human society and history. Drawing on examples from a wide range of disciplines from design history to archaeology, each week a different object is taken for study, illustrating the various disciplinary and theoretical approaches that have been taken to material culture in recent years. The course will be organized around weekly lectures, reading and discussion. The course will be taught in english.

Language of instruction: English
Face-to-face learning
Prerequisites
Not taught this semester
Second year | Fall
Development cooperation: Approaches and Institutions. Reading course. (MAN018F)
Free elective course within the programme
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

This course treats the debate on aid effectiveness, and institutions and actors within international aid, approaches to development cooperation, and their strengths and weaknesses. Multilateral institutions, bilateral donors, non-governmental organizations and emerging donors will be presented. Important approaches to aid, such as project support, sector-wide approach, budget support, result-based management, participatory methods and gender sensitive approaches will be introduced. as well as challenges in environmental and resource management and disaster aid.

Note: The course is only open to students that are yet to complete this course as a mandatory option, i.e. students registered for a postgraduate diploma in Development studies or Global health, and Global study MA-students with development studies as area of specialization.

Language of instruction: English
Face-to-face learning
Prerequisites
Second year | Fall
Cultural Studies and Social Critique (MFR701F)
Free elective course within the programme
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

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.

Language of instruction: English
Face-to-face learning
Second year | Fall
Reading documents 1550-1850 (SAG813F)
Restricted elective course, conditions apply
5 ECTS, credits
Course Description

A survey of Icelandic handwriting in the period and of methods of transcription. Students learn to read different kinds of handwriting from the period.

Language of instruction: Icelandic
Face-to-face learning
Second year | Fall
Women's Day Off 1975: Myths and communication (SAG510M)
Restricted elective course, conditions apply
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

"The struggle does not end today," was written on a banner held by one of the 25,000 women who rallied in downtown Reykjavík on the 24th of October 1975. The Women's Day Off, as the organizers ironically called it, was essentially a strike to protest gender-based discrimination and wage differentials. The banner mentioned above is only one example of many of how the women communicated their views and demands through different media such as music, print, public speeches, and mass media. The Women's Day Off was the result of a collective agency of Icelandic actors, but their initiative should still be regarded in an international context as the women were urged to unite under the theme of the International Women's Year: "EQUALITY - DEVELOPMENT - PEACE. "

The course is built around the Women's Day Off in 1975, but as teachers and students research its historical legacy in Icelandic and international context, they will explore and implement new ways of communicating history with younger generations. The course is organized in collaboration with Rúv and The Women's History Archives, which will celebrate its 50th anniversary with an exhibition at the National Library.

Language of instruction: Icelandic
Face-to-face learning
Prerequisites
Second year | Fall
From Fascism to Populism: Democratic Crises, Radical Nationalism, and Authoritarian Regimes in the 20th and 21st Centuries (SAG604M)
Restricted elective course, conditions apply
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

The current surge of nationalist, populist right-wing parties and authoritarian regimes not only poses a challenge to traditional political elites and to the functioning of liberal-democratic systems. It also invites comparisons with historical fascism and authoritarian rule in the interwar period, raising the question of how to define, classify, and position these parties, regimes, and ideologies on the political spectrum. The course deals with crises of the liberal order and the effects of ultra-nationalism in Europe in the 20th and 21st centuries by focusing on historical fascism and Nazism as well as contemporary populist and authoritarian formations. While the focus will be on Europe, ultra-nationalist and anti-liberal ideologies in other parts of the world will also be considered. The emphasis will be on historiographical and theoretical problems relating to the ideologies of fascism, authoritarianism, and populism; the effects of economic and political crises on the rise of radical nationalist movements; the roles of race, ethnicity, and gender; ideas about modernization, culture, welfare and racism, and foreign policy platforms. Populist and authoritarian regimes in the present will be put in a historical context, their programs and policies explored, and an attempt will be made to explain what has been termed “populist authoritarianism.”

Language of instruction: Icelandic
Face-to-face learning
Prerequisites
Second year | Fall
Individual Special Subject A (SAG014F, SAG023F, SAG604F)
Restricted elective course, conditions apply
20 ECTS, credits
Course Description

Einstaklingsverkefni A

Language of instruction: Icelandic
Second year | Fall
Individual Project B (SAG014F, SAG023F, SAG604F)
Restricted elective course, conditions apply
20 ECTS, credits
Course Description

Individual Course

Language of instruction: Icelandic
Second year | Fall
Individual Subject C (SAG014F, SAG023F, SAG604F)
Restricted elective course, conditions apply
20 ECTS, credits
Course Description

.

Language of instruction: Icelandic
Second year | Fall
Public archiving and records management (SAG103M)
Restricted elective course, conditions apply
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

This course covers the role of public archives and archiving and record management in the past and present. The importance of the principle of provenance for archives and history. A summary of the history of administration. The activities and legal environment of public archives in Iceland will be discussed and their role in records management in public administration. What organizations are obliged to transfer their records to public archives. The evolution of archiving and records management in the 20th and 21st centuries will be examined. Methods of records managements, old and new. The sorting and cataloguing of archives.

Language of instruction: Icelandic
Distance learning
Prerequisites
Second year | Fall
The Medieval North (SAG716M)
Restricted elective course, conditions apply
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

Historical and historiographical survey of major topics in the history of the medieval North, with special emphasis on Iceland and Norway from the Viking Age into the fourteenth century. Topics include: power, kingship and state; law and feud; kinship, gender and social ties; religious and mental outlook(s); conversion, Christianity and church; economic conditions. Prior knowledge of the “factual” narrative is helpful but not necessary. Reading ability in German and/or the modern Scandinavian languages is also helpful but, again, not necessary (all mandatory readings are in English). Students produce a paper and lead discussion; no final exam.

Language of instruction: English
Face-to-face learning
Prerequisites
Second year | Fall
Communication channels I, documentaries, texts, images (HMM122F)
Free elective course within the programme
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

In the courses Communication channels I and Communication channels II, the basics of methods for the dissemination of cultural material in the humanities and social sciences are presented. Communication channels I is in the fall semester, while Communication channels II is in the spring semester. 

In Communication channels I, the students are working with a) text and images in the first half of the semester and b) short documentaries in the second half of the course. Each subject weighs 50% in the course. Concerning a) Students will receive training in article writing and discourse analysis on the one hand and use of images and image analysis on the other.  Concerning b) Students work on making short documentaries. It includes basic training in screenwriting, shooting and editing, and students work in groups on a documentary, according to a specific theme. 

There are no exams in the course. Instead, students work on projects, individual and group projects. They are the following:

  1. Analysis of texts and images
  2. An article with an image on a specific theme for publication, about 800 words.
  3. A group project where students work on a short documentary that is shown at the end of the course. Emphasis is placed on common themes and group work in the course. The course is not taught remotely.
Language of instruction: Icelandic
Face-to-face learning
Second year | Fall
The Viking Age (MIS704M)
Free elective course within the programme
5 ECTS, credits
Course Description

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.

Language of instruction: English
Face-to-face learning
Prerequisites
Not taught this semester
Second year | Fall
History of Science and Technology in Iceland (EÐL524M)
Free elective course within the programme
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

Course description: Examples from the history of science and technology in Iceland are discussed in the light of national and international developments. Among the lecturers are experts in the natural sciences, technology and medical sciences. The students write a paper on a topic chosen in consultation with one or more of the teachers and give a short oral presentation.

Language of instruction: Icelandic
Prerequisites
Second year | Fall
Radio production and podcasting (HMM235F)
Free elective course within the programme
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

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.

Language of instruction: Icelandic
Face-to-face learning
Not taught this semester
Second year | Fall
Theories in Museum Studies (SAF002F)
Free elective course within the programme
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

The reading material be based on on essential theoretical works as well as recent research. The history of the field will be critically examined in light of trends at the beginning of the 21st century. 

Work format

Teaching will take the form of lectures and discussions.

Language of instruction: Icelandic
Face-to-face learning
Second year | Fall
Theory and Writing (ENS231F)
Free elective course within the programme
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

This seminar engages with theories on culture, narrative, and mediation. Active class participation is required.

Language of instruction: English
Face-to-face learning
Second year | Fall
Contemporary art and society (LIS701F)
Free elective course within the programme
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

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.

Language of instruction: Icelandic/English
Face-to-face learning
Not taught this semester
Second year | Fall
Humanimals: Relations between humans and animals (ÞJÓ110F)
Free elective course within the programme
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

Relations between humans and animals are the focus of this course, which will be approached from both an academic and an artistic standpoint. Students will complete independent projects on an animal of their choice and attend field trips in nature and museums. The lectures will focus on diverse animals, such as polar bears, whales, great auks and puffins and recent scholarship on them. We will dig into visual and material representations of these, and other, animals in varied cultural contexts, including medieval literature, folktales, oral tradition, film, news reports, material culture and tourism. Consideration will be given to the idea of an “afterlife” of animals in the form of artworks, museum artefacts and souvenirs. We will examine artefacts in both private and public collections and pose the questions of what happens when a living animal is turned into a museum object, and how the meaning that we bestow upon an animal can be subject to development and change under different circumstances. The role of animals in the creation of knowledge and formation of discourse surrounding climate change and issues of the Arctic regions will also be addressed, in addition to animals’ connections to specific places and cultural groups and their role in identity formations of past and present. An attempt will be made to step outside of “traditional” dualism in which an emphasis is placed on distinctions between humans and animals as we acquaint ourselves with the ways in which human/animal (ecological, social and cultural) habitats are intertwined.

Aim

The aim is to explore urgent questions and topical issues regarding human/animal co-existence, climate change, biodiversity loss and environmental sustainability. We will consider how artists, researchers, activists and museums have been engaging with these questions and how they can further contribute to the discussion. We will examine how diverse museums convey their ideas and information on human/animal relations through their collections. Students will be encouraged to critically engage with visual material, objects and texts, both online and through visits to museums and exhibitions. 

Language of instruction: Icelandic/English
Face-to-face learning
Distance learning
Attendance required in class
Not taught this semester
Second year | Fall
Cultural Heritage (ÞJÓ506M)
Free elective course within the programme
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

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.

Language of instruction: Icelandic/English
Face-to-face learning
Distance learning
Attendance required in class
Second year | Fall
Research Project in History for MA-thesis (SAG704F)
A mandatory (required) course for the programme
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

Research Project for MA-thesis in collaboration with supervisor.

Language of instruction: Icelandic
Not taught this semester
Second year | Fall
Art and History: The formation of Artworlds (LIS709F)
Free elective course within the programme
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

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.

Language of instruction: Icelandic
Face-to-face learning
Second year | Spring 1
MA-thesis in History (SAG441L)
A mandatory (required) course for the programme
0 ECTS, credits
Course Description

.

Language of instruction: Icelandic
Part of the total project/thesis credits
First year | Fall
Reading documents 1550-1850 (SAG813F)
Restricted elective course, conditions apply
5 ECTS, credits
Course Description

A survey of Icelandic handwriting in the period and of methods of transcription. Students learn to read different kinds of handwriting from the period.

Language of instruction: Icelandic
Face-to-face learning
First year | Fall
Women's Day Off 1975: Myths and communication (SAG510M)
Restricted elective course, conditions apply
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

"The struggle does not end today," was written on a banner held by one of the 25,000 women who rallied in downtown Reykjavík on the 24th of October 1975. The Women's Day Off, as the organizers ironically called it, was essentially a strike to protest gender-based discrimination and wage differentials. The banner mentioned above is only one example of many of how the women communicated their views and demands through different media such as music, print, public speeches, and mass media. The Women's Day Off was the result of a collective agency of Icelandic actors, but their initiative should still be regarded in an international context as the women were urged to unite under the theme of the International Women's Year: "EQUALITY - DEVELOPMENT - PEACE. "

The course is built around the Women's Day Off in 1975, but as teachers and students research its historical legacy in Icelandic and international context, they will explore and implement new ways of communicating history with younger generations. The course is organized in collaboration with Rúv and The Women's History Archives, which will celebrate its 50th anniversary with an exhibition at the National Library.

Language of instruction: Icelandic
Face-to-face learning
Prerequisites
First year | Fall
From Fascism to Populism: Democratic Crises, Radical Nationalism, and Authoritarian Regimes in the 20th and 21st Centuries (SAG604M)
Restricted elective course, conditions apply
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

The current surge of nationalist, populist right-wing parties and authoritarian regimes not only poses a challenge to traditional political elites and to the functioning of liberal-democratic systems. It also invites comparisons with historical fascism and authoritarian rule in the interwar period, raising the question of how to define, classify, and position these parties, regimes, and ideologies on the political spectrum. The course deals with crises of the liberal order and the effects of ultra-nationalism in Europe in the 20th and 21st centuries by focusing on historical fascism and Nazism as well as contemporary populist and authoritarian formations. While the focus will be on Europe, ultra-nationalist and anti-liberal ideologies in other parts of the world will also be considered. The emphasis will be on historiographical and theoretical problems relating to the ideologies of fascism, authoritarianism, and populism; the effects of economic and political crises on the rise of radical nationalist movements; the roles of race, ethnicity, and gender; ideas about modernization, culture, welfare and racism, and foreign policy platforms. Populist and authoritarian regimes in the present will be put in a historical context, their programs and policies explored, and an attempt will be made to explain what has been termed “populist authoritarianism.”

Language of instruction: Icelandic
Face-to-face learning
Prerequisites
First year | Fall
Individual Special Subject A (SAG014F, SAG023F, SAG604F)
Restricted elective course, conditions apply
20 ECTS, credits
Course Description

Einstaklingsverkefni A

Language of instruction: Icelandic
First year | Fall
Individual Project B (SAG014F, SAG023F, SAG604F)
Restricted elective course, conditions apply
20 ECTS, credits
Course Description

Individual Course

Language of instruction: Icelandic
First year | Fall
Individual Subject C (SAG014F, SAG023F, SAG604F)
Restricted elective course, conditions apply
20 ECTS, credits
Course Description

.

Language of instruction: Icelandic
First year | Fall
Public archiving and records management (SAG103M)
Restricted elective course, conditions apply
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

This course covers the role of public archives and archiving and record management in the past and present. The importance of the principle of provenance for archives and history. A summary of the history of administration. The activities and legal environment of public archives in Iceland will be discussed and their role in records management in public administration. What organizations are obliged to transfer their records to public archives. The evolution of archiving and records management in the 20th and 21st centuries will be examined. Methods of records managements, old and new. The sorting and cataloguing of archives.

Language of instruction: Icelandic
Distance learning
Prerequisites
First year | Fall
The Medieval North (SAG716M)
Restricted elective course, conditions apply
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

Historical and historiographical survey of major topics in the history of the medieval North, with special emphasis on Iceland and Norway from the Viking Age into the fourteenth century. Topics include: power, kingship and state; law and feud; kinship, gender and social ties; religious and mental outlook(s); conversion, Christianity and church; economic conditions. Prior knowledge of the “factual” narrative is helpful but not necessary. Reading ability in German and/or the modern Scandinavian languages is also helpful but, again, not necessary (all mandatory readings are in English). Students produce a paper and lead discussion; no final exam.

Language of instruction: English
Face-to-face learning
Prerequisites
First year | Fall
Theories in Humanities (FOR709F)
A mandatory (required) course for the programme
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

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.

Language of instruction: Icelandic/English
Face-to-face learning
First year | Fall
Communication channels I, documentaries, texts, images (HMM122F)
Free elective course within the programme
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

In the courses Communication channels I and Communication channels II, the basics of methods for the dissemination of cultural material in the humanities and social sciences are presented. Communication channels I is in the fall semester, while Communication channels II is in the spring semester. 

In Communication channels I, the students are working with a) text and images in the first half of the semester and b) short documentaries in the second half of the course. Each subject weighs 50% in the course. Concerning a) Students will receive training in article writing and discourse analysis on the one hand and use of images and image analysis on the other.  Concerning b) Students work on making short documentaries. It includes basic training in screenwriting, shooting and editing, and students work in groups on a documentary, according to a specific theme. 

There are no exams in the course. Instead, students work on projects, individual and group projects. They are the following:

  1. Analysis of texts and images
  2. An article with an image on a specific theme for publication, about 800 words.
  3. A group project where students work on a short documentary that is shown at the end of the course. Emphasis is placed on common themes and group work in the course. The course is not taught remotely.
Language of instruction: Icelandic
Face-to-face learning
First year | Fall
The Viking Age (MIS704M)
Free elective course within the programme
5 ECTS, credits
Course Description

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.

Language of instruction: English
Face-to-face learning
Prerequisites
Not taught this semester
First year | Fall
History of Science and Technology in Iceland (EÐL524M)
Free elective course within the programme
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

Course description: Examples from the history of science and technology in Iceland are discussed in the light of national and international developments. Among the lecturers are experts in the natural sciences, technology and medical sciences. The students write a paper on a topic chosen in consultation with one or more of the teachers and give a short oral presentation.

Language of instruction: Icelandic
Prerequisites
First year | Fall
Radio production and podcasting (HMM235F)
Free elective course within the programme
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

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.

Language of instruction: Icelandic
Face-to-face learning
Not taught this semester
First year | Fall
Theories in Museum Studies (SAF002F)
Free elective course within the programme
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

The reading material be based on on essential theoretical works as well as recent research. The history of the field will be critically examined in light of trends at the beginning of the 21st century. 

Work format

Teaching will take the form of lectures and discussions.

Language of instruction: Icelandic
Face-to-face learning
First year | Fall
Theory and Writing (ENS231F)
Free elective course within the programme
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

This seminar engages with theories on culture, narrative, and mediation. Active class participation is required.

Language of instruction: English
Face-to-face learning
First year | Fall
Contemporary art and society (LIS701F)
Free elective course within the programme
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

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.

Language of instruction: Icelandic/English
Face-to-face learning
Not taught this semester
First year | Fall
Humanimals: Relations between humans and animals (ÞJÓ110F)
Free elective course within the programme
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

Relations between humans and animals are the focus of this course, which will be approached from both an academic and an artistic standpoint. Students will complete independent projects on an animal of their choice and attend field trips in nature and museums. The lectures will focus on diverse animals, such as polar bears, whales, great auks and puffins and recent scholarship on them. We will dig into visual and material representations of these, and other, animals in varied cultural contexts, including medieval literature, folktales, oral tradition, film, news reports, material culture and tourism. Consideration will be given to the idea of an “afterlife” of animals in the form of artworks, museum artefacts and souvenirs. We will examine artefacts in both private and public collections and pose the questions of what happens when a living animal is turned into a museum object, and how the meaning that we bestow upon an animal can be subject to development and change under different circumstances. The role of animals in the creation of knowledge and formation of discourse surrounding climate change and issues of the Arctic regions will also be addressed, in addition to animals’ connections to specific places and cultural groups and their role in identity formations of past and present. An attempt will be made to step outside of “traditional” dualism in which an emphasis is placed on distinctions between humans and animals as we acquaint ourselves with the ways in which human/animal (ecological, social and cultural) habitats are intertwined.

Aim

The aim is to explore urgent questions and topical issues regarding human/animal co-existence, climate change, biodiversity loss and environmental sustainability. We will consider how artists, researchers, activists and museums have been engaging with these questions and how they can further contribute to the discussion. We will examine how diverse museums convey their ideas and information on human/animal relations through their collections. Students will be encouraged to critically engage with visual material, objects and texts, both online and through visits to museums and exhibitions. 

Language of instruction: Icelandic/English
Face-to-face learning
Distance learning
Attendance required in class
Not taught this semester
First year | Fall
Cultural Heritage (ÞJÓ506M)
Free elective course within the programme
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

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.

Language of instruction: Icelandic/English
Face-to-face learning
Distance learning
Attendance required in class
First year | Spring 1
Medieval Icelandic Manuscripts (MIS204F)
Free elective course within the programme
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

This course provides an overview of Icelandic manuscript culture. Students will get practical training in reading Icelandic manuscripts from different periods, from the earliest extant Icelandic vellums dating to the twelfth and thirteenth centuries down to the paper manuscripts of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The origins of the Icelandic script will be discussed as well as its development over time, and students will get practical training in reading different types of script from different periods. The orthography of medieval manuscripts differs considerably from the modern orthography. It includes a system of abbreviations that is partly inherited from a much earlier Latin tradition. Students will get practical training in interpreting these abbreviations. The Icelandic language has also changed over time, and different manifestations of these language changes appear when reading and examining Icelandic texts from different periods. A selection of these changes will be discussed. Changes in script, orthography, and language provide valuable indications of the date of the manuscript, and students will get practical training in dating medieval Icelandic manuscripts based on script, orthography, and language.

Various aspects of medieval book production will be discussed, including the making of parchment and ink, and book binding. Scribes and scribal schools will be discussed as well as probable centres of book production in medieval Iceland. The works of some prolific scribes in the fourteenth century will be examined. What did they write? How did they write? Did they change their practice over a long scribal career? The texts contained by the manuscripts will also be examined and the basics of textual criticism introduced. Njáls saga, for instance, has survived in over sixty manuscripts with considerable textual variation. Which manuscript should then constitute the basis for a printed edition of Njáls saga? Different types of printed editions will be discussed, and students try their hand at editing a medieval text. The electronic editing of pre-modern texts will be introduced, and students will get practical training in mark-up with XML according to the guidelines of the Medieval Nordic Text Archive (MENOTA) and the Medieval Unicode Font Initiative (MUFI).

