Nordic Modernism and Avant-Garde - From Edith Södergran to Anarchy on the Internet (NLF108F, NLF109F)

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

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

Scandinavian Literature (NLF108F, NLF109F)

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

MA-thesis in Nordic Studies (NLF441L)

MA-thesis in Nordic studies.

Languages and Culture I (MOM301F)

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

The Nordic Region: History and Society. From Centralized Monarchies to Welfare States (NLF105F)

The aim of the course is to increase the students' knowledge and understanding of Nordic and West-Nordic history from the 19th century to the present and their shared cultural and political heritage. Nation-building in the 19th century, industrialization and general economic development, politics and parties, the Nordic countries in international context and the co-operation between the Nordic countries are among the matters we will study and discuss. The West-Nordic countries, The Faroe Islands, Greenland and Iceland will be of special interest in this context. Emphasis is also on studying the concept of the Nordic welfare model, den nordiske model, the characteristics of the Nordic welfare states in the 20th century.

Language Usage and Expression: Danish (DAN703F)

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

The Viking Age (MIS704M)

During the Viking Age, Northmen streamed out of Scandinavia, travelling far and wide across and around Europe, and to Constantinople and the Caspian Sea in the east. A vast amount of diverse source material, written and archaeological, bears witness to the Scandinavian expansion and conveys a multitude of roles in which they engaged, e.g. terrifying raiders, peaceful traders, or mercenaries.

The objective of this course is to examine the geographical expansion of vikings, and their interrelations with different cultures, and how this comes across in the source material. At the end of the course students are expected to have a thorough overview of the main events of the period, and a good idea on the relevant geographies and cultures, as well as a grasp on comparing different viking communities in different regions.

From Miðgarð to Marvel, Adaptations of Nordic Mythology in the Digital Age (MOM501M)

This course will examine the ways in which medieval literature has influenced modern English Literature & Culture and how that influence is being adapted in the digital age. The course will focus on Norse Mythology and investigate how these narratives have become entwined in the fabric of modern western culture. From JRR Tolkien and Neil Gaiman to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. 

MA-thesis in Nordic Studies (NLF441L)

MA-thesis in Nordic studies.

Nordic Communication (NLF206F)

The course will focus on the language policies in the Nordic countries seen in a present and partly historic and comparative perspective and investigates how and to what extent language policies and inter Nordic communication are intertwined in the Nordic countries. We will ask questions like: What characterises language policy in the Nordic countries? How does inter Nordic communication work? Does Icelandic purism have consequences for inter Nordic communication? What is the connection between Norwegian language policy and Norwegians ability to understand other Nordic languages? Does inter Nordic communication have especially good terms in the Danish-Swedish Oresund region?

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

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

Vernacular Culture and the Aesthetics of Everyday Life (ÞJÓ212F)

This course is scheduled in the fall semester of 2025.

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

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

Multicultural society and migration (MAN017F)

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

The teaching methods are lectures and discussions.

New researches in history (SAG201F)

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

Sustainable Tourism Development in Northern Environment (FER214F)

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

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

The number of students able to register is limited.

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

Presentation of Material in Exhibitions (HMM201F)

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

Old Nordic Religion and Belief (ÞJÓ203F)

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.