History of Ideas after 1750.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

"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.

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.”

Einstaklingsverkefni A

Individual Course

.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 21^st century. 

Work format

Teaching will take the form of lectures and discussions.

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

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.

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. 

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

The course 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”.

The course offers an in-depth study of the Icelandic 18^th 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 18^th century. Among other exercises, students practice methods of digital data entry for quantitative study.

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.

"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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

History of Ideas after 1750.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

"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.

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.”

Einstaklingsverkefni A

Individual Course

.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 21^st century. 

Work format

Teaching will take the form of lectures and discussions.

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

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.

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. 

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.

Research Project for MA-thesis in collaboration with supervisor.

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.

.

History of Ideas after 1750.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

"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.

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.”

Einstaklingsverkefni A

Individual Course

.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 21^st century. 

Work format

Teaching will take the form of lectures and discussions.

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

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.

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. 

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

The course 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”.

The course offers an in-depth study of the Icelandic 18^th 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 18^th century. Among other exercises, students practice methods of digital data entry for quantitative study.

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.

"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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

History of Ideas after 1750.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

"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.

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.”

Einstaklingsverkefni A

Individual Course

.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 21^st century. 

Work format

Teaching will take the form of lectures and discussions.

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

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.

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. 

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.

Research Project for MA-thesis in collaboration with supervisor.

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.

.