The course is taught through a combination of lectures and workshops with considerable student engagement. Many of the lectures will be pre-recorded allowing more time in the classroom for discussion and student contributions.

The course is run in cooperation with the Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies which has the custody of the largest single collection of Icelandic medieval manuscripts. Students will visit the institute to learn about its collections and facilities and to examine manuscripts.


Course synopsis

Week 1
(1) Introduction
The course: format, readings, requirements and assessment.
The subject matter: Medieval Icelandic manuscripts.

(2) The earliest Icelandic manuscripts
A sketch of the history of the Latin script and the earliest writings in Icelandic. Where did Icelanders learn to use the Latin alphabet? Which orthography did they employ? Some main characteristics of medieval orthography and the use of abbreviations.

Week 2
(3) Electronic editing of medieval texts
How can medieval texts be presented electronically? The XML mark-up language, TEI, MENOTA, MU-FI, and related matters. We will try our hand at electronic editing.

(4) The earliest Icelandic orthography and the First Grammatical Treatise
The use of the Latin alphabet for writing Icelandic: challenges — and the solutions proposed by the author of the First Grammatical Treatise in the middle of the twelfth century.

Week 3
(5) Icelandic script and orthography in the thirteenth century
The difference between Icelandic and Norwegian orthography in the twelfth century. What changed in the course of the thirteenth century?

(6) Different types of print editions: scholarly editions
How accurate should printed editions be? Should every little detail in the manuscript be reproduced? What is “Classical Old Icelandic Normalized Orthography”? What are the needs of the readers? What is the role of the editor?

Week 4
(7) Norwegian influence on script, orthography, and language in Icelandic manuscripts
What is the manifestation of this Norwegian influence? How deep-rooted was it? How long did it last?

(8) The dating of manuscripts: script, orthography, and language
How can medieval Icelandic manuscripts be dated? Features of script, orthography, and language that can be helpful for dating.

Week 5
(9) Icelandic script and orthography in the fourteenth century
Main characteristics and their development.

(10) One scribal hand or many?
Distinguishing different scribal hands: some criteria. The Icelandic Homily Book from around 1200: One scribe or fourteen?

Week 6
(11) Book production: parchment, ink, binding — and conservation
From animal skin to parchment. How was the ink produced? Book design and book binding. The care and conservation of medieval manuscripts.

(12) Book production: parchment, ink, binding — and conservation
A visit to the Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies.

— STUDY WEEK —

Week 7
(13) Scribes, scribal milieus, the export of books
On prolific scribes, scribal collaboration, and extensive production of books. Were books produced in Iceland for export in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries?

(14) Icelandic script and orthography in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries
Main characteristics and their development.

Week 8
(15) Textual criticism
On the transmission of texts through copying. Textual variation, manuscript classification, and stemmatology.

(16) Textual criticism
Comparing manuscripts and collecting variants.

Week 9
(17) Manuscript illumination
On illuminated manuscripts, historiated initials, artists and their models.

(18) Manuscript catalogues and cataloguing
We will familiarize ourselves with the most important manuscript catalogues and learn about the principles of manuscript cataloguing.

Week 10
(19) Icelandic script and orthography in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries
Main characteristics and their development.

(20) The transmission of the text: a relic or a living text?
How did the language change when a scribe copied from an old exemplar? Njáls saga is believed to have been written towards the end of the thirteenth century. What is the language of Njáls saga in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century manuscripts?

Week 11
(21) Antiquarianism, manuscript collectors, and copyists
The sixteenth century saw the rise of interest in antiquities, old manuscripts were collected and copied.

(22) Different types of print editions: popular editions
How is a pre-modern text best presented to the modern reader? Should archaic features of language and orthography be retained or should they be updated? On the allegiance to the manuscript and allegiance to the reader.

Week 12
(23) Manuscript collections and manuscript collectors
The life and work of Árni Magnússon.

(24) The manuscript dispute and the return of the manuscripts to Iceland
The search for Codex Scardensis and a nerve-racking auction in London. The custody dispute with Denmark and the return of the manuscripts to Iceland 1971–1997.

— This synopsis may be subject to change. —

Readings

The reading list is on the course website on Canvas. It consists of readings in several languages, including English, Icelandic, Danish, Norwegian, German, and French. The reading list is (often) divided into three main sections:

(a) Required readings: Texts that everyone is required to read. These are all in English.

(b) Optional supplementary readings: These are optional readings for those who want a more in-depth discussion. Most of these readings are in English, but not all.

(c) For those who still want more: A variety of optional readings in several languages, not least in Icelandic, for those who still want more. This section is mostly for reference purposes and as a tool for further research.

Many of the required readings (and some of the optional readings) are found on the Canvas course website. Other reading materials are available in the institute library in the Árni Magnússon Institute in Edda and the University Library (Háskólabókasafn) in the Þjóðarbókhlaða.

Prerequisites
Some skills in Icelandic are essential to fully benefit from the course, as emphasis will be placed on practical training in reading and transcribing text from medieval Icelandic manuscripts. MIS105F Old Icelandic 1 or equivalent study of Old Icelandic is sufficient or some skills in Modern Icelandic. Please, consult the instructor if in doubt.

Course format
The course is taught through a combination of lectures and workshops with considerable student engagement. Many of the lectures will be prerecorded allowing more time in the classroom for discussion and student contributions (flipped classroom).

Working language: This course is open to students with different linguistic backgrounds, and there are two working languages, English and Icelandic. Pre-recorded lectures are in both English and Icelandic (except for guest lecturers who will present in English), written assignments are in both English and Icelandic, and reading materials are in English, Icelandic and the Scandinavian languages, but for those who cannot read Icelandic or the Scan-dinavian languages, all required readings are in English. English is the main working language in the classroom, but questions and contributions to class discussion may also be in Icelandic. — See a separate note on the working languages and the classroom arrangement.

Course requirements and assessment
The final grade for the course will be based on:

(1) Transcription assignments: 30%
(2) Manuscript catalogue assignment: 10%
(3) Manuscript dating assignment: 10%
(4) Presentation: manuscript of the day: 10%
(5) Research paper: 30%
(6) Class participation: 10%

All written assignments will be submitted through Canvas. More detailed instructions and information on deadlines is found on Canvas.

Language of instruction: English
Face-to-face learning
First year | Spring 1
Old Nordic Religion and Belief (ÞJÓ203F)
Free elective course within the programme
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

An examination will be made of the religious beliefs and practices of people in Scandinavia from the earliest of times until the conversion, material ranging from burial practices to rock carvings, to the written evidence given in the works of Tacitus, Adam of Bremen and Saxo Grammaticus, as well as in early Icelandic works like the Eddic poems and the Kings' sagas. Alongside this discussion of the development and key features of Old Norse religion, some attention will be paid to the concepts of seid and shamanism, especially in connection to their role in early religions. Finally, an examination will be made of the conversion of Scandinavia and how Christian concepts and practices both fitted and contrasted with the previously dominant Old Norse worldview.

Teaching format

  • The teaching takes place in the form of lectures and discussion on the material of the lectures.
Language of instruction: English
Face-to-face learning
Online learning
First year | Spring 1
The Icelandic Household in the 18th Century (SAG414M)
Restricted elective course, conditions apply
5 ECTS, credits
Course Description

The course offers an in-depth study of the Icelandic 18th Century household. What different types of households were there and what was the difference between the households of peasants, fishermen, pastors, lodgers or paupers? How did young people move out of their parents’ households and start their own? How did households provide for their members and what additional expenses such as rent, taxes and dues did they need to pay? How did subsistence farming work and did the households engage in any trading? The course introduces the rich sources of the time period to students, which provide us with insights into daily life in the period, from the census of 1703 to travel journals and magazine articles of Enlightment writers of the late 18th century. Among other exercises, students practice methods of digital data entry for quantitative study.

Language of instruction: Icelandic
Face-to-face learning
Prerequisites
Course taught second half of the semester
First year | Spring 1
Wretched Girls and Virtuous Ladies: Women in Iceland from the late eighteenth century to the twentieth century (SAG412M)
Restricted elective course, conditions apply
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

This course examines the status of women in Iceland during the long nineteenth century. The aim is to explore sources that shed light on women's circumstances, opportunities, and agency, both in rural areas and villages. The period will be examined both thematically and chronologically, exploring and analysing changes in women's status and agency. The course will explore what legal rights women had – were they autonomous? Could they travel abroad for education or travel at all? Could they marry whom they wanted? Run their own business? What kind of clothes did they wear? What work did they do inside and outside of the home? The status of women in Iceland will be examined in a transnational context, both concerning legal rights and agency, as well as in relation to major theoretical frameworks about women's history in the nineteenth century (e.g., separate spheres). The period spans from the late eighteenth century, from which time sources such as private letters and biographical texts are preserved, to c. 1900 when the struggle for women's rights had begun in Iceland and new times were ahead. The course will delve into memoirs, funeral speeches, and correspondence along with other sources and scholarly works about the period to get as close as possible to women's experiences and attitudes.

Language of instruction: Icelandic
Face-to-face learning
Prerequisites
First year | Spring 1
Echoes of a Global Medieval Ages in Contemporary History (SAG413M)
Restricted elective course, conditions apply
5 ECTS, credits
Course Description

"Echoes of a Global Medieval Ages in Contemporary History" is a course that explores the intersection of medieval and contemporary eras, considering how memories, symbols, and narratives from the medieval world continue to shape current ideologies, identities, and global perspectives. Through a thematic, regional examination, the course analyzes how different societies today reinterpret and reconstruct their medieval pasts, addressing legacies of imperialism, nationalism, and cultural exchange. Key topics include the influence of medieval governance, cultural symbols, trade networks, and ideological conflicts on contemporary issues.

Language of instruction: English
Face-to-face learning
Prerequisites
Course taught first half of the semester
First year | Spring 1
Research and sources in archives (SAG206M)
Restricted elective course, conditions apply
5 ECTS, credits
Course Description

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

Language of instruction: Icelandic
Distance learning
Prerequisites
First year | Spring 1
New researches in history (SAG201F)
A mandatory (required) course for the programme
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

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.

Language of instruction: Icelandic
Face-to-face learning
First year | Spring 1
Research and sources in archives (SAG206M)
Free elective course within the programme
5 ECTS, credits
Course Description

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

Language of instruction: Icelandic
Distance learning
Prerequisites
First year | Spring 1
Communication channels II. Oral presentations, exhibitions, digital communication (HMM242F)
Free elective course within the programme
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

In the course Communication channels II during the spring semester the students work with the following communication methods: a) oral presentation and b) exhibitions of cultural and historical material. Digital communication will be integrated into both aspects.

The students will work with the basics of oral presentation and practice in smaller and larger groups. Basic issues regarding the organization of conferences and seminars and their management will also be reviewed and a conference is held where all students present their projects. Digital communication will also be integrated into this section. Following is a section about exhibitions with connection to digital communication. The basics of exhibitions and different ways of presentation will be discussed.  The basics of digital communication will be covered, what are the main channels, advantages and disadvantages, and what rules apply to the presentation of texts on the web.

There are no exams in the course. Instead, students work on projects, individual and group projects. They are the following:

  1. Lecture at a conference and other projects in that context
  2. Exhibition analysis and a practical project in connection with exhibitions organized by the City History Museum (Borgarsögusafn)
  3. Digital communication will be integrated into both aspects. Emphasis is placed on common themes and group work in the course.

The course is not taught remotely.

Language of instruction: Icelandic
Not taught this semester
First year | Spring 1
Museums and Society: The Circus of Death? (SAF603M)
Free elective course within the programme
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

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. 

Work format

Teaching will take the form of lectures and discussions.

Language of instruction: Icelandic
First year | Spring 1
Theories in Gender Studies (KYN211F)
Free elective course within the programme
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

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.

Language of instruction: Icelandic
Face-to-face learning
Online learning
First year | Spring 1
Viking Age Archaeology (FOR102F)
Free elective course within the programme
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

Overview of the history of the Viking age and history of Viking research. Emphasis is placed on the archaeological evidence, the sites and the objects, and discussing how archaeological data has contributed to our understanding of this period. Particular attention is given to economic patterns, issues of ethnicity and state formation.

Language of instruction: English
Face-to-face learning
First year | Spring 1
Postmedieval archaeology (FOR702M)
Free elective course within the programme
5 ECTS, credits
Course Description

Living in the contemporary world it is easy to think of the past as something remote and separate from everyday life - whether it is a trip to a museum or even studying archaeology at university, history seems to always be placed at one remove from our everyday life. Something we encounter for fun or interest. The aim of this course is to look at our modern world through an archaeological and historical lens: how are the patterns of our lives today the product of things that happened in the past? This course will show how the past is alive in the present – not as a heritage site or archaeology textbook but as something which still shapes our daily routines and the material world around us. Although the roots of this go back to our biological evolution, arguably most of these effects emerged in the last 500 years.

Language of instruction: English
Face-to-face learning
Prerequisites
First year | Spring 1
Medieval Archaeology (FOR812F)
Free elective course within the programme
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

During the last decades, medieval archaeology has experienced significant growth as a discipline concerned with material culture. Initially, the use of material culture was marginalized to the role of confirming or refuting historical knowledge about this period but today it is understood as having equal historical importance to the archived material. The course is thus intended to improve student’s understanding of Medieval Europe during the period 800–1600 AD through the study of material culture. It deals with general themes in medieval archaeology, such as identity, social status, rural and urban landscapes, religion, life and death, rather than the historical development of the Middle Ages in chronological order. The aim is to give students insight into the different fields of theory and method of medieval archaeology through both material and documentary evidences in accordance with the current state of research. A special emphasis will be put on medieval Iceland, as a part of European culture and society, but even on how medieval archaeologists gather their sources, analyse them and reach conclusions of historical importance.

Language of instruction: English
Face-to-face learning
First year | Spring 1
Ethics of Science and Research (HSP806F)
Free elective course within the programme
6 ECTS, credits
Course Description

The course is intended for postgraduate students only. It is adapted to the needs of students from different fields of study. The course is taught over a six-week period.

The course is taught over the first six weeks of spring semester on Fridays from 1:20 pm - 3:40 pm.

Description: 
The topics of the course include: Professionalism and the scientist’s responsibilities. Demands for scientific objectivity and the ethics of research. Issues of equality and standards of good practice. Power and science. Conflicts of interest and misconduct in research. Science, academia and industry. Research ethics and ethical decision making.

Objectives: 
In this course, the student gains knowledge about ethical issues in science and research and is trained in reasoning about ethical controversies relating to science and research in contemporary society.

The instruction takes the form of lectures and discussion. The course is viewed as an academic community where students are actively engaged in a focused dialogue about  the topics. Each student (working as a member of a two-person team) gives a presentation according to a plan designed at the beginning of the course, and other students acquaint themselves with the topic as well for the purpose of participating in a teacher-led discussion.

Language of instruction: English
Face-to-face learning
Course taught first half of the semester
Not taught this semester
First year | Spring 1
Dwellings, Disneylands and Deserts: Ethnology of Place (ÞJÓ446M)
Free elective course within the programme
5 ECTS, credits
Course Description

The objective of the course is to explore how people relate to places in different ways. A variety of places - from private homes to airports, from city-centres to wastelands, form summer resorts to places of worship - will be explored in terms of affect and meaning, accumulated by passing though and dwelling as well as socio-political constructions. What creates and maintains place attachment? How do people relate differently to a place of their youth and place of destination? What constitutes a sense of belonging to a place? How do refugees, migrant workers and other migrants relate to new places and new landscapes and how do they maintain or sever ties to their place of origin. What role does experience, affect, memory, aesthetics, identification and sense of history play in who can claim a place and how? How do social structures, political objectives and conceptual understandings of place condition the meaning and sense of place for individuals and communities?

Language of instruction: English
Face-to-face learning
Course taught first half of the semester
Second year | Fall
Reading documents 1550-1850 (SAG813F)
Restricted elective course, conditions apply
5 ECTS, credits
Course Description

A survey of Icelandic handwriting in the period and of methods of transcription. Students learn to read different kinds of handwriting from the period.

Language of instruction: Icelandic
Face-to-face learning
Second year | Fall
Women's Day Off 1975: Myths and communication (SAG510M)
Restricted elective course, conditions apply
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

"The struggle does not end today," was written on a banner held by one of the 25,000 women who rallied in downtown Reykjavík on the 24th of October 1975. The Women's Day Off, as the organizers ironically called it, was essentially a strike to protest gender-based discrimination and wage differentials. The banner mentioned above is only one example of many of how the women communicated their views and demands through different media such as music, print, public speeches, and mass media. The Women's Day Off was the result of a collective agency of Icelandic actors, but their initiative should still be regarded in an international context as the women were urged to unite under the theme of the International Women's Year: "EQUALITY - DEVELOPMENT - PEACE. "

The course is built around the Women's Day Off in 1975, but as teachers and students research its historical legacy in Icelandic and international context, they will explore and implement new ways of communicating history with younger generations. The course is organized in collaboration with Rúv and The Women's History Archives, which will celebrate its 50th anniversary with an exhibition at the National Library.

Language of instruction: Icelandic
Face-to-face learning
Prerequisites
Second year | Fall
From Fascism to Populism: Democratic Crises, Radical Nationalism, and Authoritarian Regimes in the 20th and 21st Centuries (SAG604M)
Restricted elective course, conditions apply
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

The current surge of nationalist, populist right-wing parties and authoritarian regimes not only poses a challenge to traditional political elites and to the functioning of liberal-democratic systems. It also invites comparisons with historical fascism and authoritarian rule in the interwar period, raising the question of how to define, classify, and position these parties, regimes, and ideologies on the political spectrum. The course deals with crises of the liberal order and the effects of ultra-nationalism in Europe in the 20th and 21st centuries by focusing on historical fascism and Nazism as well as contemporary populist and authoritarian formations. While the focus will be on Europe, ultra-nationalist and anti-liberal ideologies in other parts of the world will also be considered. The emphasis will be on historiographical and theoretical problems relating to the ideologies of fascism, authoritarianism, and populism; the effects of economic and political crises on the rise of radical nationalist movements; the roles of race, ethnicity, and gender; ideas about modernization, culture, welfare and racism, and foreign policy platforms. Populist and authoritarian regimes in the present will be put in a historical context, their programs and policies explored, and an attempt will be made to explain what has been termed “populist authoritarianism.”

Language of instruction: Icelandic
Face-to-face learning
Prerequisites
Second year | Fall
Individual Special Subject A (SAG014F, SAG023F, SAG604F)
Restricted elective course, conditions apply
20 ECTS, credits
Course Description

Einstaklingsverkefni A

Language of instruction: Icelandic
Second year | Fall
Individual Project B (SAG014F, SAG023F, SAG604F)
Restricted elective course, conditions apply
20 ECTS, credits
Course Description

Individual Course

Language of instruction: Icelandic
Second year | Fall
Individual Subject C (SAG014F, SAG023F, SAG604F)
Restricted elective course, conditions apply
20 ECTS, credits
Course Description

.

Language of instruction: Icelandic
Second year | Fall
Public archiving and records management (SAG103M)
Restricted elective course, conditions apply
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

This course covers the role of public archives and archiving and record management in the past and present. The importance of the principle of provenance for archives and history. A summary of the history of administration. The activities and legal environment of public archives in Iceland will be discussed and their role in records management in public administration. What organizations are obliged to transfer their records to public archives. The evolution of archiving and records management in the 20th and 21st centuries will be examined. Methods of records managements, old and new. The sorting and cataloguing of archives.

Language of instruction: Icelandic
Distance learning
Prerequisites
Second year | Fall
The Medieval North (SAG716M)
Restricted elective course, conditions apply
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

Historical and historiographical survey of major topics in the history of the medieval North, with special emphasis on Iceland and Norway from the Viking Age into the fourteenth century. Topics include: power, kingship and state; law and feud; kinship, gender and social ties; religious and mental outlook(s); conversion, Christianity and church; economic conditions. Prior knowledge of the “factual” narrative is helpful but not necessary. Reading ability in German and/or the modern Scandinavian languages is also helpful but, again, not necessary (all mandatory readings are in English). Students produce a paper and lead discussion; no final exam.

Language of instruction: English
Face-to-face learning
Prerequisites
Second year | Fall
Communication channels I, documentaries, texts, images (HMM122F)
Free elective course within the programme
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

In the courses Communication channels I and Communication channels II, the basics of methods for the dissemination of cultural material in the humanities and social sciences are presented. Communication channels I is in the fall semester, while Communication channels II is in the spring semester. 

In Communication channels I, the students are working with a) text and images in the first half of the semester and b) short documentaries in the second half of the course. Each subject weighs 50% in the course. Concerning a) Students will receive training in article writing and discourse analysis on the one hand and use of images and image analysis on the other.  Concerning b) Students work on making short documentaries. It includes basic training in screenwriting, shooting and editing, and students work in groups on a documentary, according to a specific theme. 

There are no exams in the course. Instead, students work on projects, individual and group projects. They are the following:

  1. Analysis of texts and images
  2. An article with an image on a specific theme for publication, about 800 words.
  3. A group project where students work on a short documentary that is shown at the end of the course. Emphasis is placed on common themes and group work in the course. The course is not taught remotely.
Language of instruction: Icelandic
Face-to-face learning
Second year | Fall
The Viking Age (MIS704M)
Free elective course within the programme
5 ECTS, credits
Course Description

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.

Language of instruction: English
Face-to-face learning
Prerequisites
Not taught this semester
Second year | Fall
History of Science and Technology in Iceland (EÐL524M)
Free elective course within the programme
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

Course description: Examples from the history of science and technology in Iceland are discussed in the light of national and international developments. Among the lecturers are experts in the natural sciences, technology and medical sciences. The students write a paper on a topic chosen in consultation with one or more of the teachers and give a short oral presentation.

Language of instruction: Icelandic
Prerequisites
Second year | Fall
Radio production and podcasting (HMM235F)
Free elective course within the programme
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

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.

Language of instruction: Icelandic
Face-to-face learning
Not taught this semester
Second year | Fall
Theories in Museum Studies (SAF002F)
Free elective course within the programme
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

The reading material be based on on essential theoretical works as well as recent research. The history of the field will be critically examined in light of trends at the beginning of the 21st century. 

Work format

Teaching will take the form of lectures and discussions.

Language of instruction: Icelandic
Face-to-face learning
Second year | Fall
Theory and Writing (ENS231F)
Free elective course within the programme
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

This seminar engages with theories on culture, narrative, and mediation. Active class participation is required.

Language of instruction: English
Face-to-face learning
Second year | Fall
Contemporary art and society (LIS701F)
Free elective course within the programme
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

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.

Language of instruction: Icelandic/English
Face-to-face learning
Not taught this semester
Second year | Fall
Humanimals: Relations between humans and animals (ÞJÓ110F)
Free elective course within the programme
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

Relations between humans and animals are the focus of this course, which will be approached from both an academic and an artistic standpoint. Students will complete independent projects on an animal of their choice and attend field trips in nature and museums. The lectures will focus on diverse animals, such as polar bears, whales, great auks and puffins and recent scholarship on them. We will dig into visual and material representations of these, and other, animals in varied cultural contexts, including medieval literature, folktales, oral tradition, film, news reports, material culture and tourism. Consideration will be given to the idea of an “afterlife” of animals in the form of artworks, museum artefacts and souvenirs. We will examine artefacts in both private and public collections and pose the questions of what happens when a living animal is turned into a museum object, and how the meaning that we bestow upon an animal can be subject to development and change under different circumstances. The role of animals in the creation of knowledge and formation of discourse surrounding climate change and issues of the Arctic regions will also be addressed, in addition to animals’ connections to specific places and cultural groups and their role in identity formations of past and present. An attempt will be made to step outside of “traditional” dualism in which an emphasis is placed on distinctions between humans and animals as we acquaint ourselves with the ways in which human/animal (ecological, social and cultural) habitats are intertwined.

Aim

The aim is to explore urgent questions and topical issues regarding human/animal co-existence, climate change, biodiversity loss and environmental sustainability. We will consider how artists, researchers, activists and museums have been engaging with these questions and how they can further contribute to the discussion. We will examine how diverse museums convey their ideas and information on human/animal relations through their collections. Students will be encouraged to critically engage with visual material, objects and texts, both online and through visits to museums and exhibitions. 

Language of instruction: Icelandic/English
Face-to-face learning
Distance learning
Attendance required in class
Not taught this semester
Second year | Fall
Cultural Heritage (ÞJÓ506M)
Free elective course within the programme
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

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.

Language of instruction: Icelandic/English
Face-to-face learning
Distance learning
Attendance required in class
Second year | Fall
Research Project in History for MA-thesis (SAG704F)
A mandatory (required) course for the programme
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

Research Project for MA-thesis in collaboration with supervisor.

Language of instruction: Icelandic
Not taught this semester
Second year | Fall
Art and History: The formation of Artworlds (LIS709F)
Free elective course within the programme
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

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.

Language of instruction: Icelandic
Face-to-face learning
Second year | Spring 1
MA-thesis in History (SAG441L)
A mandatory (required) course for the programme
0 ECTS, credits
Course Description

.

Language of instruction: Icelandic
Part of the total project/thesis credits
First year
  • Fall
  • SAG706F
    History of Ideas after 1750
    Restricted elective course
    10
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    History of Ideas after 1750.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • ASK103F
    Iceland‘s Foreign Relations
    Elective course
    6
    Free elective course within the programme
    6 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    The course deals with Iceland's foreign affairs and foreign policy from 1940 to 2018. The aim of the course is to cover all major events in the history of Iceland's foreign affairs during this period such as membership of NATO, the defence and economic relationship with the USA, the cod wars and Nordic and European cooperation. The course also covers the most recent changes which are taking place in Iceland's foreign policy, i.e. more focus on developing aid and human rights. Theories in international studies and small-states studies will be used to analyse the case of Iceland.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
    Attendance required in class
  • FOR701M
    Thirteen Things. Historical and Contemporary Approaches to Everyday Objects
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    Conventional sociological or historical accounts tend to portray human life as if objects either are irrelevant or at best, passive and inert. This course follows the ‘material turn’ that has occurred in the social sciences and the humanities in the past 20 years and explores the importance of things for understanding human society and history. Drawing on examples from a wide range of disciplines from design history to archaeology, each week a different object is taken for study, illustrating the various disciplinary and theoretical approaches that have been taken to material culture in recent years. The course will be organized around weekly lectures, reading and discussion. The course will be taught in english.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • Not taught this semester
    MAN018F
    Development cooperation: Approaches and Institutions. Reading course.
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    This course treats the debate on aid effectiveness, and institutions and actors within international aid, approaches to development cooperation, and their strengths and weaknesses. Multilateral institutions, bilateral donors, non-governmental organizations and emerging donors will be presented. Important approaches to aid, such as project support, sector-wide approach, budget support, result-based management, participatory methods and gender sensitive approaches will be introduced. as well as challenges in environmental and resource management and disaster aid.

    Note: The course is only open to students that are yet to complete this course as a mandatory option, i.e. students registered for a postgraduate diploma in Development studies or Global health, and Global study MA-students with development studies as area of specialization.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • MFR701F
    Cultural Studies and Social Critique
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    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.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • SAG813F
    Reading documents 1550-1850
    Restricted elective course
    5
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    5 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    A survey of Icelandic handwriting in the period and of methods of transcription. Students learn to read different kinds of handwriting from the period.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • SAG510M
    Women's Day Off 1975: Myths and communication
    Restricted elective course
    10
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    "The struggle does not end today," was written on a banner held by one of the 25,000 women who rallied in downtown Reykjavík on the 24th of October 1975. The Women's Day Off, as the organizers ironically called it, was essentially a strike to protest gender-based discrimination and wage differentials. The banner mentioned above is only one example of many of how the women communicated their views and demands through different media such as music, print, public speeches, and mass media. The Women's Day Off was the result of a collective agency of Icelandic actors, but their initiative should still be regarded in an international context as the women were urged to unite under the theme of the International Women's Year: "EQUALITY - DEVELOPMENT - PEACE. "

    The course is built around the Women's Day Off in 1975, but as teachers and students research its historical legacy in Icelandic and international context, they will explore and implement new ways of communicating history with younger generations. The course is organized in collaboration with Rúv and The Women's History Archives, which will celebrate its 50th anniversary with an exhibition at the National Library.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • SAG604M
    From Fascism to Populism: Democratic Crises, Radical Nationalism, and Authoritarian Regimes in the 20th and 21st Centuries
    Restricted elective course
    10
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    The current surge of nationalist, populist right-wing parties and authoritarian regimes not only poses a challenge to traditional political elites and to the functioning of liberal-democratic systems. It also invites comparisons with historical fascism and authoritarian rule in the interwar period, raising the question of how to define, classify, and position these parties, regimes, and ideologies on the political spectrum. The course deals with crises of the liberal order and the effects of ultra-nationalism in Europe in the 20th and 21st centuries by focusing on historical fascism and Nazism as well as contemporary populist and authoritarian formations. While the focus will be on Europe, ultra-nationalist and anti-liberal ideologies in other parts of the world will also be considered. The emphasis will be on historiographical and theoretical problems relating to the ideologies of fascism, authoritarianism, and populism; the effects of economic and political crises on the rise of radical nationalist movements; the roles of race, ethnicity, and gender; ideas about modernization, culture, welfare and racism, and foreign policy platforms. Populist and authoritarian regimes in the present will be put in a historical context, their programs and policies explored, and an attempt will be made to explain what has been termed “populist authoritarianism.”

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • SAG014F, SAG023F, SAG604F
    Individual Special Subject A
    Restricted elective course
    20
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    20 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    Einstaklingsverkefni A

    Prerequisites
  • SAG014F, SAG023F, SAG604F
    Individual Project B
    Restricted elective course
    20
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    20 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    Individual Course

    Prerequisites
  • SAG014F, SAG023F, SAG604F
    Individual Subject C
    Restricted elective course
    20
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    20 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    .

    Prerequisites
  • SAG103M
    Public archiving and records management
    Restricted elective course
    10
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    This course covers the role of public archives and archiving and record management in the past and present. The importance of the principle of provenance for archives and history. A summary of the history of administration. The activities and legal environment of public archives in Iceland will be discussed and their role in records management in public administration. What organizations are obliged to transfer their records to public archives. The evolution of archiving and records management in the 20th and 21st centuries will be examined. Methods of records managements, old and new. The sorting and cataloguing of archives.

    Distance learning
    Prerequisites
  • SAG716M
    The Medieval North
    Restricted elective course
    10
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    Historical and historiographical survey of major topics in the history of the medieval North, with special emphasis on Iceland and Norway from the Viking Age into the fourteenth century. Topics include: power, kingship and state; law and feud; kinship, gender and social ties; religious and mental outlook(s); conversion, Christianity and church; economic conditions. Prior knowledge of the “factual” narrative is helpful but not necessary. Reading ability in German and/or the modern Scandinavian languages is also helpful but, again, not necessary (all mandatory readings are in English). Students produce a paper and lead discussion; no final exam.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • FOR709F
    Theories in Humanities
    Mandatory (required) course
    10
    A mandatory (required) course for the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    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.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • HMM122F
    Communication channels I, documentaries, texts, images
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    In the courses Communication channels I and Communication channels II, the basics of methods for the dissemination of cultural material in the humanities and social sciences are presented. Communication channels I is in the fall semester, while Communication channels II is in the spring semester. 

    In Communication channels I, the students are working with a) text and images in the first half of the semester and b) short documentaries in the second half of the course. Each subject weighs 50% in the course. Concerning a) Students will receive training in article writing and discourse analysis on the one hand and use of images and image analysis on the other.  Concerning b) Students work on making short documentaries. It includes basic training in screenwriting, shooting and editing, and students work in groups on a documentary, according to a specific theme. 

    There are no exams in the course. Instead, students work on projects, individual and group projects. They are the following:

    1. Analysis of texts and images
    2. An article with an image on a specific theme for publication, about 800 words.
    3. A group project where students work on a short documentary that is shown at the end of the course. Emphasis is placed on common themes and group work in the course. The course is not taught remotely.
    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • MIS704M
    The Viking Age
    Elective course
    5
    Free elective course within the programme
    5 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    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.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • Not taught this semester
    EÐL524M
    History of Science and Technology in Iceland
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    Course description: Examples from the history of science and technology in Iceland are discussed in the light of national and international developments. Among the lecturers are experts in the natural sciences, technology and medical sciences. The students write a paper on a topic chosen in consultation with one or more of the teachers and give a short oral presentation.

    Prerequisites
  • HMM235F
    Radio production and podcasting
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    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.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • Not taught this semester
    SAF002F
    Theories in Museum Studies
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    The reading material be based on on essential theoretical works as well as recent research. The history of the field will be critically examined in light of trends at the beginning of the 21st century. 

    Work format

    Teaching will take the form of lectures and discussions.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • ENS231F
    Theory and Writing
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    This seminar engages with theories on culture, narrative, and mediation. Active class participation is required.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • LIS701F
    Contemporary art and society
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    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.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • Not taught this semester
    ÞJÓ110F
    Humanimals: Relations between humans and animals
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    Relations between humans and animals are the focus of this course, which will be approached from both an academic and an artistic standpoint. Students will complete independent projects on an animal of their choice and attend field trips in nature and museums. The lectures will focus on diverse animals, such as polar bears, whales, great auks and puffins and recent scholarship on them. We will dig into visual and material representations of these, and other, animals in varied cultural contexts, including medieval literature, folktales, oral tradition, film, news reports, material culture and tourism. Consideration will be given to the idea of an “afterlife” of animals in the form of artworks, museum artefacts and souvenirs. We will examine artefacts in both private and public collections and pose the questions of what happens when a living animal is turned into a museum object, and how the meaning that we bestow upon an animal can be subject to development and change under different circumstances. The role of animals in the creation of knowledge and formation of discourse surrounding climate change and issues of the Arctic regions will also be addressed, in addition to animals’ connections to specific places and cultural groups and their role in identity formations of past and present. An attempt will be made to step outside of “traditional” dualism in which an emphasis is placed on distinctions between humans and animals as we acquaint ourselves with the ways in which human/animal (ecological, social and cultural) habitats are intertwined.

    Aim

    The aim is to explore urgent questions and topical issues regarding human/animal co-existence, climate change, biodiversity loss and environmental sustainability. We will consider how artists, researchers, activists and museums have been engaging with these questions and how they can further contribute to the discussion. We will examine how diverse museums convey their ideas and information on human/animal relations through their collections. Students will be encouraged to critically engage with visual material, objects and texts, both online and through visits to museums and exhibitions. 

    Face-to-face learning
    Distance learning
    Prerequisites
    Attendance required in class
  • Not taught this semester
    ÞJÓ506M
    Cultural Heritage
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    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.

    Face-to-face learning
    Distance learning
    Prerequisites
    Attendance required in class
  • Spring 2
  • MFR703M
    Culture and Dissent
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    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 and extreme poverty. 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”.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • SAG414M
    The Icelandic Household in the 18th Century
    Restricted elective course
    5
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    5 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    The course offers an in-depth study of the Icelandic 18th Century household. What different types of households were there and what was the difference between the households of peasants, fishermen, pastors, lodgers or paupers? How did young people move out of their parents’ households and start their own? How did households provide for their members and what additional expenses such as rent, taxes and dues did they need to pay? How did subsistence farming work and did the households engage in any trading? The course introduces the rich sources of the time period to students, which provide us with insights into daily life in the period, from the census of 1703 to travel journals and magazine articles of Enlightment writers of the late 18th century. Among other exercises, students practice methods of digital data entry for quantitative study.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
    Course taught second half of the semester
  • SAG412M
    Wretched Girls and Virtuous Ladies: Women in Iceland from the late eighteenth century to the twentieth century
    Restricted elective course
    10
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    This course examines the status of women in Iceland during the long nineteenth century. The aim is to explore sources that shed light on women's circumstances, opportunities, and agency, both in rural areas and villages. The period will be examined both thematically and chronologically, exploring and analysing changes in women's status and agency. The course will explore what legal rights women had – were they autonomous? Could they travel abroad for education or travel at all? Could they marry whom they wanted? Run their own business? What kind of clothes did they wear? What work did they do inside and outside of the home? The status of women in Iceland will be examined in a transnational context, both concerning legal rights and agency, as well as in relation to major theoretical frameworks about women's history in the nineteenth century (e.g., separate spheres). The period spans from the late eighteenth century, from which time sources such as private letters and biographical texts are preserved, to c. 1900 when the struggle for women's rights had begun in Iceland and new times were ahead. The course will delve into memoirs, funeral speeches, and correspondence along with other sources and scholarly works about the period to get as close as possible to women's experiences and attitudes.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • SAG413M
    Echoes of a Global Medieval Ages in Contemporary History
    Restricted elective course
    5
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    5 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    "Echoes of a Global Medieval Ages in Contemporary History" is a course that explores the intersection of medieval and contemporary eras, considering how memories, symbols, and narratives from the medieval world continue to shape current ideologies, identities, and global perspectives. Through a thematic, regional examination, the course analyzes how different societies today reinterpret and reconstruct their medieval pasts, addressing legacies of imperialism, nationalism, and cultural exchange. Key topics include the influence of medieval governance, cultural symbols, trade networks, and ideological conflicts on contemporary issues.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
    Course taught first half of the semester
  • SAG206M
    Research and sources in archives
    Restricted elective course
    5
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    5 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

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

    Distance learning
    Prerequisites
  • SAG201F
    New researches in history
    Mandatory (required) course
    10
    A mandatory (required) course for the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    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.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • SAG206M
    Research and sources in archives
    Elective course
    5
    Free elective course within the programme
    5 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

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

    Distance learning
    Prerequisites
  • HMM242F
    Communication channels II. Oral presentations, exhibitions, digital communication
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    In the course Communication channels II during the spring semester the students work with the following communication methods: a) oral presentation and b) exhibitions of cultural and historical material. Digital communication will be integrated into both aspects.

    The students will work with the basics of oral presentation and practice in smaller and larger groups. Basic issues regarding the organization of conferences and seminars and their management will also be reviewed and a conference is held where all students present their projects. Digital communication will also be integrated into this section. Following is a section about exhibitions with connection to digital communication. The basics of exhibitions and different ways of presentation will be discussed.  The basics of digital communication will be covered, what are the main channels, advantages and disadvantages, and what rules apply to the presentation of texts on the web.

    There are no exams in the course. Instead, students work on projects, individual and group projects. They are the following:

    1. Lecture at a conference and other projects in that context
    2. Exhibition analysis and a practical project in connection with exhibitions organized by the City History Museum (Borgarsögusafn)
    3. Digital communication will be integrated into both aspects. Emphasis is placed on common themes and group work in the course.

    The course is not taught remotely.

    Prerequisites
  • Not taught this semester
    SAF603M
    Museums and Society: The Circus of Death?
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    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. 

    Work format

    Teaching will take the form of lectures and discussions.

    Prerequisites
  • KYN211F
    Theories in Gender Studies
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    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.

    Face-to-face learning
    Online learning
    Prerequisites
  • FOR102F
    Viking Age Archaeology
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    Overview of the history of the Viking age and history of Viking research. Emphasis is placed on the archaeological evidence, the sites and the objects, and discussing how archaeological data has contributed to our understanding of this period. Particular attention is given to economic patterns, issues of ethnicity and state formation.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • FOR702M
    Postmedieval archaeology
    Elective course
    5
    Free elective course within the programme
    5 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    Living in the contemporary world it is easy to think of the past as something remote and separate from everyday life - whether it is a trip to a museum or even studying archaeology at university, history seems to always be placed at one remove from our everyday life. Something we encounter for fun or interest. The aim of this course is to look at our modern world through an archaeological and historical lens: how are the patterns of our lives today the product of things that happened in the past? This course will show how the past is alive in the present – not as a heritage site or archaeology textbook but as something which still shapes our daily routines and the material world around us. Although the roots of this go back to our biological evolution, arguably most of these effects emerged in the last 500 years.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • FOR812F
    Medieval Archaeology
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    During the last decades, medieval archaeology has experienced significant growth as a discipline concerned with material culture. Initially, the use of material culture was marginalized to the role of confirming or refuting historical knowledge about this period but today it is understood as having equal historical importance to the archived material. The course is thus intended to improve student’s understanding of Medieval Europe during the period 800–1600 AD through the study of material culture. It deals with general themes in medieval archaeology, such as identity, social status, rural and urban landscapes, religion, life and death, rather than the historical development of the Middle Ages in chronological order. The aim is to give students insight into the different fields of theory and method of medieval archaeology through both material and documentary evidences in accordance with the current state of research. A special emphasis will be put on medieval Iceland, as a part of European culture and society, but even on how medieval archaeologists gather their sources, analyse them and reach conclusions of historical importance.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • HSP806F
    Ethics of Science and Research
    Elective course
    6
    Free elective course within the programme
    6 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    The course is intended for postgraduate students only. It is adapted to the needs of students from different fields of study. The course is taught over a six-week period.

    The course is taught over the first six weeks of spring semester on Fridays from 1:20 pm - 3:40 pm.

    Description: 
    The topics of the course include: Professionalism and the scientist’s responsibilities. Demands for scientific objectivity and the ethics of research. Issues of equality and standards of good practice. Power and science. Conflicts of interest and misconduct in research. Science, academia and industry. Research ethics and ethical decision making.

    Objectives: 
    In this course, the student gains knowledge about ethical issues in science and research and is trained in reasoning about ethical controversies relating to science and research in contemporary society.

    The instruction takes the form of lectures and discussion. The course is viewed as an academic community where students are actively engaged in a focused dialogue about  the topics. Each student (working as a member of a two-person team) gives a presentation according to a plan designed at the beginning of the course, and other students acquaint themselves with the topic as well for the purpose of participating in a teacher-led discussion.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
    Course taught first half of the semester
  • Not taught this semester
    ÞJÓ446M
    Dwellings, Disneylands and Deserts: Ethnology of Place
    Elective course
    5
    Free elective course within the programme
    5 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    The objective of the course is to explore how people relate to places in different ways. A variety of places - from private homes to airports, from city-centres to wastelands, form summer resorts to places of worship - will be explored in terms of affect and meaning, accumulated by passing though and dwelling as well as socio-political constructions. What creates and maintains place attachment? How do people relate differently to a place of their youth and place of destination? What constitutes a sense of belonging to a place? How do refugees, migrant workers and other migrants relate to new places and new landscapes and how do they maintain or sever ties to their place of origin. What role does experience, affect, memory, aesthetics, identification and sense of history play in who can claim a place and how? How do social structures, political objectives and conceptual understandings of place condition the meaning and sense of place for individuals and communities?

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
    Course taught first half of the semester
  • Fall
  • SAG706F
    History of Ideas after 1750
    Restricted elective course
    10
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    History of Ideas after 1750.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • ASK103F
    Iceland‘s Foreign Relations
    Elective course
    6
    Free elective course within the programme
    6 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    The course deals with Iceland's foreign affairs and foreign policy from 1940 to 2018. The aim of the course is to cover all major events in the history of Iceland's foreign affairs during this period such as membership of NATO, the defence and economic relationship with the USA, the cod wars and Nordic and European cooperation. The course also covers the most recent changes which are taking place in Iceland's foreign policy, i.e. more focus on developing aid and human rights. Theories in international studies and small-states studies will be used to analyse the case of Iceland.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
    Attendance required in class
  • FOR701M
    Thirteen Things. Historical and Contemporary Approaches to Everyday Objects
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    Conventional sociological or historical accounts tend to portray human life as if objects either are irrelevant or at best, passive and inert. This course follows the ‘material turn’ that has occurred in the social sciences and the humanities in the past 20 years and explores the importance of things for understanding human society and history. Drawing on examples from a wide range of disciplines from design history to archaeology, each week a different object is taken for study, illustrating the various disciplinary and theoretical approaches that have been taken to material culture in recent years. The course will be organized around weekly lectures, reading and discussion. The course will be taught in english.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • Not taught this semester
    MAN018F
    Development cooperation: Approaches and Institutions. Reading course.
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    This course treats the debate on aid effectiveness, and institutions and actors within international aid, approaches to development cooperation, and their strengths and weaknesses. Multilateral institutions, bilateral donors, non-governmental organizations and emerging donors will be presented. Important approaches to aid, such as project support, sector-wide approach, budget support, result-based management, participatory methods and gender sensitive approaches will be introduced. as well as challenges in environmental and resource management and disaster aid.

    Note: The course is only open to students that are yet to complete this course as a mandatory option, i.e. students registered for a postgraduate diploma in Development studies or Global health, and Global study MA-students with development studies as area of specialization.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • MFR701F
    Cultural Studies and Social Critique
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    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.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • SAG813F
    Reading documents 1550-1850
    Restricted elective course
    5
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    5 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    A survey of Icelandic handwriting in the period and of methods of transcription. Students learn to read different kinds of handwriting from the period.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • SAG510M
    Women's Day Off 1975: Myths and communication
    Restricted elective course
    10
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    "The struggle does not end today," was written on a banner held by one of the 25,000 women who rallied in downtown Reykjavík on the 24th of October 1975. The Women's Day Off, as the organizers ironically called it, was essentially a strike to protest gender-based discrimination and wage differentials. The banner mentioned above is only one example of many of how the women communicated their views and demands through different media such as music, print, public speeches, and mass media. The Women's Day Off was the result of a collective agency of Icelandic actors, but their initiative should still be regarded in an international context as the women were urged to unite under the theme of the International Women's Year: "EQUALITY - DEVELOPMENT - PEACE. "

    The course is built around the Women's Day Off in 1975, but as teachers and students research its historical legacy in Icelandic and international context, they will explore and implement new ways of communicating history with younger generations. The course is organized in collaboration with Rúv and The Women's History Archives, which will celebrate its 50th anniversary with an exhibition at the National Library.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • SAG604M
    From Fascism to Populism: Democratic Crises, Radical Nationalism, and Authoritarian Regimes in the 20th and 21st Centuries
    Restricted elective course
    10
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    The current surge of nationalist, populist right-wing parties and authoritarian regimes not only poses a challenge to traditional political elites and to the functioning of liberal-democratic systems. It also invites comparisons with historical fascism and authoritarian rule in the interwar period, raising the question of how to define, classify, and position these parties, regimes, and ideologies on the political spectrum. The course deals with crises of the liberal order and the effects of ultra-nationalism in Europe in the 20th and 21st centuries by focusing on historical fascism and Nazism as well as contemporary populist and authoritarian formations. While the focus will be on Europe, ultra-nationalist and anti-liberal ideologies in other parts of the world will also be considered. The emphasis will be on historiographical and theoretical problems relating to the ideologies of fascism, authoritarianism, and populism; the effects of economic and political crises on the rise of radical nationalist movements; the roles of race, ethnicity, and gender; ideas about modernization, culture, welfare and racism, and foreign policy platforms. Populist and authoritarian regimes in the present will be put in a historical context, their programs and policies explored, and an attempt will be made to explain what has been termed “populist authoritarianism.”

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • SAG014F, SAG023F, SAG604F
    Individual Special Subject A
    Restricted elective course
    20
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    20 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    Einstaklingsverkefni A

    Prerequisites
  • SAG014F, SAG023F, SAG604F
    Individual Project B
    Restricted elective course
    20
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    20 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    Individual Course

    Prerequisites
  • SAG014F, SAG023F, SAG604F
    Individual Subject C
    Restricted elective course
    20
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    20 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    .

    Prerequisites
  • SAG103M
    Public archiving and records management
    Restricted elective course
    10
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    This course covers the role of public archives and archiving and record management in the past and present. The importance of the principle of provenance for archives and history. A summary of the history of administration. The activities and legal environment of public archives in Iceland will be discussed and their role in records management in public administration. What organizations are obliged to transfer their records to public archives. The evolution of archiving and records management in the 20th and 21st centuries will be examined. Methods of records managements, old and new. The sorting and cataloguing of archives.

    Distance learning
    Prerequisites
  • SAG716M
    The Medieval North
    Restricted elective course
    10
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    Historical and historiographical survey of major topics in the history of the medieval North, with special emphasis on Iceland and Norway from the Viking Age into the fourteenth century. Topics include: power, kingship and state; law and feud; kinship, gender and social ties; religious and mental outlook(s); conversion, Christianity and church; economic conditions. Prior knowledge of the “factual” narrative is helpful but not necessary. Reading ability in German and/or the modern Scandinavian languages is also helpful but, again, not necessary (all mandatory readings are in English). Students produce a paper and lead discussion; no final exam.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • HMM122F
    Communication channels I, documentaries, texts, images
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    In the courses Communication channels I and Communication channels II, the basics of methods for the dissemination of cultural material in the humanities and social sciences are presented. Communication channels I is in the fall semester, while Communication channels II is in the spring semester. 

    In Communication channels I, the students are working with a) text and images in the first half of the semester and b) short documentaries in the second half of the course. Each subject weighs 50% in the course. Concerning a) Students will receive training in article writing and discourse analysis on the one hand and use of images and image analysis on the other.  Concerning b) Students work on making short documentaries. It includes basic training in screenwriting, shooting and editing, and students work in groups on a documentary, according to a specific theme. 

    There are no exams in the course. Instead, students work on projects, individual and group projects. They are the following:

    1. Analysis of texts and images
    2. An article with an image on a specific theme for publication, about 800 words.
    3. A group project where students work on a short documentary that is shown at the end of the course. Emphasis is placed on common themes and group work in the course. The course is not taught remotely.
    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • MIS704M
    The Viking Age
    Elective course
    5
    Free elective course within the programme
    5 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    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.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • Not taught this semester
    EÐL524M
    History of Science and Technology in Iceland
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    Course description: Examples from the history of science and technology in Iceland are discussed in the light of national and international developments. Among the lecturers are experts in the natural sciences, technology and medical sciences. The students write a paper on a topic chosen in consultation with one or more of the teachers and give a short oral presentation.

    Prerequisites
  • HMM235F
    Radio production and podcasting
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    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.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • Not taught this semester
    SAF002F
    Theories in Museum Studies
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    The reading material be based on on essential theoretical works as well as recent research. The history of the field will be critically examined in light of trends at the beginning of the 21st century. 

    Work format

    Teaching will take the form of lectures and discussions.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • ENS231F
    Theory and Writing
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    This seminar engages with theories on culture, narrative, and mediation. Active class participation is required.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • LIS701F
    Contemporary art and society
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    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.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • Not taught this semester
    ÞJÓ110F
    Humanimals: Relations between humans and animals
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    Relations between humans and animals are the focus of this course, which will be approached from both an academic and an artistic standpoint. Students will complete independent projects on an animal of their choice and attend field trips in nature and museums. The lectures will focus on diverse animals, such as polar bears, whales, great auks and puffins and recent scholarship on them. We will dig into visual and material representations of these, and other, animals in varied cultural contexts, including medieval literature, folktales, oral tradition, film, news reports, material culture and tourism. Consideration will be given to the idea of an “afterlife” of animals in the form of artworks, museum artefacts and souvenirs. We will examine artefacts in both private and public collections and pose the questions of what happens when a living animal is turned into a museum object, and how the meaning that we bestow upon an animal can be subject to development and change under different circumstances. The role of animals in the creation of knowledge and formation of discourse surrounding climate change and issues of the Arctic regions will also be addressed, in addition to animals’ connections to specific places and cultural groups and their role in identity formations of past and present. An attempt will be made to step outside of “traditional” dualism in which an emphasis is placed on distinctions between humans and animals as we acquaint ourselves with the ways in which human/animal (ecological, social and cultural) habitats are intertwined.

    Aim

    The aim is to explore urgent questions and topical issues regarding human/animal co-existence, climate change, biodiversity loss and environmental sustainability. We will consider how artists, researchers, activists and museums have been engaging with these questions and how they can further contribute to the discussion. We will examine how diverse museums convey their ideas and information on human/animal relations through their collections. Students will be encouraged to critically engage with visual material, objects and texts, both online and through visits to museums and exhibitions. 

    Face-to-face learning
    Distance learning
    Prerequisites
    Attendance required in class
  • Not taught this semester
    ÞJÓ506M
    Cultural Heritage
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    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.

    Face-to-face learning
    Distance learning
    Prerequisites
    Attendance required in class
  • SAG704F
    Research Project in History for MA-thesis
    Mandatory (required) course
    10
    A mandatory (required) course for the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    Research Project for MA-thesis in collaboration with supervisor.

    Prerequisites
  • Not taught this semester
    LIS709F
    Art and History: The formation of Artworlds
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    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.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • Spring 2
  • SAG441L
    MA-thesis in History
    Mandatory (required) course
    0
    A mandatory (required) course for the programme
    0 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    .

    Prerequisites
    Part of the total project/thesis credits
Second year
  • Fall
  • SAG706F
    History of Ideas after 1750
    Restricted elective course
    10
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    History of Ideas after 1750.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • ASK103F
    Iceland‘s Foreign Relations
    Elective course
    6
    Free elective course within the programme
    6 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    The course deals with Iceland's foreign affairs and foreign policy from 1940 to 2018. The aim of the course is to cover all major events in the history of Iceland's foreign affairs during this period such as membership of NATO, the defence and economic relationship with the USA, the cod wars and Nordic and European cooperation. The course also covers the most recent changes which are taking place in Iceland's foreign policy, i.e. more focus on developing aid and human rights. Theories in international studies and small-states studies will be used to analyse the case of Iceland.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
    Attendance required in class
  • FOR701M
    Thirteen Things. Historical and Contemporary Approaches to Everyday Objects
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    Conventional sociological or historical accounts tend to portray human life as if objects either are irrelevant or at best, passive and inert. This course follows the ‘material turn’ that has occurred in the social sciences and the humanities in the past 20 years and explores the importance of things for understanding human society and history. Drawing on examples from a wide range of disciplines from design history to archaeology, each week a different object is taken for study, illustrating the various disciplinary and theoretical approaches that have been taken to material culture in recent years. The course will be organized around weekly lectures, reading and discussion. The course will be taught in english.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • Not taught this semester
    MAN018F
    Development cooperation: Approaches and Institutions. Reading course.
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    This course treats the debate on aid effectiveness, and institutions and actors within international aid, approaches to development cooperation, and their strengths and weaknesses. Multilateral institutions, bilateral donors, non-governmental organizations and emerging donors will be presented. Important approaches to aid, such as project support, sector-wide approach, budget support, result-based management, participatory methods and gender sensitive approaches will be introduced. as well as challenges in environmental and resource management and disaster aid.

    Note: The course is only open to students that are yet to complete this course as a mandatory option, i.e. students registered for a postgraduate diploma in Development studies or Global health, and Global study MA-students with development studies as area of specialization.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • MFR701F
    Cultural Studies and Social Critique
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    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.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • SAG813F
    Reading documents 1550-1850
    Restricted elective course
    5
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    5 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    A survey of Icelandic handwriting in the period and of methods of transcription. Students learn to read different kinds of handwriting from the period.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • SAG510M
    Women's Day Off 1975: Myths and communication
    Restricted elective course
    10
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    "The struggle does not end today," was written on a banner held by one of the 25,000 women who rallied in downtown Reykjavík on the 24th of October 1975. The Women's Day Off, as the organizers ironically called it, was essentially a strike to protest gender-based discrimination and wage differentials. The banner mentioned above is only one example of many of how the women communicated their views and demands through different media such as music, print, public speeches, and mass media. The Women's Day Off was the result of a collective agency of Icelandic actors, but their initiative should still be regarded in an international context as the women were urged to unite under the theme of the International Women's Year: "EQUALITY - DEVELOPMENT - PEACE. "

    The course is built around the Women's Day Off in 1975, but as teachers and students research its historical legacy in Icelandic and international context, they will explore and implement new ways of communicating history with younger generations. The course is organized in collaboration with Rúv and The Women's History Archives, which will celebrate its 50th anniversary with an exhibition at the National Library.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • SAG604M
    From Fascism to Populism: Democratic Crises, Radical Nationalism, and Authoritarian Regimes in the 20th and 21st Centuries
    Restricted elective course
    10
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    The current surge of nationalist, populist right-wing parties and authoritarian regimes not only poses a challenge to traditional political elites and to the functioning of liberal-democratic systems. It also invites comparisons with historical fascism and authoritarian rule in the interwar period, raising the question of how to define, classify, and position these parties, regimes, and ideologies on the political spectrum. The course deals with crises of the liberal order and the effects of ultra-nationalism in Europe in the 20th and 21st centuries by focusing on historical fascism and Nazism as well as contemporary populist and authoritarian formations. While the focus will be on Europe, ultra-nationalist and anti-liberal ideologies in other parts of the world will also be considered. The emphasis will be on historiographical and theoretical problems relating to the ideologies of fascism, authoritarianism, and populism; the effects of economic and political crises on the rise of radical nationalist movements; the roles of race, ethnicity, and gender; ideas about modernization, culture, welfare and racism, and foreign policy platforms. Populist and authoritarian regimes in the present will be put in a historical context, their programs and policies explored, and an attempt will be made to explain what has been termed “populist authoritarianism.”

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • SAG014F, SAG023F, SAG604F
    Individual Special Subject A
    Restricted elective course
    20
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    20 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    Einstaklingsverkefni A

    Prerequisites
  • SAG014F, SAG023F, SAG604F
    Individual Project B
    Restricted elective course
    20
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    20 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    Individual Course

    Prerequisites
  • SAG014F, SAG023F, SAG604F
    Individual Subject C
    Restricted elective course
    20
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    20 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    .

    Prerequisites
  • SAG103M
    Public archiving and records management
    Restricted elective course
    10
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    This course covers the role of public archives and archiving and record management in the past and present. The importance of the principle of provenance for archives and history. A summary of the history of administration. The activities and legal environment of public archives in Iceland will be discussed and their role in records management in public administration. What organizations are obliged to transfer their records to public archives. The evolution of archiving and records management in the 20th and 21st centuries will be examined. Methods of records managements, old and new. The sorting and cataloguing of archives.

    Distance learning
    Prerequisites
  • SAG716M
    The Medieval North
    Restricted elective course
    10
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    Historical and historiographical survey of major topics in the history of the medieval North, with special emphasis on Iceland and Norway from the Viking Age into the fourteenth century. Topics include: power, kingship and state; law and feud; kinship, gender and social ties; religious and mental outlook(s); conversion, Christianity and church; economic conditions. Prior knowledge of the “factual” narrative is helpful but not necessary. Reading ability in German and/or the modern Scandinavian languages is also helpful but, again, not necessary (all mandatory readings are in English). Students produce a paper and lead discussion; no final exam.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • FOR709F
    Theories in Humanities
    Mandatory (required) course
    10
    A mandatory (required) course for the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    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.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • HMM122F
    Communication channels I, documentaries, texts, images
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    In the courses Communication channels I and Communication channels II, the basics of methods for the dissemination of cultural material in the humanities and social sciences are presented. Communication channels I is in the fall semester, while Communication channels II is in the spring semester. 

    In Communication channels I, the students are working with a) text and images in the first half of the semester and b) short documentaries in the second half of the course. Each subject weighs 50% in the course. Concerning a) Students will receive training in article writing and discourse analysis on the one hand and use of images and image analysis on the other.  Concerning b) Students work on making short documentaries. It includes basic training in screenwriting, shooting and editing, and students work in groups on a documentary, according to a specific theme. 

    There are no exams in the course. Instead, students work on projects, individual and group projects. They are the following:

    1. Analysis of texts and images
    2. An article with an image on a specific theme for publication, about 800 words.
    3. A group project where students work on a short documentary that is shown at the end of the course. Emphasis is placed on common themes and group work in the course. The course is not taught remotely.
    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • MIS704M
    The Viking Age
    Elective course
    5
    Free elective course within the programme
    5 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    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.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • Not taught this semester
    EÐL524M
    History of Science and Technology in Iceland
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    Course description: Examples from the history of science and technology in Iceland are discussed in the light of national and international developments. Among the lecturers are experts in the natural sciences, technology and medical sciences. The students write a paper on a topic chosen in consultation with one or more of the teachers and give a short oral presentation.

    Prerequisites
  • HMM235F
    Radio production and podcasting
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    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.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • Not taught this semester
    SAF002F
    Theories in Museum Studies
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    The reading material be based on on essential theoretical works as well as recent research. The history of the field will be critically examined in light of trends at the beginning of the 21st century. 

    Work format

    Teaching will take the form of lectures and discussions.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • ENS231F
    Theory and Writing
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    This seminar engages with theories on culture, narrative, and mediation. Active class participation is required.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • LIS701F
    Contemporary art and society
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    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.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • Not taught this semester
    ÞJÓ110F
    Humanimals: Relations between humans and animals
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    Relations between humans and animals are the focus of this course, which will be approached from both an academic and an artistic standpoint. Students will complete independent projects on an animal of their choice and attend field trips in nature and museums. The lectures will focus on diverse animals, such as polar bears, whales, great auks and puffins and recent scholarship on them. We will dig into visual and material representations of these, and other, animals in varied cultural contexts, including medieval literature, folktales, oral tradition, film, news reports, material culture and tourism. Consideration will be given to the idea of an “afterlife” of animals in the form of artworks, museum artefacts and souvenirs. We will examine artefacts in both private and public collections and pose the questions of what happens when a living animal is turned into a museum object, and how the meaning that we bestow upon an animal can be subject to development and change under different circumstances. The role of animals in the creation of knowledge and formation of discourse surrounding climate change and issues of the Arctic regions will also be addressed, in addition to animals’ connections to specific places and cultural groups and their role in identity formations of past and present. An attempt will be made to step outside of “traditional” dualism in which an emphasis is placed on distinctions between humans and animals as we acquaint ourselves with the ways in which human/animal (ecological, social and cultural) habitats are intertwined.

    Aim

    The aim is to explore urgent questions and topical issues regarding human/animal co-existence, climate change, biodiversity loss and environmental sustainability. We will consider how artists, researchers, activists and museums have been engaging with these questions and how they can further contribute to the discussion. We will examine how diverse museums convey their ideas and information on human/animal relations through their collections. Students will be encouraged to critically engage with visual material, objects and texts, both online and through visits to museums and exhibitions. 

    Face-to-face learning
    Distance learning
    Prerequisites
    Attendance required in class
  • Not taught this semester
    ÞJÓ506M
    Cultural Heritage
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    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.

    Face-to-face learning
    Distance learning
    Prerequisites
    Attendance required in class
  • Spring 2
  • MFR703M
    Culture and Dissent
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    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 and extreme poverty. 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”.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • SAG414M
    The Icelandic Household in the 18th Century
    Restricted elective course
    5
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    5 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    The course offers an in-depth study of the Icelandic 18th Century household. What different types of households were there and what was the difference between the households of peasants, fishermen, pastors, lodgers or paupers? How did young people move out of their parents’ households and start their own? How did households provide for their members and what additional expenses such as rent, taxes and dues did they need to pay? How did subsistence farming work and did the households engage in any trading? The course introduces the rich sources of the time period to students, which provide us with insights into daily life in the period, from the census of 1703 to travel journals and magazine articles of Enlightment writers of the late 18th century. Among other exercises, students practice methods of digital data entry for quantitative study.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
    Course taught second half of the semester
  • SAG412M
    Wretched Girls and Virtuous Ladies: Women in Iceland from the late eighteenth century to the twentieth century
    Restricted elective course
    10
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    This course examines the status of women in Iceland during the long nineteenth century. The aim is to explore sources that shed light on women's circumstances, opportunities, and agency, both in rural areas and villages. The period will be examined both thematically and chronologically, exploring and analysing changes in women's status and agency. The course will explore what legal rights women had – were they autonomous? Could they travel abroad for education or travel at all? Could they marry whom they wanted? Run their own business? What kind of clothes did they wear? What work did they do inside and outside of the home? The status of women in Iceland will be examined in a transnational context, both concerning legal rights and agency, as well as in relation to major theoretical frameworks about women's history in the nineteenth century (e.g., separate spheres). The period spans from the late eighteenth century, from which time sources such as private letters and biographical texts are preserved, to c. 1900 when the struggle for women's rights had begun in Iceland and new times were ahead. The course will delve into memoirs, funeral speeches, and correspondence along with other sources and scholarly works about the period to get as close as possible to women's experiences and attitudes.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • SAG413M
    Echoes of a Global Medieval Ages in Contemporary History
    Restricted elective course
    5
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    5 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    "Echoes of a Global Medieval Ages in Contemporary History" is a course that explores the intersection of medieval and contemporary eras, considering how memories, symbols, and narratives from the medieval world continue to shape current ideologies, identities, and global perspectives. Through a thematic, regional examination, the course analyzes how different societies today reinterpret and reconstruct their medieval pasts, addressing legacies of imperialism, nationalism, and cultural exchange. Key topics include the influence of medieval governance, cultural symbols, trade networks, and ideological conflicts on contemporary issues.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
    Course taught first half of the semester
  • SAG206M
    Research and sources in archives
    Restricted elective course
    5
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    5 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

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

    Distance learning
    Prerequisites
  • SAG201F
    New researches in history
    Mandatory (required) course
    10
    A mandatory (required) course for the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    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.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • SAG206M
    Research and sources in archives
    Elective course
    5
    Free elective course within the programme
    5 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

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

    Distance learning
    Prerequisites
  • HMM242F
    Communication channels II. Oral presentations, exhibitions, digital communication
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    In the course Communication channels II during the spring semester the students work with the following communication methods: a) oral presentation and b) exhibitions of cultural and historical material. Digital communication will be integrated into both aspects.

    The students will work with the basics of oral presentation and practice in smaller and larger groups. Basic issues regarding the organization of conferences and seminars and their management will also be reviewed and a conference is held where all students present their projects. Digital communication will also be integrated into this section. Following is a section about exhibitions with connection to digital communication. The basics of exhibitions and different ways of presentation will be discussed.  The basics of digital communication will be covered, what are the main channels, advantages and disadvantages, and what rules apply to the presentation of texts on the web.

    There are no exams in the course. Instead, students work on projects, individual and group projects. They are the following:

    1. Lecture at a conference and other projects in that context
    2. Exhibition analysis and a practical project in connection with exhibitions organized by the City History Museum (Borgarsögusafn)
    3. Digital communication will be integrated into both aspects. Emphasis is placed on common themes and group work in the course.

    The course is not taught remotely.

    Prerequisites
  • Not taught this semester
    SAF603M
    Museums and Society: The Circus of Death?
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    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. 

    Work format

    Teaching will take the form of lectures and discussions.

    Prerequisites
  • KYN211F
    Theories in Gender Studies
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    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.

    Face-to-face learning
    Online learning
    Prerequisites
  • FOR102F
    Viking Age Archaeology
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    Overview of the history of the Viking age and history of Viking research. Emphasis is placed on the archaeological evidence, the sites and the objects, and discussing how archaeological data has contributed to our understanding of this period. Particular attention is given to economic patterns, issues of ethnicity and state formation.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • FOR702M
    Postmedieval archaeology
    Elective course
    5
    Free elective course within the programme
    5 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    Living in the contemporary world it is easy to think of the past as something remote and separate from everyday life - whether it is a trip to a museum or even studying archaeology at university, history seems to always be placed at one remove from our everyday life. Something we encounter for fun or interest. The aim of this course is to look at our modern world through an archaeological and historical lens: how are the patterns of our lives today the product of things that happened in the past? This course will show how the past is alive in the present – not as a heritage site or archaeology textbook but as something which still shapes our daily routines and the material world around us. Although the roots of this go back to our biological evolution, arguably most of these effects emerged in the last 500 years.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • FOR812F
    Medieval Archaeology
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    During the last decades, medieval archaeology has experienced significant growth as a discipline concerned with material culture. Initially, the use of material culture was marginalized to the role of confirming or refuting historical knowledge about this period but today it is understood as having equal historical importance to the archived material. The course is thus intended to improve student’s understanding of Medieval Europe during the period 800–1600 AD through the study of material culture. It deals with general themes in medieval archaeology, such as identity, social status, rural and urban landscapes, religion, life and death, rather than the historical development of the Middle Ages in chronological order. The aim is to give students insight into the different fields of theory and method of medieval archaeology through both material and documentary evidences in accordance with the current state of research. A special emphasis will be put on medieval Iceland, as a part of European culture and society, but even on how medieval archaeologists gather their sources, analyse them and reach conclusions of historical importance.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • HSP806F
    Ethics of Science and Research
    Elective course
    6
    Free elective course within the programme
    6 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    The course is intended for postgraduate students only. It is adapted to the needs of students from different fields of study. The course is taught over a six-week period.

    The course is taught over the first six weeks of spring semester on Fridays from 1:20 pm - 3:40 pm.

    Description: 
    The topics of the course include: Professionalism and the scientist’s responsibilities. Demands for scientific objectivity and the ethics of research. Issues of equality and standards of good practice. Power and science. Conflicts of interest and misconduct in research. Science, academia and industry. Research ethics and ethical decision making.

    Objectives: 
    In this course, the student gains knowledge about ethical issues in science and research and is trained in reasoning about ethical controversies relating to science and research in contemporary society.

    The instruction takes the form of lectures and discussion. The course is viewed as an academic community where students are actively engaged in a focused dialogue about  the topics. Each student (working as a member of a two-person team) gives a presentation according to a plan designed at the beginning of the course, and other students acquaint themselves with the topic as well for the purpose of participating in a teacher-led discussion.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
    Course taught first half of the semester
  • Not taught this semester
    ÞJÓ446M
    Dwellings, Disneylands and Deserts: Ethnology of Place
    Elective course
    5
    Free elective course within the programme
    5 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    The objective of the course is to explore how people relate to places in different ways. A variety of places - from private homes to airports, from city-centres to wastelands, form summer resorts to places of worship - will be explored in terms of affect and meaning, accumulated by passing though and dwelling as well as socio-political constructions. What creates and maintains place attachment? How do people relate differently to a place of their youth and place of destination? What constitutes a sense of belonging to a place? How do refugees, migrant workers and other migrants relate to new places and new landscapes and how do they maintain or sever ties to their place of origin. What role does experience, affect, memory, aesthetics, identification and sense of history play in who can claim a place and how? How do social structures, political objectives and conceptual understandings of place condition the meaning and sense of place for individuals and communities?

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
    Course taught first half of the semester
  • Fall
  • SAG706F
    History of Ideas after 1750
    Restricted elective course
    10
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    History of Ideas after 1750.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • ASK103F
    Iceland‘s Foreign Relations
    Elective course
    6
    Free elective course within the programme
    6 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    The course deals with Iceland's foreign affairs and foreign policy from 1940 to 2018. The aim of the course is to cover all major events in the history of Iceland's foreign affairs during this period such as membership of NATO, the defence and economic relationship with the USA, the cod wars and Nordic and European cooperation. The course also covers the most recent changes which are taking place in Iceland's foreign policy, i.e. more focus on developing aid and human rights. Theories in international studies and small-states studies will be used to analyse the case of Iceland.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
    Attendance required in class
  • FOR701M
    Thirteen Things. Historical and Contemporary Approaches to Everyday Objects
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    Conventional sociological or historical accounts tend to portray human life as if objects either are irrelevant or at best, passive and inert. This course follows the ‘material turn’ that has occurred in the social sciences and the humanities in the past 20 years and explores the importance of things for understanding human society and history. Drawing on examples from a wide range of disciplines from design history to archaeology, each week a different object is taken for study, illustrating the various disciplinary and theoretical approaches that have been taken to material culture in recent years. The course will be organized around weekly lectures, reading and discussion. The course will be taught in english.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • Not taught this semester
    MAN018F
    Development cooperation: Approaches and Institutions. Reading course.
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    This course treats the debate on aid effectiveness, and institutions and actors within international aid, approaches to development cooperation, and their strengths and weaknesses. Multilateral institutions, bilateral donors, non-governmental organizations and emerging donors will be presented. Important approaches to aid, such as project support, sector-wide approach, budget support, result-based management, participatory methods and gender sensitive approaches will be introduced. as well as challenges in environmental and resource management and disaster aid.

    Note: The course is only open to students that are yet to complete this course as a mandatory option, i.e. students registered for a postgraduate diploma in Development studies or Global health, and Global study MA-students with development studies as area of specialization.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • MFR701F
    Cultural Studies and Social Critique
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    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.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • SAG813F
    Reading documents 1550-1850
    Restricted elective course
    5
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    5 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    A survey of Icelandic handwriting in the period and of methods of transcription. Students learn to read different kinds of handwriting from the period.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • SAG510M
    Women's Day Off 1975: Myths and communication
    Restricted elective course
    10
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    "The struggle does not end today," was written on a banner held by one of the 25,000 women who rallied in downtown Reykjavík on the 24th of October 1975. The Women's Day Off, as the organizers ironically called it, was essentially a strike to protest gender-based discrimination and wage differentials. The banner mentioned above is only one example of many of how the women communicated their views and demands through different media such as music, print, public speeches, and mass media. The Women's Day Off was the result of a collective agency of Icelandic actors, but their initiative should still be regarded in an international context as the women were urged to unite under the theme of the International Women's Year: "EQUALITY - DEVELOPMENT - PEACE. "

    The course is built around the Women's Day Off in 1975, but as teachers and students research its historical legacy in Icelandic and international context, they will explore and implement new ways of communicating history with younger generations. The course is organized in collaboration with Rúv and The Women's History Archives, which will celebrate its 50th anniversary with an exhibition at the National Library.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • SAG604M
    From Fascism to Populism: Democratic Crises, Radical Nationalism, and Authoritarian Regimes in the 20th and 21st Centuries
    Restricted elective course
    10
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    The current surge of nationalist, populist right-wing parties and authoritarian regimes not only poses a challenge to traditional political elites and to the functioning of liberal-democratic systems. It also invites comparisons with historical fascism and authoritarian rule in the interwar period, raising the question of how to define, classify, and position these parties, regimes, and ideologies on the political spectrum. The course deals with crises of the liberal order and the effects of ultra-nationalism in Europe in the 20th and 21st centuries by focusing on historical fascism and Nazism as well as contemporary populist and authoritarian formations. While the focus will be on Europe, ultra-nationalist and anti-liberal ideologies in other parts of the world will also be considered. The emphasis will be on historiographical and theoretical problems relating to the ideologies of fascism, authoritarianism, and populism; the effects of economic and political crises on the rise of radical nationalist movements; the roles of race, ethnicity, and gender; ideas about modernization, culture, welfare and racism, and foreign policy platforms. Populist and authoritarian regimes in the present will be put in a historical context, their programs and policies explored, and an attempt will be made to explain what has been termed “populist authoritarianism.”

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • SAG014F, SAG023F, SAG604F
    Individual Special Subject A
    Restricted elective course
    20
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    20 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    Einstaklingsverkefni A

    Prerequisites
  • SAG014F, SAG023F, SAG604F
    Individual Project B
    Restricted elective course
    20
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    20 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    Individual Course

    Prerequisites
  • SAG014F, SAG023F, SAG604F
    Individual Subject C
    Restricted elective course
    20
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    20 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    .

    Prerequisites
  • SAG103M
    Public archiving and records management
    Restricted elective course
    10
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    This course covers the role of public archives and archiving and record management in the past and present. The importance of the principle of provenance for archives and history. A summary of the history of administration. The activities and legal environment of public archives in Iceland will be discussed and their role in records management in public administration. What organizations are obliged to transfer their records to public archives. The evolution of archiving and records management in the 20th and 21st centuries will be examined. Methods of records managements, old and new. The sorting and cataloguing of archives.

    Distance learning
    Prerequisites
  • SAG716M
    The Medieval North
    Restricted elective course
    10
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    Historical and historiographical survey of major topics in the history of the medieval North, with special emphasis on Iceland and Norway from the Viking Age into the fourteenth century. Topics include: power, kingship and state; law and feud; kinship, gender and social ties; religious and mental outlook(s); conversion, Christianity and church; economic conditions. Prior knowledge of the “factual” narrative is helpful but not necessary. Reading ability in German and/or the modern Scandinavian languages is also helpful but, again, not necessary (all mandatory readings are in English). Students produce a paper and lead discussion; no final exam.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • HMM122F
    Communication channels I, documentaries, texts, images
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    In the courses Communication channels I and Communication channels II, the basics of methods for the dissemination of cultural material in the humanities and social sciences are presented. Communication channels I is in the fall semester, while Communication channels II is in the spring semester. 

    In Communication channels I, the students are working with a) text and images in the first half of the semester and b) short documentaries in the second half of the course. Each subject weighs 50% in the course. Concerning a) Students will receive training in article writing and discourse analysis on the one hand and use of images and image analysis on the other.  Concerning b) Students work on making short documentaries. It includes basic training in screenwriting, shooting and editing, and students work in groups on a documentary, according to a specific theme. 

    There are no exams in the course. Instead, students work on projects, individual and group projects. They are the following:

    1. Analysis of texts and images
    2. An article with an image on a specific theme for publication, about 800 words.
    3. A group project where students work on a short documentary that is shown at the end of the course. Emphasis is placed on common themes and group work in the course. The course is not taught remotely.
    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • MIS704M
    The Viking Age
    Elective course
    5
    Free elective course within the programme
    5 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    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.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • Not taught this semester
    EÐL524M
    History of Science and Technology in Iceland
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    Course description: Examples from the history of science and technology in Iceland are discussed in the light of national and international developments. Among the lecturers are experts in the natural sciences, technology and medical sciences. The students write a paper on a topic chosen in consultation with one or more of the teachers and give a short oral presentation.

    Prerequisites
  • HMM235F
    Radio production and podcasting
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    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.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • Not taught this semester
    SAF002F
    Theories in Museum Studies
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    The reading material be based on on essential theoretical works as well as recent research. The history of the field will be critically examined in light of trends at the beginning of the 21st century. 

    Work format

    Teaching will take the form of lectures and discussions.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • ENS231F
    Theory and Writing
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    This seminar engages with theories on culture, narrative, and mediation. Active class participation is required.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • LIS701F
    Contemporary art and society
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    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.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • Not taught this semester
    ÞJÓ110F
    Humanimals: Relations between humans and animals
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    Relations between humans and animals are the focus of this course, which will be approached from both an academic and an artistic standpoint. Students will complete independent projects on an animal of their choice and attend field trips in nature and museums. The lectures will focus on diverse animals, such as polar bears, whales, great auks and puffins and recent scholarship on them. We will dig into visual and material representations of these, and other, animals in varied cultural contexts, including medieval literature, folktales, oral tradition, film, news reports, material culture and tourism. Consideration will be given to the idea of an “afterlife” of animals in the form of artworks, museum artefacts and souvenirs. We will examine artefacts in both private and public collections and pose the questions of what happens when a living animal is turned into a museum object, and how the meaning that we bestow upon an animal can be subject to development and change under different circumstances. The role of animals in the creation of knowledge and formation of discourse surrounding climate change and issues of the Arctic regions will also be addressed, in addition to animals’ connections to specific places and cultural groups and their role in identity formations of past and present. An attempt will be made to step outside of “traditional” dualism in which an emphasis is placed on distinctions between humans and animals as we acquaint ourselves with the ways in which human/animal (ecological, social and cultural) habitats are intertwined.

    Aim

    The aim is to explore urgent questions and topical issues regarding human/animal co-existence, climate change, biodiversity loss and environmental sustainability. We will consider how artists, researchers, activists and museums have been engaging with these questions and how they can further contribute to the discussion. We will examine how diverse museums convey their ideas and information on human/animal relations through their collections. Students will be encouraged to critically engage with visual material, objects and texts, both online and through visits to museums and exhibitions. 

    Face-to-face learning
    Distance learning
    Prerequisites
    Attendance required in class
  • Not taught this semester
    ÞJÓ506M
    Cultural Heritage
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    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.

    Face-to-face learning
    Distance learning
    Prerequisites
    Attendance required in class
  • SAG704F
    Research Project in History for MA-thesis
    Mandatory (required) course
    10
    A mandatory (required) course for the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    Research Project for MA-thesis in collaboration with supervisor.

    Prerequisites
  • Not taught this semester
    LIS709F
    Art and History: The formation of Artworlds
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    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.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • Spring 2
  • SAG441L
    MA-thesis in History
    Mandatory (required) course
    0
    A mandatory (required) course for the programme
    0 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    .

    Prerequisites
    Part of the total project/thesis credits
First year
  • Fall
  • SAG813F
    Reading documents 1550-1850 hide
    Restricted elective course
    5
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    5 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    A survey of Icelandic handwriting in the period and of methods of transcription. Students learn to read different kinds of handwriting from the period.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • SAG510M
    Women's Day Off 1975: Myths and communication hide
    Restricted elective course
    10
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    "The struggle does not end today," was written on a banner held by one of the 25,000 women who rallied in downtown Reykjavík on the 24th of October 1975. The Women's Day Off, as the organizers ironically called it, was essentially a strike to protest gender-based discrimination and wage differentials. The banner mentioned above is only one example of many of how the women communicated their views and demands through different media such as music, print, public speeches, and mass media. The Women's Day Off was the result of a collective agency of Icelandic actors, but their initiative should still be regarded in an international context as the women were urged to unite under the theme of the International Women's Year: "EQUALITY - DEVELOPMENT - PEACE. "

    The course is built around the Women's Day Off in 1975, but as teachers and students research its historical legacy in Icelandic and international context, they will explore and implement new ways of communicating history with younger generations. The course is organized in collaboration with Rúv and The Women's History Archives, which will celebrate its 50th anniversary with an exhibition at the National Library.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • SAG604M
    From Fascism to Populism: Democratic Crises, Radical Nationalism, and Authoritarian Regimes in the 20th and 21st Centuries hide
    Restricted elective course
    10
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    The current surge of nationalist, populist right-wing parties and authoritarian regimes not only poses a challenge to traditional political elites and to the functioning of liberal-democratic systems. It also invites comparisons with historical fascism and authoritarian rule in the interwar period, raising the question of how to define, classify, and position these parties, regimes, and ideologies on the political spectrum. The course deals with crises of the liberal order and the effects of ultra-nationalism in Europe in the 20th and 21st centuries by focusing on historical fascism and Nazism as well as contemporary populist and authoritarian formations. While the focus will be on Europe, ultra-nationalist and anti-liberal ideologies in other parts of the world will also be considered. The emphasis will be on historiographical and theoretical problems relating to the ideologies of fascism, authoritarianism, and populism; the effects of economic and political crises on the rise of radical nationalist movements; the roles of race, ethnicity, and gender; ideas about modernization, culture, welfare and racism, and foreign policy platforms. Populist and authoritarian regimes in the present will be put in a historical context, their programs and policies explored, and an attempt will be made to explain what has been termed “populist authoritarianism.”

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • SAG014F, SAG023F, SAG604F
    Individual Special Subject A hide
    Restricted elective course
    20
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    20 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    Einstaklingsverkefni A

    Prerequisites
  • SAG014F, SAG023F, SAG604F
    Individual Project B hide
    Restricted elective course
    20
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    20 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    Individual Course

    Prerequisites
  • SAG014F, SAG023F, SAG604F
    Individual Subject C hide
    Restricted elective course
    20
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    20 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    .

    Prerequisites
  • SAG103M
    Public archiving and records management hide
    Restricted elective course
    10
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    This course covers the role of public archives and archiving and record management in the past and present. The importance of the principle of provenance for archives and history. A summary of the history of administration. The activities and legal environment of public archives in Iceland will be discussed and their role in records management in public administration. What organizations are obliged to transfer their records to public archives. The evolution of archiving and records management in the 20th and 21st centuries will be examined. Methods of records managements, old and new. The sorting and cataloguing of archives.

    Distance learning
    Prerequisites
  • SAG716M
    The Medieval North hide
    Restricted elective course
    10
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    Historical and historiographical survey of major topics in the history of the medieval North, with special emphasis on Iceland and Norway from the Viking Age into the fourteenth century. Topics include: power, kingship and state; law and feud; kinship, gender and social ties; religious and mental outlook(s); conversion, Christianity and church; economic conditions. Prior knowledge of the “factual” narrative is helpful but not necessary. Reading ability in German and/or the modern Scandinavian languages is also helpful but, again, not necessary (all mandatory readings are in English). Students produce a paper and lead discussion; no final exam.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • FOR709F
    Theories in Humanities hide
    Mandatory (required) course
    10
    A mandatory (required) course for the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    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.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • HMM122F
    Communication channels I, documentaries, texts, images hide
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    In the courses Communication channels I and Communication channels II, the basics of methods for the dissemination of cultural material in the humanities and social sciences are presented. Communication channels I is in the fall semester, while Communication channels II is in the spring semester. 

    In Communication channels I, the students are working with a) text and images in the first half of the semester and b) short documentaries in the second half of the course. Each subject weighs 50% in the course. Concerning a) Students will receive training in article writing and discourse analysis on the one hand and use of images and image analysis on the other.  Concerning b) Students work on making short documentaries. It includes basic training in screenwriting, shooting and editing, and students work in groups on a documentary, according to a specific theme. 

    There are no exams in the course. Instead, students work on projects, individual and group projects. They are the following:

    1. Analysis of texts and images
    2. An article with an image on a specific theme for publication, about 800 words.
    3. A group project where students work on a short documentary that is shown at the end of the course. Emphasis is placed on common themes and group work in the course. The course is not taught remotely.
    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • MIS704M
    The Viking Age hide
    Elective course
    5
    Free elective course within the programme
    5 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    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.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • Not taught this semester
    EÐL524M
    History of Science and Technology in Iceland hide
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    Course description: Examples from the history of science and technology in Iceland are discussed in the light of national and international developments. Among the lecturers are experts in the natural sciences, technology and medical sciences. The students write a paper on a topic chosen in consultation with one or more of the teachers and give a short oral presentation.

    Prerequisites
  • HMM235F
    Radio production and podcasting hide
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    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.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • Not taught this semester
    SAF002F
    Theories in Museum Studies hide
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    The reading material be based on on essential theoretical works as well as recent research. The history of the field will be critically examined in light of trends at the beginning of the 21st century. 

    Work format

    Teaching will take the form of lectures and discussions.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • ENS231F
    Theory and Writing hide
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    This seminar engages with theories on culture, narrative, and mediation. Active class participation is required.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • LIS701F
    Contemporary art and society hide
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    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.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • Not taught this semester
    ÞJÓ110F
    Humanimals: Relations between humans and animals hide
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    Relations between humans and animals are the focus of this course, which will be approached from both an academic and an artistic standpoint. Students will complete independent projects on an animal of their choice and attend field trips in nature and museums. The lectures will focus on diverse animals, such as polar bears, whales, great auks and puffins and recent scholarship on them. We will dig into visual and material representations of these, and other, animals in varied cultural contexts, including medieval literature, folktales, oral tradition, film, news reports, material culture and tourism. Consideration will be given to the idea of an “afterlife” of animals in the form of artworks, museum artefacts and souvenirs. We will examine artefacts in both private and public collections and pose the questions of what happens when a living animal is turned into a museum object, and how the meaning that we bestow upon an animal can be subject to development and change under different circumstances. The role of animals in the creation of knowledge and formation of discourse surrounding climate change and issues of the Arctic regions will also be addressed, in addition to animals’ connections to specific places and cultural groups and their role in identity formations of past and present. An attempt will be made to step outside of “traditional” dualism in which an emphasis is placed on distinctions between humans and animals as we acquaint ourselves with the ways in which human/animal (ecological, social and cultural) habitats are intertwined.

    Aim

    The aim is to explore urgent questions and topical issues regarding human/animal co-existence, climate change, biodiversity loss and environmental sustainability. We will consider how artists, researchers, activists and museums have been engaging with these questions and how they can further contribute to the discussion. We will examine how diverse museums convey their ideas and information on human/animal relations through their collections. Students will be encouraged to critically engage with visual material, objects and texts, both online and through visits to museums and exhibitions. 

    Face-to-face learning
    Distance learning
    Prerequisites
    Attendance required in class
  • Not taught this semester
    ÞJÓ506M
    Cultural Heritage hide
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    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.

    Face-to-face learning
    Distance learning
    Prerequisites
    Attendance required in class
  • Spring 2
  • MIS204F
    Medieval Icelandic Manuscripts hide
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    This course provides an overview of Icelandic manuscript culture. Students will get practical training in reading Icelandic manuscripts from different periods, from the earliest extant Icelandic vellums dating to the twelfth and thirteenth centuries down to the paper manuscripts of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The origins of the Icelandic script will be discussed as well as its development over time, and students will get practical training in reading different types of script from different periods. The orthography of medieval manuscripts differs considerably from the modern orthography. It includes a system of abbreviations that is partly inherited from a much earlier Latin tradition. Students will get practical training in interpreting these abbreviations. The Icelandic language has also changed over time, and different manifestations of these language changes appear when reading and examining Icelandic texts from different periods. A selection of these changes will be discussed. Changes in script, orthography, and language provide valuable indications of the date of the manuscript, and students will get practical training in dating medieval Icelandic manuscripts based on script, orthography, and language.

    Various aspects of medieval book production will be discussed, including the making of parchment and ink, and book binding. Scribes and scribal schools will be discussed as well as probable centres of book production in medieval Iceland. The works of some prolific scribes in the fourteenth century will be examined. What did they write? How did they write? Did they change their practice over a long scribal career? The texts contained by the manuscripts will also be examined and the basics of textual criticism introduced. Njáls saga, for instance, has survived in over sixty manuscripts with considerable textual variation. Which manuscript should then constitute the basis for a printed edition of Njáls saga? Different types of printed editions will be discussed, and students try their hand at editing a medieval text. The electronic editing of pre-modern texts will be introduced, and students will get practical training in mark-up with XML according to the guidelines of the Medieval Nordic Text Archive (MENOTA) and the Medieval Unicode Font Initiative (MUFI).

    The course is taught through a combination of lectures and workshops with considerable student engagement. Many of the lectures will be pre-recorded allowing more time in the classroom for discussion and student contributions.

    The course is run in cooperation with the Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies which has the custody of the largest single collection of Icelandic medieval manuscripts. Students will visit the institute to learn about its collections and facilities and to examine manuscripts.


    Course synopsis

    Week 1
    (1) Introduction
    The course: format, readings, requirements and assessment.
    The subject matter: Medieval Icelandic manuscripts.

    (2) The earliest Icelandic manuscripts
    A sketch of the history of the Latin script and the earliest writings in Icelandic. Where did Icelanders learn to use the Latin alphabet? Which orthography did they employ? Some main characteristics of medieval orthography and the use of abbreviations.

    Week 2
    (3) Electronic editing of medieval texts
    How can medieval texts be presented electronically? The XML mark-up language, TEI, MENOTA, MU-FI, and related matters. We will try our hand at electronic editing.

    (4) The earliest Icelandic orthography and the First Grammatical Treatise
    The use of the Latin alphabet for writing Icelandic: challenges — and the solutions proposed by the author of the First Grammatical Treatise in the middle of the twelfth century.

    Week 3
    (5) Icelandic script and orthography in the thirteenth century
    The difference between Icelandic and Norwegian orthography in the twelfth century. What changed in the course of the thirteenth century?

    (6) Different types of print editions: scholarly editions
    How accurate should printed editions be? Should every little detail in the manuscript be reproduced? What is “Classical Old Icelandic Normalized Orthography”? What are the needs of the readers? What is the role of the editor?

    Week 4
    (7) Norwegian influence on script, orthography, and language in Icelandic manuscripts
    What is the manifestation of this Norwegian influence? How deep-rooted was it? How long did it last?

    (8) The dating of manuscripts: script, orthography, and language
    How can medieval Icelandic manuscripts be dated? Features of script, orthography, and language that can be helpful for dating.

    Week 5
    (9) Icelandic script and orthography in the fourteenth century
    Main characteristics and their development.

    (10) One scribal hand or many?
    Distinguishing different scribal hands: some criteria. The Icelandic Homily Book from around 1200: One scribe or fourteen?

    Week 6
    (11) Book production: parchment, ink, binding — and conservation
    From animal skin to parchment. How was the ink produced? Book design and book binding. The care and conservation of medieval manuscripts.

    (12) Book production: parchment, ink, binding — and conservation
    A visit to the Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies.

    — STUDY WEEK —

    Week 7
    (13) Scribes, scribal milieus, the export of books
    On prolific scribes, scribal collaboration, and extensive production of books. Were books produced in Iceland for export in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries?

    (14) Icelandic script and orthography in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries
    Main characteristics and their development.

    Week 8
    (15) Textual criticism
    On the transmission of texts through copying. Textual variation, manuscript classification, and stemmatology.

    (16) Textual criticism
    Comparing manuscripts and collecting variants.

    Week 9
    (17) Manuscript illumination
    On illuminated manuscripts, historiated initials, artists and their models.

    (18) Manuscript catalogues and cataloguing
    We will familiarize ourselves with the most important manuscript catalogues and learn about the principles of manuscript cataloguing.

    Week 10
    (19) Icelandic script and orthography in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries
    Main characteristics and their development.

    (20) The transmission of the text: a relic or a living text?
    How did the language change when a scribe copied from an old exemplar? Njáls saga is believed to have been written towards the end of the thirteenth century. What is the language of Njáls saga in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century manuscripts?

    Week 11
    (21) Antiquarianism, manuscript collectors, and copyists
    The sixteenth century saw the rise of interest in antiquities, old manuscripts were collected and copied.

    (22) Different types of print editions: popular editions
    How is a pre-modern text best presented to the modern reader? Should archaic features of language and orthography be retained or should they be updated? On the allegiance to the manuscript and allegiance to the reader.

    Week 12
    (23) Manuscript collections and manuscript collectors
    The life and work of Árni Magnússon.

    (24) The manuscript dispute and the return of the manuscripts to Iceland
    The search for Codex Scardensis and a nerve-racking auction in London. The custody dispute with Denmark and the return of the manuscripts to Iceland 1971–1997.

    — This synopsis may be subject to change. —

    Readings

    The reading list is on the course website on Canvas. It consists of readings in several languages, including English, Icelandic, Danish, Norwegian, German, and French. The reading list is (often) divided into three main sections:

    (a) Required readings: Texts that everyone is required to read. These are all in English.

    (b) Optional supplementary readings: These are optional readings for those who want a more in-depth discussion. Most of these readings are in English, but not all.

    (c) For those who still want more: A variety of optional readings in several languages, not least in Icelandic, for those who still want more. This section is mostly for reference purposes and as a tool for further research.

    Many of the required readings (and some of the optional readings) are found on the Canvas course website. Other reading materials are available in the institute library in the Árni Magnússon Institute in Edda and the University Library (Háskólabókasafn) in the Þjóðarbókhlaða.

    Prerequisites
    Some skills in Icelandic are essential to fully benefit from the course, as emphasis will be placed on practical training in reading and transcribing text from medieval Icelandic manuscripts. MIS105F Old Icelandic 1 or equivalent study of Old Icelandic is sufficient or some skills in Modern Icelandic. Please, consult the instructor if in doubt.

    Course format
    The course is taught through a combination of lectures and workshops with considerable student engagement. Many of the lectures will be prerecorded allowing more time in the classroom for discussion and student contributions (flipped classroom).

    Working language: This course is open to students with different linguistic backgrounds, and there are two working languages, English and Icelandic. Pre-recorded lectures are in both English and Icelandic (except for guest lecturers who will present in English), written assignments are in both English and Icelandic, and reading materials are in English, Icelandic and the Scandinavian languages, but for those who cannot read Icelandic or the Scan-dinavian languages, all required readings are in English. English is the main working language in the classroom, but questions and contributions to class discussion may also be in Icelandic. — See a separate note on the working languages and the classroom arrangement.

    Course requirements and assessment
    The final grade for the course will be based on:

    (1) Transcription assignments: 30%
    (2) Manuscript catalogue assignment: 10%
    (3) Manuscript dating assignment: 10%
    (4) Presentation: manuscript of the day: 10%
    (5) Research paper: 30%
    (6) Class participation: 10%

    All written assignments will be submitted through Canvas. More detailed instructions and information on deadlines is found on Canvas.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • ÞJÓ203F
    Old Nordic Religion and Belief hide
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    An examination will be made of the religious beliefs and practices of people in Scandinavia from the earliest of times until the conversion, material ranging from burial practices to rock carvings, to the written evidence given in the works of Tacitus, Adam of Bremen and Saxo Grammaticus, as well as in early Icelandic works like the Eddic poems and the Kings' sagas. Alongside this discussion of the development and key features of Old Norse religion, some attention will be paid to the concepts of seid and shamanism, especially in connection to their role in early religions. Finally, an examination will be made of the conversion of Scandinavia and how Christian concepts and practices both fitted and contrasted with the previously dominant Old Norse worldview.

    Teaching format

    • The teaching takes place in the form of lectures and discussion on the material of the lectures.
    Face-to-face learning
    Online learning
    Prerequisites
  • SAG414M
    The Icelandic Household in the 18th Century hide
    Restricted elective course
    5
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    5 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    The course offers an in-depth study of the Icelandic 18th Century household. What different types of households were there and what was the difference between the households of peasants, fishermen, pastors, lodgers or paupers? How did young people move out of their parents’ households and start their own? How did households provide for their members and what additional expenses such as rent, taxes and dues did they need to pay? How did subsistence farming work and did the households engage in any trading? The course introduces the rich sources of the time period to students, which provide us with insights into daily life in the period, from the census of 1703 to travel journals and magazine articles of Enlightment writers of the late 18th century. Among other exercises, students practice methods of digital data entry for quantitative study.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
    Course taught second half of the semester
  • SAG412M
    Wretched Girls and Virtuous Ladies: Women in Iceland from the late eighteenth century to the twentieth century hide
    Restricted elective course
    10
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    This course examines the status of women in Iceland during the long nineteenth century. The aim is to explore sources that shed light on women's circumstances, opportunities, and agency, both in rural areas and villages. The period will be examined both thematically and chronologically, exploring and analysing changes in women's status and agency. The course will explore what legal rights women had – were they autonomous? Could they travel abroad for education or travel at all? Could they marry whom they wanted? Run their own business? What kind of clothes did they wear? What work did they do inside and outside of the home? The status of women in Iceland will be examined in a transnational context, both concerning legal rights and agency, as well as in relation to major theoretical frameworks about women's history in the nineteenth century (e.g., separate spheres). The period spans from the late eighteenth century, from which time sources such as private letters and biographical texts are preserved, to c. 1900 when the struggle for women's rights had begun in Iceland and new times were ahead. The course will delve into memoirs, funeral speeches, and correspondence along with other sources and scholarly works about the period to get as close as possible to women's experiences and attitudes.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • SAG413M
    Echoes of a Global Medieval Ages in Contemporary History hide
    Restricted elective course
    5
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    5 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    "Echoes of a Global Medieval Ages in Contemporary History" is a course that explores the intersection of medieval and contemporary eras, considering how memories, symbols, and narratives from the medieval world continue to shape current ideologies, identities, and global perspectives. Through a thematic, regional examination, the course analyzes how different societies today reinterpret and reconstruct their medieval pasts, addressing legacies of imperialism, nationalism, and cultural exchange. Key topics include the influence of medieval governance, cultural symbols, trade networks, and ideological conflicts on contemporary issues.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
    Course taught first half of the semester
  • SAG206M
    Research and sources in archives hide
    Restricted elective course
    5
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    5 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

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

    Distance learning
    Prerequisites
  • SAG201F
    New researches in history hide
    Mandatory (required) course
    10
    A mandatory (required) course for the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    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.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • SAG206M
    Research and sources in archives hide
    Elective course
    5
    Free elective course within the programme
    5 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

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

    Distance learning
    Prerequisites
  • HMM242F
    Communication channels II. Oral presentations, exhibitions, digital communication hide
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    In the course Communication channels II during the spring semester the students work with the following communication methods: a) oral presentation and b) exhibitions of cultural and historical material. Digital communication will be integrated into both aspects.

    The students will work with the basics of oral presentation and practice in smaller and larger groups. Basic issues regarding the organization of conferences and seminars and their management will also be reviewed and a conference is held where all students present their projects. Digital communication will also be integrated into this section. Following is a section about exhibitions with connection to digital communication. The basics of exhibitions and different ways of presentation will be discussed.  The basics of digital communication will be covered, what are the main channels, advantages and disadvantages, and what rules apply to the presentation of texts on the web.

    There are no exams in the course. Instead, students work on projects, individual and group projects. They are the following:

    1. Lecture at a conference and other projects in that context
    2. Exhibition analysis and a practical project in connection with exhibitions organized by the City History Museum (Borgarsögusafn)
    3. Digital communication will be integrated into both aspects. Emphasis is placed on common themes and group work in the course.

    The course is not taught remotely.

    Prerequisites
  • Not taught this semester
    SAF603M
    Museums and Society: The Circus of Death? hide
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    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. 

    Work format

    Teaching will take the form of lectures and discussions.

    Prerequisites
  • KYN211F
    Theories in Gender Studies hide
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    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.

    Face-to-face learning
    Online learning
    Prerequisites
  • FOR102F
    Viking Age Archaeology hide
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    Overview of the history of the Viking age and history of Viking research. Emphasis is placed on the archaeological evidence, the sites and the objects, and discussing how archaeological data has contributed to our understanding of this period. Particular attention is given to economic patterns, issues of ethnicity and state formation.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • FOR702M
    Postmedieval archaeology hide
    Elective course
    5
    Free elective course within the programme
    5 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    Living in the contemporary world it is easy to think of the past as something remote and separate from everyday life - whether it is a trip to a museum or even studying archaeology at university, history seems to always be placed at one remove from our everyday life. Something we encounter for fun or interest. The aim of this course is to look at our modern world through an archaeological and historical lens: how are the patterns of our lives today the product of things that happened in the past? This course will show how the past is alive in the present – not as a heritage site or archaeology textbook but as something which still shapes our daily routines and the material world around us. Although the roots of this go back to our biological evolution, arguably most of these effects emerged in the last 500 years.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • FOR812F
    Medieval Archaeology hide
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    During the last decades, medieval archaeology has experienced significant growth as a discipline concerned with material culture. Initially, the use of material culture was marginalized to the role of confirming or refuting historical knowledge about this period but today it is understood as having equal historical importance to the archived material. The course is thus intended to improve student’s understanding of Medieval Europe during the period 800–1600 AD through the study of material culture. It deals with general themes in medieval archaeology, such as identity, social status, rural and urban landscapes, religion, life and death, rather than the historical development of the Middle Ages in chronological order. The aim is to give students insight into the different fields of theory and method of medieval archaeology through both material and documentary evidences in accordance with the current state of research. A special emphasis will be put on medieval Iceland, as a part of European culture and society, but even on how medieval archaeologists gather their sources, analyse them and reach conclusions of historical importance.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • HSP806F
    Ethics of Science and Research hide
    Elective course
    6
    Free elective course within the programme
    6 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    The course is intended for postgraduate students only. It is adapted to the needs of students from different fields of study. The course is taught over a six-week period.

    The course is taught over the first six weeks of spring semester on Fridays from 1:20 pm - 3:40 pm.

    Description: 
    The topics of the course include: Professionalism and the scientist’s responsibilities. Demands for scientific objectivity and the ethics of research. Issues of equality and standards of good practice. Power and science. Conflicts of interest and misconduct in research. Science, academia and industry. Research ethics and ethical decision making.

    Objectives: 
    In this course, the student gains knowledge about ethical issues in science and research and is trained in reasoning about ethical controversies relating to science and research in contemporary society.

    The instruction takes the form of lectures and discussion. The course is viewed as an academic community where students are actively engaged in a focused dialogue about  the topics. Each student (working as a member of a two-person team) gives a presentation according to a plan designed at the beginning of the course, and other students acquaint themselves with the topic as well for the purpose of participating in a teacher-led discussion.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
    Course taught first half of the semester
  • Not taught this semester
    ÞJÓ446M
    Dwellings, Disneylands and Deserts: Ethnology of Place hide
    Elective course
    5
    Free elective course within the programme
    5 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    The objective of the course is to explore how people relate to places in different ways. A variety of places - from private homes to airports, from city-centres to wastelands, form summer resorts to places of worship - will be explored in terms of affect and meaning, accumulated by passing though and dwelling as well as socio-political constructions. What creates and maintains place attachment? How do people relate differently to a place of their youth and place of destination? What constitutes a sense of belonging to a place? How do refugees, migrant workers and other migrants relate to new places and new landscapes and how do they maintain or sever ties to their place of origin. What role does experience, affect, memory, aesthetics, identification and sense of history play in who can claim a place and how? How do social structures, political objectives and conceptual understandings of place condition the meaning and sense of place for individuals and communities?

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
    Course taught first half of the semester
  • Fall
  • SAG813F
    Reading documents 1550-1850 hide
    Restricted elective course
    5
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    5 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    A survey of Icelandic handwriting in the period and of methods of transcription. Students learn to read different kinds of handwriting from the period.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • SAG510M
    Women's Day Off 1975: Myths and communication hide
    Restricted elective course
    10
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    "The struggle does not end today," was written on a banner held by one of the 25,000 women who rallied in downtown Reykjavík on the 24th of October 1975. The Women's Day Off, as the organizers ironically called it, was essentially a strike to protest gender-based discrimination and wage differentials. The banner mentioned above is only one example of many of how the women communicated their views and demands through different media such as music, print, public speeches, and mass media. The Women's Day Off was the result of a collective agency of Icelandic actors, but their initiative should still be regarded in an international context as the women were urged to unite under the theme of the International Women's Year: "EQUALITY - DEVELOPMENT - PEACE. "

    The course is built around the Women's Day Off in 1975, but as teachers and students research its historical legacy in Icelandic and international context, they will explore and implement new ways of communicating history with younger generations. The course is organized in collaboration with Rúv and The Women's History Archives, which will celebrate its 50th anniversary with an exhibition at the National Library.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • SAG604M
    From Fascism to Populism: Democratic Crises, Radical Nationalism, and Authoritarian Regimes in the 20th and 21st Centuries hide
    Restricted elective course
    10
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    The current surge of nationalist, populist right-wing parties and authoritarian regimes not only poses a challenge to traditional political elites and to the functioning of liberal-democratic systems. It also invites comparisons with historical fascism and authoritarian rule in the interwar period, raising the question of how to define, classify, and position these parties, regimes, and ideologies on the political spectrum. The course deals with crises of the liberal order and the effects of ultra-nationalism in Europe in the 20th and 21st centuries by focusing on historical fascism and Nazism as well as contemporary populist and authoritarian formations. While the focus will be on Europe, ultra-nationalist and anti-liberal ideologies in other parts of the world will also be considered. The emphasis will be on historiographical and theoretical problems relating to the ideologies of fascism, authoritarianism, and populism; the effects of economic and political crises on the rise of radical nationalist movements; the roles of race, ethnicity, and gender; ideas about modernization, culture, welfare and racism, and foreign policy platforms. Populist and authoritarian regimes in the present will be put in a historical context, their programs and policies explored, and an attempt will be made to explain what has been termed “populist authoritarianism.”

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • SAG014F, SAG023F, SAG604F
    Individual Special Subject A hide
    Restricted elective course
    20
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    20 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    Einstaklingsverkefni A

    Prerequisites
  • SAG014F, SAG023F, SAG604F
    Individual Project B hide
    Restricted elective course
    20
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    20 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    Individual Course

    Prerequisites
  • SAG014F, SAG023F, SAG604F
    Individual Subject C hide
    Restricted elective course
    20
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    20 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    .

    Prerequisites
  • SAG103M
    Public archiving and records management hide
    Restricted elective course
    10
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    This course covers the role of public archives and archiving and record management in the past and present. The importance of the principle of provenance for archives and history. A summary of the history of administration. The activities and legal environment of public archives in Iceland will be discussed and their role in records management in public administration. What organizations are obliged to transfer their records to public archives. The evolution of archiving and records management in the 20th and 21st centuries will be examined. Methods of records managements, old and new. The sorting and cataloguing of archives.

    Distance learning
    Prerequisites
  • SAG716M
    The Medieval North hide
    Restricted elective course
    10
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    Historical and historiographical survey of major topics in the history of the medieval North, with special emphasis on Iceland and Norway from the Viking Age into the fourteenth century. Topics include: power, kingship and state; law and feud; kinship, gender and social ties; religious and mental outlook(s); conversion, Christianity and church; economic conditions. Prior knowledge of the “factual” narrative is helpful but not necessary. Reading ability in German and/or the modern Scandinavian languages is also helpful but, again, not necessary (all mandatory readings are in English). Students produce a paper and lead discussion; no final exam.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • HMM122F
    Communication channels I, documentaries, texts, images hide
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    In the courses Communication channels I and Communication channels II, the basics of methods for the dissemination of cultural material in the humanities and social sciences are presented. Communication channels I is in the fall semester, while Communication channels II is in the spring semester. 

    In Communication channels I, the students are working with a) text and images in the first half of the semester and b) short documentaries in the second half of the course. Each subject weighs 50% in the course. Concerning a) Students will receive training in article writing and discourse analysis on the one hand and use of images and image analysis on the other.  Concerning b) Students work on making short documentaries. It includes basic training in screenwriting, shooting and editing, and students work in groups on a documentary, according to a specific theme. 

    There are no exams in the course. Instead, students work on projects, individual and group projects. They are the following:

    1. Analysis of texts and images
    2. An article with an image on a specific theme for publication, about 800 words.
    3. A group project where students work on a short documentary that is shown at the end of the course. Emphasis is placed on common themes and group work in the course. The course is not taught remotely.
    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • MIS704M
    The Viking Age hide
    Elective course
    5
    Free elective course within the programme
    5 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    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.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • Not taught this semester
    EÐL524M
    History of Science and Technology in Iceland hide
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    Course description: Examples from the history of science and technology in Iceland are discussed in the light of national and international developments. Among the lecturers are experts in the natural sciences, technology and medical sciences. The students write a paper on a topic chosen in consultation with one or more of the teachers and give a short oral presentation.

    Prerequisites
  • HMM235F
    Radio production and podcasting hide
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    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.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • Not taught this semester
    SAF002F
    Theories in Museum Studies hide
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    The reading material be based on on essential theoretical works as well as recent research. The history of the field will be critically examined in light of trends at the beginning of the 21st century. 

    Work format

    Teaching will take the form of lectures and discussions.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • ENS231F
    Theory and Writing hide
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    This seminar engages with theories on culture, narrative, and mediation. Active class participation is required.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • LIS701F
    Contemporary art and society hide
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    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.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • Not taught this semester
    ÞJÓ110F
    Humanimals: Relations between humans and animals hide
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    Relations between humans and animals are the focus of this course, which will be approached from both an academic and an artistic standpoint. Students will complete independent projects on an animal of their choice and attend field trips in nature and museums. The lectures will focus on diverse animals, such as polar bears, whales, great auks and puffins and recent scholarship on them. We will dig into visual and material representations of these, and other, animals in varied cultural contexts, including medieval literature, folktales, oral tradition, film, news reports, material culture and tourism. Consideration will be given to the idea of an “afterlife” of animals in the form of artworks, museum artefacts and souvenirs. We will examine artefacts in both private and public collections and pose the questions of what happens when a living animal is turned into a museum object, and how the meaning that we bestow upon an animal can be subject to development and change under different circumstances. The role of animals in the creation of knowledge and formation of discourse surrounding climate change and issues of the Arctic regions will also be addressed, in addition to animals’ connections to specific places and cultural groups and their role in identity formations of past and present. An attempt will be made to step outside of “traditional” dualism in which an emphasis is placed on distinctions between humans and animals as we acquaint ourselves with the ways in which human/animal (ecological, social and cultural) habitats are intertwined.

    Aim

    The aim is to explore urgent questions and topical issues regarding human/animal co-existence, climate change, biodiversity loss and environmental sustainability. We will consider how artists, researchers, activists and museums have been engaging with these questions and how they can further contribute to the discussion. We will examine how diverse museums convey their ideas and information on human/animal relations through their collections. Students will be encouraged to critically engage with visual material, objects and texts, both online and through visits to museums and exhibitions. 

    Face-to-face learning
    Distance learning
    Prerequisites
    Attendance required in class
  • Not taught this semester
    ÞJÓ506M
    Cultural Heritage hide
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    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.

    Face-to-face learning
    Distance learning
    Prerequisites
    Attendance required in class
  • SAG704F
    Research Project in History for MA-thesis hide
    Mandatory (required) course
    10
    A mandatory (required) course for the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    Research Project for MA-thesis in collaboration with supervisor.

    Prerequisites
  • Not taught this semester
    LIS709F
    Art and History: The formation of Artworlds hide
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    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.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • Spring 2
  • SAG441L
    MA-thesis in History hide
    Mandatory (required) course
    0
    A mandatory (required) course for the programme
    0 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    .

    Prerequisites
    Part of the total project/thesis credits
Second year
  • Fall
  • SAG813F
    Reading documents 1550-1850 hide
    Restricted elective course
    5
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    5 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    A survey of Icelandic handwriting in the period and of methods of transcription. Students learn to read different kinds of handwriting from the period.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • SAG510M
    Women's Day Off 1975: Myths and communication hide
    Restricted elective course
    10
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    "The struggle does not end today," was written on a banner held by one of the 25,000 women who rallied in downtown Reykjavík on the 24th of October 1975. The Women's Day Off, as the organizers ironically called it, was essentially a strike to protest gender-based discrimination and wage differentials. The banner mentioned above is only one example of many of how the women communicated their views and demands through different media such as music, print, public speeches, and mass media. The Women's Day Off was the result of a collective agency of Icelandic actors, but their initiative should still be regarded in an international context as the women were urged to unite under the theme of the International Women's Year: "EQUALITY - DEVELOPMENT - PEACE. "

    The course is built around the Women's Day Off in 1975, but as teachers and students research its historical legacy in Icelandic and international context, they will explore and implement new ways of communicating history with younger generations. The course is organized in collaboration with Rúv and The Women's History Archives, which will celebrate its 50th anniversary with an exhibition at the National Library.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • SAG604M
    From Fascism to Populism: Democratic Crises, Radical Nationalism, and Authoritarian Regimes in the 20th and 21st Centuries hide
    Restricted elective course
    10
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    The current surge of nationalist, populist right-wing parties and authoritarian regimes not only poses a challenge to traditional political elites and to the functioning of liberal-democratic systems. It also invites comparisons with historical fascism and authoritarian rule in the interwar period, raising the question of how to define, classify, and position these parties, regimes, and ideologies on the political spectrum. The course deals with crises of the liberal order and the effects of ultra-nationalism in Europe in the 20th and 21st centuries by focusing on historical fascism and Nazism as well as contemporary populist and authoritarian formations. While the focus will be on Europe, ultra-nationalist and anti-liberal ideologies in other parts of the world will also be considered. The emphasis will be on historiographical and theoretical problems relating to the ideologies of fascism, authoritarianism, and populism; the effects of economic and political crises on the rise of radical nationalist movements; the roles of race, ethnicity, and gender; ideas about modernization, culture, welfare and racism, and foreign policy platforms. Populist and authoritarian regimes in the present will be put in a historical context, their programs and policies explored, and an attempt will be made to explain what has been termed “populist authoritarianism.”

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • SAG014F, SAG023F, SAG604F
    Individual Special Subject A hide
    Restricted elective course
    20
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    20 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    Einstaklingsverkefni A

    Prerequisites
  • SAG014F, SAG023F, SAG604F
    Individual Project B hide
    Restricted elective course
    20
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    20 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    Individual Course

    Prerequisites
  • SAG014F, SAG023F, SAG604F
    Individual Subject C hide
    Restricted elective course
    20
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    20 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    .

    Prerequisites
  • SAG103M
    Public archiving and records management hide
    Restricted elective course
    10
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    This course covers the role of public archives and archiving and record management in the past and present. The importance of the principle of provenance for archives and history. A summary of the history of administration. The activities and legal environment of public archives in Iceland will be discussed and their role in records management in public administration. What organizations are obliged to transfer their records to public archives. The evolution of archiving and records management in the 20th and 21st centuries will be examined. Methods of records managements, old and new. The sorting and cataloguing of archives.

    Distance learning
    Prerequisites
  • SAG716M
    The Medieval North hide
    Restricted elective course
    10
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    Historical and historiographical survey of major topics in the history of the medieval North, with special emphasis on Iceland and Norway from the Viking Age into the fourteenth century. Topics include: power, kingship and state; law and feud; kinship, gender and social ties; religious and mental outlook(s); conversion, Christianity and church; economic conditions. Prior knowledge of the “factual” narrative is helpful but not necessary. Reading ability in German and/or the modern Scandinavian languages is also helpful but, again, not necessary (all mandatory readings are in English). Students produce a paper and lead discussion; no final exam.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • FOR709F
    Theories in Humanities hide
    Mandatory (required) course
    10
    A mandatory (required) course for the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    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.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • HMM122F
    Communication channels I, documentaries, texts, images hide
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    In the courses Communication channels I and Communication channels II, the basics of methods for the dissemination of cultural material in the humanities and social sciences are presented. Communication channels I is in the fall semester, while Communication channels II is in the spring semester. 

    In Communication channels I, the students are working with a) text and images in the first half of the semester and b) short documentaries in the second half of the course. Each subject weighs 50% in the course. Concerning a) Students will receive training in article writing and discourse analysis on the one hand and use of images and image analysis on the other.  Concerning b) Students work on making short documentaries. It includes basic training in screenwriting, shooting and editing, and students work in groups on a documentary, according to a specific theme. 

    There are no exams in the course. Instead, students work on projects, individual and group projects. They are the following:

    1. Analysis of texts and images
    2. An article with an image on a specific theme for publication, about 800 words.
    3. A group project where students work on a short documentary that is shown at the end of the course. Emphasis is placed on common themes and group work in the course. The course is not taught remotely.
    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • MIS704M
    The Viking Age hide
    Elective course
    5
    Free elective course within the programme
    5 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    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.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • Not taught this semester
    EÐL524M
    History of Science and Technology in Iceland hide
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    Course description: Examples from the history of science and technology in Iceland are discussed in the light of national and international developments. Among the lecturers are experts in the natural sciences, technology and medical sciences. The students write a paper on a topic chosen in consultation with one or more of the teachers and give a short oral presentation.

    Prerequisites
  • HMM235F
    Radio production and podcasting hide
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    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.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • Not taught this semester
    SAF002F
    Theories in Museum Studies hide
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    The reading material be based on on essential theoretical works as well as recent research. The history of the field will be critically examined in light of trends at the beginning of the 21st century. 

    Work format

    Teaching will take the form of lectures and discussions.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • ENS231F
    Theory and Writing hide
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    This seminar engages with theories on culture, narrative, and mediation. Active class participation is required.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • LIS701F
    Contemporary art and society hide
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    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.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • Not taught this semester
    ÞJÓ110F
    Humanimals: Relations between humans and animals hide
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    Relations between humans and animals are the focus of this course, which will be approached from both an academic and an artistic standpoint. Students will complete independent projects on an animal of their choice and attend field trips in nature and museums. The lectures will focus on diverse animals, such as polar bears, whales, great auks and puffins and recent scholarship on them. We will dig into visual and material representations of these, and other, animals in varied cultural contexts, including medieval literature, folktales, oral tradition, film, news reports, material culture and tourism. Consideration will be given to the idea of an “afterlife” of animals in the form of artworks, museum artefacts and souvenirs. We will examine artefacts in both private and public collections and pose the questions of what happens when a living animal is turned into a museum object, and how the meaning that we bestow upon an animal can be subject to development and change under different circumstances. The role of animals in the creation of knowledge and formation of discourse surrounding climate change and issues of the Arctic regions will also be addressed, in addition to animals’ connections to specific places and cultural groups and their role in identity formations of past and present. An attempt will be made to step outside of “traditional” dualism in which an emphasis is placed on distinctions between humans and animals as we acquaint ourselves with the ways in which human/animal (ecological, social and cultural) habitats are intertwined.

    Aim

    The aim is to explore urgent questions and topical issues regarding human/animal co-existence, climate change, biodiversity loss and environmental sustainability. We will consider how artists, researchers, activists and museums have been engaging with these questions and how they can further contribute to the discussion. We will examine how diverse museums convey their ideas and information on human/animal relations through their collections. Students will be encouraged to critically engage with visual material, objects and texts, both online and through visits to museums and exhibitions. 

    Face-to-face learning
    Distance learning
    Prerequisites
    Attendance required in class
  • Not taught this semester
    ÞJÓ506M
    Cultural Heritage hide
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    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.

    Face-to-face learning
    Distance learning
    Prerequisites
    Attendance required in class
  • Spring 2
  • MIS204F
    Medieval Icelandic Manuscripts hide
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    This course provides an overview of Icelandic manuscript culture. Students will get practical training in reading Icelandic manuscripts from different periods, from the earliest extant Icelandic vellums dating to the twelfth and thirteenth centuries down to the paper manuscripts of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The origins of the Icelandic script will be discussed as well as its development over time, and students will get practical training in reading different types of script from different periods. The orthography of medieval manuscripts differs considerably from the modern orthography. It includes a system of abbreviations that is partly inherited from a much earlier Latin tradition. Students will get practical training in interpreting these abbreviations. The Icelandic language has also changed over time, and different manifestations of these language changes appear when reading and examining Icelandic texts from different periods. A selection of these changes will be discussed. Changes in script, orthography, and language provide valuable indications of the date of the manuscript, and students will get practical training in dating medieval Icelandic manuscripts based on script, orthography, and language.

    Various aspects of medieval book production will be discussed, including the making of parchment and ink, and book binding. Scribes and scribal schools will be discussed as well as probable centres of book production in medieval Iceland. The works of some prolific scribes in the fourteenth century will be examined. What did they write? How did they write? Did they change their practice over a long scribal career? The texts contained by the manuscripts will also be examined and the basics of textual criticism introduced. Njáls saga, for instance, has survived in over sixty manuscripts with considerable textual variation. Which manuscript should then constitute the basis for a printed edition of Njáls saga? Different types of printed editions will be discussed, and students try their hand at editing a medieval text. The electronic editing of pre-modern texts will be introduced, and students will get practical training in mark-up with XML according to the guidelines of the Medieval Nordic Text Archive (MENOTA) and the Medieval Unicode Font Initiative (MUFI).

    The course is taught through a combination of lectures and workshops with considerable student engagement. Many of the lectures will be pre-recorded allowing more time in the classroom for discussion and student contributions.

    The course is run in cooperation with the Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies which has the custody of the largest single collection of Icelandic medieval manuscripts. Students will visit the institute to learn about its collections and facilities and to examine manuscripts.


    Course synopsis

    Week 1
    (1) Introduction
    The course: format, readings, requirements and assessment.
    The subject matter: Medieval Icelandic manuscripts.

    (2) The earliest Icelandic manuscripts
    A sketch of the history of the Latin script and the earliest writings in Icelandic. Where did Icelanders learn to use the Latin alphabet? Which orthography did they employ? Some main characteristics of medieval orthography and the use of abbreviations.

    Week 2
    (3) Electronic editing of medieval texts
    How can medieval texts be presented electronically? The XML mark-up language, TEI, MENOTA, MU-FI, and related matters. We will try our hand at electronic editing.

    (4) The earliest Icelandic orthography and the First Grammatical Treatise
    The use of the Latin alphabet for writing Icelandic: challenges — and the solutions proposed by the author of the First Grammatical Treatise in the middle of the twelfth century.

    Week 3
    (5) Icelandic script and orthography in the thirteenth century
    The difference between Icelandic and Norwegian orthography in the twelfth century. What changed in the course of the thirteenth century?

    (6) Different types of print editions: scholarly editions
    How accurate should printed editions be? Should every little detail in the manuscript be reproduced? What is “Classical Old Icelandic Normalized Orthography”? What are the needs of the readers? What is the role of the editor?

    Week 4
    (7) Norwegian influence on script, orthography, and language in Icelandic manuscripts
    What is the manifestation of this Norwegian influence? How deep-rooted was it? How long did it last?

    (8) The dating of manuscripts: script, orthography, and language
    How can medieval Icelandic manuscripts be dated? Features of script, orthography, and language that can be helpful for dating.

    Week 5
    (9) Icelandic script and orthography in the fourteenth century
    Main characteristics and their development.

    (10) One scribal hand or many?
    Distinguishing different scribal hands: some criteria. The Icelandic Homily Book from around 1200: One scribe or fourteen?

    Week 6
    (11) Book production: parchment, ink, binding — and conservation
    From animal skin to parchment. How was the ink produced? Book design and book binding. The care and conservation of medieval manuscripts.

    (12) Book production: parchment, ink, binding — and conservation
    A visit to the Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies.

    — STUDY WEEK —

    Week 7
    (13) Scribes, scribal milieus, the export of books
    On prolific scribes, scribal collaboration, and extensive production of books. Were books produced in Iceland for export in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries?

    (14) Icelandic script and orthography in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries
    Main characteristics and their development.

    Week 8
    (15) Textual criticism
    On the transmission of texts through copying. Textual variation, manuscript classification, and stemmatology.

    (16) Textual criticism
    Comparing manuscripts and collecting variants.

    Week 9
    (17) Manuscript illumination
    On illuminated manuscripts, historiated initials, artists and their models.

    (18) Manuscript catalogues and cataloguing
    We will familiarize ourselves with the most important manuscript catalogues and learn about the principles of manuscript cataloguing.

    Week 10
    (19) Icelandic script and orthography in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries
    Main characteristics and their development.

    (20) The transmission of the text: a relic or a living text?
    How did the language change when a scribe copied from an old exemplar? Njáls saga is believed to have been written towards the end of the thirteenth century. What is the language of Njáls saga in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century manuscripts?

    Week 11
    (21) Antiquarianism, manuscript collectors, and copyists
    The sixteenth century saw the rise of interest in antiquities, old manuscripts were collected and copied.

    (22) Different types of print editions: popular editions
    How is a pre-modern text best presented to the modern reader? Should archaic features of language and orthography be retained or should they be updated? On the allegiance to the manuscript and allegiance to the reader.

    Week 12
    (23) Manuscript collections and manuscript collectors
    The life and work of Árni Magnússon.

    (24) The manuscript dispute and the return of the manuscripts to Iceland
    The search for Codex Scardensis and a nerve-racking auction in London. The custody dispute with Denmark and the return of the manuscripts to Iceland 1971–1997.

    — This synopsis may be subject to change. —

    Readings

    The reading list is on the course website on Canvas. It consists of readings in several languages, including English, Icelandic, Danish, Norwegian, German, and French. The reading list is (often) divided into three main sections:

    (a) Required readings: Texts that everyone is required to read. These are all in English.

    (b) Optional supplementary readings: These are optional readings for those who want a more in-depth discussion. Most of these readings are in English, but not all.

    (c) For those who still want more: A variety of optional readings in several languages, not least in Icelandic, for those who still want more. This section is mostly for reference purposes and as a tool for further research.

    Many of the required readings (and some of the optional readings) are found on the Canvas course website. Other reading materials are available in the institute library in the Árni Magnússon Institute in Edda and the University Library (Háskólabókasafn) in the Þjóðarbókhlaða.

    Prerequisites
    Some skills in Icelandic are essential to fully benefit from the course, as emphasis will be placed on practical training in reading and transcribing text from medieval Icelandic manuscripts. MIS105F Old Icelandic 1 or equivalent study of Old Icelandic is sufficient or some skills in Modern Icelandic. Please, consult the instructor if in doubt.

    Course format
    The course is taught through a combination of lectures and workshops with considerable student engagement. Many of the lectures will be prerecorded allowing more time in the classroom for discussion and student contributions (flipped classroom).

    Working language: This course is open to students with different linguistic backgrounds, and there are two working languages, English and Icelandic. Pre-recorded lectures are in both English and Icelandic (except for guest lecturers who will present in English), written assignments are in both English and Icelandic, and reading materials are in English, Icelandic and the Scandinavian languages, but for those who cannot read Icelandic or the Scan-dinavian languages, all required readings are in English. English is the main working language in the classroom, but questions and contributions to class discussion may also be in Icelandic. — See a separate note on the working languages and the classroom arrangement.

    Course requirements and assessment
    The final grade for the course will be based on:

    (1) Transcription assignments: 30%
    (2) Manuscript catalogue assignment: 10%
    (3) Manuscript dating assignment: 10%
    (4) Presentation: manuscript of the day: 10%
    (5) Research paper: 30%
    (6) Class participation: 10%

    All written assignments will be submitted through Canvas. More detailed instructions and information on deadlines is found on Canvas.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • ÞJÓ203F
    Old Nordic Religion and Belief hide
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    An examination will be made of the religious beliefs and practices of people in Scandinavia from the earliest of times until the conversion, material ranging from burial practices to rock carvings, to the written evidence given in the works of Tacitus, Adam of Bremen and Saxo Grammaticus, as well as in early Icelandic works like the Eddic poems and the Kings' sagas. Alongside this discussion of the development and key features of Old Norse religion, some attention will be paid to the concepts of seid and shamanism, especially in connection to their role in early religions. Finally, an examination will be made of the conversion of Scandinavia and how Christian concepts and practices both fitted and contrasted with the previously dominant Old Norse worldview.

    Teaching format

    • The teaching takes place in the form of lectures and discussion on the material of the lectures.
    Face-to-face learning
    Online learning
    Prerequisites
  • SAG414M
    The Icelandic Household in the 18th Century hide
    Restricted elective course
    5
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    5 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    The course offers an in-depth study of the Icelandic 18th Century household. What different types of households were there and what was the difference between the households of peasants, fishermen, pastors, lodgers or paupers? How did young people move out of their parents’ households and start their own? How did households provide for their members and what additional expenses such as rent, taxes and dues did they need to pay? How did subsistence farming work and did the households engage in any trading? The course introduces the rich sources of the time period to students, which provide us with insights into daily life in the period, from the census of 1703 to travel journals and magazine articles of Enlightment writers of the late 18th century. Among other exercises, students practice methods of digital data entry for quantitative study.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
    Course taught second half of the semester
  • SAG412M
    Wretched Girls and Virtuous Ladies: Women in Iceland from the late eighteenth century to the twentieth century hide
    Restricted elective course
    10
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    This course examines the status of women in Iceland during the long nineteenth century. The aim is to explore sources that shed light on women's circumstances, opportunities, and agency, both in rural areas and villages. The period will be examined both thematically and chronologically, exploring and analysing changes in women's status and agency. The course will explore what legal rights women had – were they autonomous? Could they travel abroad for education or travel at all? Could they marry whom they wanted? Run their own business? What kind of clothes did they wear? What work did they do inside and outside of the home? The status of women in Iceland will be examined in a transnational context, both concerning legal rights and agency, as well as in relation to major theoretical frameworks about women's history in the nineteenth century (e.g., separate spheres). The period spans from the late eighteenth century, from which time sources such as private letters and biographical texts are preserved, to c. 1900 when the struggle for women's rights had begun in Iceland and new times were ahead. The course will delve into memoirs, funeral speeches, and correspondence along with other sources and scholarly works about the period to get as close as possible to women's experiences and attitudes.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • SAG413M
    Echoes of a Global Medieval Ages in Contemporary History hide
    Restricted elective course
    5
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    5 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    "Echoes of a Global Medieval Ages in Contemporary History" is a course that explores the intersection of medieval and contemporary eras, considering how memories, symbols, and narratives from the medieval world continue to shape current ideologies, identities, and global perspectives. Through a thematic, regional examination, the course analyzes how different societies today reinterpret and reconstruct their medieval pasts, addressing legacies of imperialism, nationalism, and cultural exchange. Key topics include the influence of medieval governance, cultural symbols, trade networks, and ideological conflicts on contemporary issues.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
    Course taught first half of the semester
  • SAG206M
    Research and sources in archives hide
    Restricted elective course
    5
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    5 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

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

    Distance learning
    Prerequisites
  • SAG201F
    New researches in history hide
    Mandatory (required) course
    10
    A mandatory (required) course for the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    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.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • SAG206M
    Research and sources in archives hide
    Elective course
    5
    Free elective course within the programme
    5 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

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

    Distance learning
    Prerequisites
  • HMM242F
    Communication channels II. Oral presentations, exhibitions, digital communication hide
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    In the course Communication channels II during the spring semester the students work with the following communication methods: a) oral presentation and b) exhibitions of cultural and historical material. Digital communication will be integrated into both aspects.

    The students will work with the basics of oral presentation and practice in smaller and larger groups. Basic issues regarding the organization of conferences and seminars and their management will also be reviewed and a conference is held where all students present their projects. Digital communication will also be integrated into this section. Following is a section about exhibitions with connection to digital communication. The basics of exhibitions and different ways of presentation will be discussed.  The basics of digital communication will be covered, what are the main channels, advantages and disadvantages, and what rules apply to the presentation of texts on the web.

    There are no exams in the course. Instead, students work on projects, individual and group projects. They are the following:

    1. Lecture at a conference and other projects in that context
    2. Exhibition analysis and a practical project in connection with exhibitions organized by the City History Museum (Borgarsögusafn)
    3. Digital communication will be integrated into both aspects. Emphasis is placed on common themes and group work in the course.

    The course is not taught remotely.

    Prerequisites
  • Not taught this semester
    SAF603M
    Museums and Society: The Circus of Death? hide
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    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. 

    Work format

    Teaching will take the form of lectures and discussions.

    Prerequisites
  • KYN211F
    Theories in Gender Studies hide
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    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.

    Face-to-face learning
    Online learning
    Prerequisites
  • FOR102F
    Viking Age Archaeology hide
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    Overview of the history of the Viking age and history of Viking research. Emphasis is placed on the archaeological evidence, the sites and the objects, and discussing how archaeological data has contributed to our understanding of this period. Particular attention is given to economic patterns, issues of ethnicity and state formation.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • FOR702M
    Postmedieval archaeology hide
    Elective course
    5
    Free elective course within the programme
    5 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    Living in the contemporary world it is easy to think of the past as something remote and separate from everyday life - whether it is a trip to a museum or even studying archaeology at university, history seems to always be placed at one remove from our everyday life. Something we encounter for fun or interest. The aim of this course is to look at our modern world through an archaeological and historical lens: how are the patterns of our lives today the product of things that happened in the past? This course will show how the past is alive in the present – not as a heritage site or archaeology textbook but as something which still shapes our daily routines and the material world around us. Although the roots of this go back to our biological evolution, arguably most of these effects emerged in the last 500 years.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • FOR812F
    Medieval Archaeology hide
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    During the last decades, medieval archaeology has experienced significant growth as a discipline concerned with material culture. Initially, the use of material culture was marginalized to the role of confirming or refuting historical knowledge about this period but today it is understood as having equal historical importance to the archived material. The course is thus intended to improve student’s understanding of Medieval Europe during the period 800–1600 AD through the study of material culture. It deals with general themes in medieval archaeology, such as identity, social status, rural and urban landscapes, religion, life and death, rather than the historical development of the Middle Ages in chronological order. The aim is to give students insight into the different fields of theory and method of medieval archaeology through both material and documentary evidences in accordance with the current state of research. A special emphasis will be put on medieval Iceland, as a part of European culture and society, but even on how medieval archaeologists gather their sources, analyse them and reach conclusions of historical importance.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • HSP806F
    Ethics of Science and Research hide
    Elective course
    6
    Free elective course within the programme
    6 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    The course is intended for postgraduate students only. It is adapted to the needs of students from different fields of study. The course is taught over a six-week period.

    The course is taught over the first six weeks of spring semester on Fridays from 1:20 pm - 3:40 pm.

    Description: 
    The topics of the course include: Professionalism and the scientist’s responsibilities. Demands for scientific objectivity and the ethics of research. Issues of equality and standards of good practice. Power and science. Conflicts of interest and misconduct in research. Science, academia and industry. Research ethics and ethical decision making.

    Objectives: 
    In this course, the student gains knowledge about ethical issues in science and research and is trained in reasoning about ethical controversies relating to science and research in contemporary society.

    The instruction takes the form of lectures and discussion. The course is viewed as an academic community where students are actively engaged in a focused dialogue about  the topics. Each student (working as a member of a two-person team) gives a presentation according to a plan designed at the beginning of the course, and other students acquaint themselves with the topic as well for the purpose of participating in a teacher-led discussion.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
    Course taught first half of the semester
  • Not taught this semester
    ÞJÓ446M
    Dwellings, Disneylands and Deserts: Ethnology of Place hide
    Elective course
    5
    Free elective course within the programme
    5 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    The objective of the course is to explore how people relate to places in different ways. A variety of places - from private homes to airports, from city-centres to wastelands, form summer resorts to places of worship - will be explored in terms of affect and meaning, accumulated by passing though and dwelling as well as socio-political constructions. What creates and maintains place attachment? How do people relate differently to a place of their youth and place of destination? What constitutes a sense of belonging to a place? How do refugees, migrant workers and other migrants relate to new places and new landscapes and how do they maintain or sever ties to their place of origin. What role does experience, affect, memory, aesthetics, identification and sense of history play in who can claim a place and how? How do social structures, political objectives and conceptual understandings of place condition the meaning and sense of place for individuals and communities?

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
    Course taught first half of the semester
  • Fall
  • SAG813F
    Reading documents 1550-1850 hide
    Restricted elective course
    5
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    5 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    A survey of Icelandic handwriting in the period and of methods of transcription. Students learn to read different kinds of handwriting from the period.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • SAG510M
    Women's Day Off 1975: Myths and communication hide
    Restricted elective course
    10
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    "The struggle does not end today," was written on a banner held by one of the 25,000 women who rallied in downtown Reykjavík on the 24th of October 1975. The Women's Day Off, as the organizers ironically called it, was essentially a strike to protest gender-based discrimination and wage differentials. The banner mentioned above is only one example of many of how the women communicated their views and demands through different media such as music, print, public speeches, and mass media. The Women's Day Off was the result of a collective agency of Icelandic actors, but their initiative should still be regarded in an international context as the women were urged to unite under the theme of the International Women's Year: "EQUALITY - DEVELOPMENT - PEACE. "

    The course is built around the Women's Day Off in 1975, but as teachers and students research its historical legacy in Icelandic and international context, they will explore and implement new ways of communicating history with younger generations. The course is organized in collaboration with Rúv and The Women's History Archives, which will celebrate its 50th anniversary with an exhibition at the National Library.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • SAG604M
    From Fascism to Populism: Democratic Crises, Radical Nationalism, and Authoritarian Regimes in the 20th and 21st Centuries hide
    Restricted elective course
    10
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    The current surge of nationalist, populist right-wing parties and authoritarian regimes not only poses a challenge to traditional political elites and to the functioning of liberal-democratic systems. It also invites comparisons with historical fascism and authoritarian rule in the interwar period, raising the question of how to define, classify, and position these parties, regimes, and ideologies on the political spectrum. The course deals with crises of the liberal order and the effects of ultra-nationalism in Europe in the 20th and 21st centuries by focusing on historical fascism and Nazism as well as contemporary populist and authoritarian formations. While the focus will be on Europe, ultra-nationalist and anti-liberal ideologies in other parts of the world will also be considered. The emphasis will be on historiographical and theoretical problems relating to the ideologies of fascism, authoritarianism, and populism; the effects of economic and political crises on the rise of radical nationalist movements; the roles of race, ethnicity, and gender; ideas about modernization, culture, welfare and racism, and foreign policy platforms. Populist and authoritarian regimes in the present will be put in a historical context, their programs and policies explored, and an attempt will be made to explain what has been termed “populist authoritarianism.”

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • SAG014F, SAG023F, SAG604F
    Individual Special Subject A hide
    Restricted elective course
    20
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    20 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    Einstaklingsverkefni A

    Prerequisites
  • SAG014F, SAG023F, SAG604F
    Individual Project B hide
    Restricted elective course
    20
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    20 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    Individual Course

    Prerequisites
  • SAG014F, SAG023F, SAG604F
    Individual Subject C hide
    Restricted elective course
    20
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    20 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    .

    Prerequisites
  • SAG103M
    Public archiving and records management hide
    Restricted elective course
    10
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    This course covers the role of public archives and archiving and record management in the past and present. The importance of the principle of provenance for archives and history. A summary of the history of administration. The activities and legal environment of public archives in Iceland will be discussed and their role in records management in public administration. What organizations are obliged to transfer their records to public archives. The evolution of archiving and records management in the 20th and 21st centuries will be examined. Methods of records managements, old and new. The sorting and cataloguing of archives.

    Distance learning
    Prerequisites
  • SAG716M
    The Medieval North hide
    Restricted elective course
    10
    Restricted elective course, conditions apply
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    Historical and historiographical survey of major topics in the history of the medieval North, with special emphasis on Iceland and Norway from the Viking Age into the fourteenth century. Topics include: power, kingship and state; law and feud; kinship, gender and social ties; religious and mental outlook(s); conversion, Christianity and church; economic conditions. Prior knowledge of the “factual” narrative is helpful but not necessary. Reading ability in German and/or the modern Scandinavian languages is also helpful but, again, not necessary (all mandatory readings are in English). Students produce a paper and lead discussion; no final exam.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • HMM122F
    Communication channels I, documentaries, texts, images hide
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    In the courses Communication channels I and Communication channels II, the basics of methods for the dissemination of cultural material in the humanities and social sciences are presented. Communication channels I is in the fall semester, while Communication channels II is in the spring semester. 

    In Communication channels I, the students are working with a) text and images in the first half of the semester and b) short documentaries in the second half of the course. Each subject weighs 50% in the course. Concerning a) Students will receive training in article writing and discourse analysis on the one hand and use of images and image analysis on the other.  Concerning b) Students work on making short documentaries. It includes basic training in screenwriting, shooting and editing, and students work in groups on a documentary, according to a specific theme. 

    There are no exams in the course. Instead, students work on projects, individual and group projects. They are the following:

    1. Analysis of texts and images
    2. An article with an image on a specific theme for publication, about 800 words.
    3. A group project where students work on a short documentary that is shown at the end of the course. Emphasis is placed on common themes and group work in the course. The course is not taught remotely.
    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • MIS704M
    The Viking Age hide
    Elective course
    5
    Free elective course within the programme
    5 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    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.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • Not taught this semester
    EÐL524M
    History of Science and Technology in Iceland hide
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    Course description: Examples from the history of science and technology in Iceland are discussed in the light of national and international developments. Among the lecturers are experts in the natural sciences, technology and medical sciences. The students write a paper on a topic chosen in consultation with one or more of the teachers and give a short oral presentation.

    Prerequisites
  • HMM235F
    Radio production and podcasting hide
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    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.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • Not taught this semester
    SAF002F
    Theories in Museum Studies hide
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    The reading material be based on on essential theoretical works as well as recent research. The history of the field will be critically examined in light of trends at the beginning of the 21st century. 

    Work format

    Teaching will take the form of lectures and discussions.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • ENS231F
    Theory and Writing hide
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    This seminar engages with theories on culture, narrative, and mediation. Active class participation is required.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • LIS701F
    Contemporary art and society hide
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    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.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • Not taught this semester
    ÞJÓ110F
    Humanimals: Relations between humans and animals hide
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    Relations between humans and animals are the focus of this course, which will be approached from both an academic and an artistic standpoint. Students will complete independent projects on an animal of their choice and attend field trips in nature and museums. The lectures will focus on diverse animals, such as polar bears, whales, great auks and puffins and recent scholarship on them. We will dig into visual and material representations of these, and other, animals in varied cultural contexts, including medieval literature, folktales, oral tradition, film, news reports, material culture and tourism. Consideration will be given to the idea of an “afterlife” of animals in the form of artworks, museum artefacts and souvenirs. We will examine artefacts in both private and public collections and pose the questions of what happens when a living animal is turned into a museum object, and how the meaning that we bestow upon an animal can be subject to development and change under different circumstances. The role of animals in the creation of knowledge and formation of discourse surrounding climate change and issues of the Arctic regions will also be addressed, in addition to animals’ connections to specific places and cultural groups and their role in identity formations of past and present. An attempt will be made to step outside of “traditional” dualism in which an emphasis is placed on distinctions between humans and animals as we acquaint ourselves with the ways in which human/animal (ecological, social and cultural) habitats are intertwined.

    Aim

    The aim is to explore urgent questions and topical issues regarding human/animal co-existence, climate change, biodiversity loss and environmental sustainability. We will consider how artists, researchers, activists and museums have been engaging with these questions and how they can further contribute to the discussion. We will examine how diverse museums convey their ideas and information on human/animal relations through their collections. Students will be encouraged to critically engage with visual material, objects and texts, both online and through visits to museums and exhibitions. 

    Face-to-face learning
    Distance learning
    Prerequisites
    Attendance required in class
  • Not taught this semester
    ÞJÓ506M
    Cultural Heritage hide
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    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.

    Face-to-face learning
    Distance learning
    Prerequisites
    Attendance required in class
  • SAG704F
    Research Project in History for MA-thesis hide
    Mandatory (required) course
    10
    A mandatory (required) course for the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    Research Project for MA-thesis in collaboration with supervisor.

    Prerequisites
  • Not taught this semester
    LIS709F
    Art and History: The formation of Artworlds hide
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    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.

    Face-to-face learning
    Prerequisites
  • Spring 2
  • SAG441L
    MA-thesis in History hide
    Mandatory (required) course
    0
    A mandatory (required) course for the programme
    0 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    .

    Prerequisites
    Part of the total project/thesis credits

The timetable shown below is for the current academic year and is FOR REFERENCE ONLY.

Changes may occur for the autumn semester in August and September and for the spring semester in December and January. You will find your final timetable in Ugla when the studies start. Note! This timetable is not suitable for planning your work schedule if you are a part-time employee.





Additional information

The University of Iceland collaborates with over 400 universities worldwide. This provides a unique opportunity to pursue part of your studies at an international university thus gaining added experience and fresh insight into your field of study.

Students generally have the opportunity to join an exchange programme, internship, or summer courses. However, exchanges are always subject to faculty approval.

Students have the opportunity to have courses evaluated as part of their studies at the University of Iceland, so their stay does not have to affect the duration of their studies.

Historians can be found in a range of jobs. The last President of Iceland is a historian.

The study of history provides a good foundation for administrative work in the public and private sectors, as well as careers in teaching, publishing and the media.

An education in this area can open up opportunities in:

  • Teaching
  • Research
  • Public administration
  • Foreign service
  • Narrative writing
  • Journalism and other media work
  • Historical exhibition work
  • Libraries and archives

This list is not exhaustive.

The organisation for history students is called Fróði.

Fróði is a long-established organisation that runs the journal Sagnir as well as organising social events for history students.

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