This course introduces students to some of the basic skills that they will use in the study of history. The special character of history and its relationship with other fields of study will be discussed. The students will be introduced to the sources and methods used in historical research and the writing and presenting of historical work. - Students must register for the course in the beginning of their history study (first or second semester, depending on whether they start in January or September).

This is a basic composition course. Writing skills will be honed through regular assignments, lectures, class discussions and workshops.Approaches to writing research papers will be addressed, such as choosing and narrowing a topic, structure, and sources. Register, style, spelling, punctuation, and resources for writers will be discussed. Students write essays and papers of various kinds and get regular feedback from peers and teachers. Course assessment is based on written assignments and class participation. The course can only be passed if all assignments are turned in.

In the course the main works of Western art from the early renaissance to the early 19. century. Geographically, the focus is on works of art from Italy and Spain, France, the Netherlands, Germany and England. Main methods and schools, academies and manifestations of art in religious, political and social contexts will be discussed. Painting, sculpture, architecture, the artisanal works and printmaking will be discussed. Efforts will be made to examine the extent to which art reflects society, how imagery reflects the life and worldview of people in different periods. Different approaches to time and space at any given time will be discussed, changes in the symbolic image of the body, the status and social role of the artist, and the interactions of art and institutions of power. In connection with these issues, key works of each period will be taken for detailed interpretation and their distribution history discussed.

Methodology and Theory of Art History (LIS101G) is an introductory methods course. The concept of art will be discussed and students will be introduced to the historical foundation and development of art history, the theoretical grounds of art history as an independent subject, and its relation to other academic subjects. Key concepts, methodologies of art historical research and analysis, and some of the major theories that have shaped the practice of art history will be introduced. Students receive training in visual analysis and are introduced to some of the most important methodologies of art historical analysis, including formalism, iconography, and Marxist analysis. Emphasis is placed on the development of critical thinking and student's ability to analyse texts and images in a critical manner. 

A survey of Icelandic art from 1860 to 1970. The course will look at the origins of Icelandic modern art, selected Icelandic artists and factors influencing the Icelandic art scene, influence from foreign art ideas and movements, attempts at definging "national" Icelandic art, government support and influence on the development of visual art, the tension between proponents of "national" art and "non-national" art as well as between "expressive"art and " conceptual" forms of art presentation, local art education and the characteristics of art critic as it appeared in the printed media. An attempt will be made to evaluate characteristics of Icelandic visual art in relation to foreign developments and changes in Icelandic society and history.

The main characteristics and historical development of Icelandic art in the last decades of the 20th century and the first decade of the 21st century will be examined in the light of Icelandic society and the context of foreign art development. Topics include SÚM's legacy in the seventies, the establishment of Gallerí Suðurgata 7 and the Living Art Museum, the characteristics of the Icelandic conceptual art and developmeent of contemporary media, such as photography, installation art, and performance art, the establishment of the Sculptors' Association in Reykjavík and the rise of three-dimensional art, media and more recently the overlap of art, film, and music. Emphasis will be made on approach of emerging artists to visual arts heritage at any given time, e.g. to natural heritage and “national” representation in art. The characteristics of critical art discussion, art education, participation in the Venice Biennale, the operation of galleries, and the establishment of contemporary exhibition groups will also be reviewed

A survey of the development of visual art from the upheaval of Modernism at the beginning of the 20th Century and through the major 20th century progressive movements up to 1960. The main principles, politics and characteristics of Modern art and its impact on later times will be clarified. The relationship between art and politics, philosophy, and societal development will be discussed and thought will be given to the radical reevaluation of the concept of aesthetics in art of the 20th century. How are changed perceptions of time and space reflected in art? How do the above-mentioned art movements disturb the people's general perceptions of the environment and reality? What is "inner" reality? Must art be visible? What is the deifference between visual language, the language we speak, and other forms of sign languege? 

In the course, the development of international contemporary visual art from 1970 and up until our times is reviewed. Using thematic premises contemporary art processes, main directions, movements, individuals and ideas which have characterised the period will be scrutinized. New modes of practice will be examined, with special focus on new modes of practice, environmental art and installation art, performance art; interactive digital media; experimental cineme and video art; conceptual art and photography as an artform. Visual art practice is also examined in the context og local and global issues, in terms of politics, economy and society.

A survey of Icelandic art from 1860 to 1970. The course will look at the origins of Icelandic modern art, selected Icelandic artists and factors influencing the Icelandic art scene, influence from foreign art ideas and movements, attempts at definging "national" Icelandic art, government support and influence on the development of visual art, the tension between proponents of "national" art and "non-national" art as well as between "expressive"art and " conceptual" forms of art presentation, local art education and the characteristics of art critic as it appeared in the printed media. An attempt will be made to evaluate characteristics of Icelandic visual art in relation to foreign developments and changes in Icelandic society and history.

BA-thesis in Art History

The course aims to give a brief survey of selected topics in the philosophy of art; to introduce students to particular discussions, questions, theories and arguments in the philosophy of art through selected readings, both historical and contemporary; and to enable students to discuss topics related to aesthetics.

The sensations of smell and taste are crucial dimensions of the work of several contemporary artists and serve a variety of purposes in artistic practice. In this course we will consider the foundations of art history on the basis of a sensory hierarchy, in which vision and hearing has traditionally been prioritized over the sensations of touch, smell and taste. We will discuss how this hierarchy converges with the distinction of humans from animals and with the hierarchical classification of the human sexes and races within the western philosophical tradition. Students will be introduced to new theories within aesthetics and art theory that seek to reveal and analyse the historical, political and philosophical basis of this hierarchy and its continued effect in the present. In this context, we will examine the work of artists who directly or indirectly mobilize the sensations of smell and taste in their practice and consider the role of the olfactory and the gustatory in artistic practice from the 20th century to the present moment.

In the course we will explore one of the fundamental questions of Western Art and History of ideas: the origin of the Individual and the definition of the Self. What is it to be a person? To be yourself? What does Art have to say about Me? We will explore these ideas through Design, Installation Art and Radical Philosophical Inquiry. Questions about gender, body, mind and mental health are reframed in the context of Self and Identity, and how these concepts evolved from the ancient Greek imperative of Gnothi Seauton - Know thyself! We will assume a critical position towards this history in order to analyse current trends in Arts, Neuroscience and Philosophy. In the course, students will be taught to think philosophically by dealing with installation art and interactive design. The course is a laboratory of ideas and artistic practice -- where students will be required to present a proposal for an installation piece or design project.

The course provides an introduction to experimental film and film theory within the context of fine art. Various epochs and the critical responses that they provoked are defined and analysed. We look at different theoretical frameworks, such as Modernism, Humanism, Structuralism, Postmodernism, and the Anti-Aesthetic and make use of works by authors such as Kant, Nietzsche, Marx, Lacan, Bazin, Baudrillard, McLuhan and Jameson in order to analyse these. This theoretical framework provides a lens to interpret avant-garde cinema and fine art movements beginning with the emergence of expressionism. The course seeks to interpret the role of individualism via mass media as we explore various artists and filmmakers whose works are relevant in the context of this theoretical framework. Emphasis is placed on the viewing of time-based media that illustrate the various theories presented during the course, with a focus being on artists and filmmakers who have embraced these ideologies within their practice.

We will discuss religious motives in European fine art from early christianity up to the present. The importance of the christian churches for art history will be our subject matter, both in terms of the Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church. Special focus will be on the changes that occurred with the renaissance, the reformation, and the age of enlightenment. The we will examine the effects of the secularisation of art and the origins of modern art in late 19thcentury and early 20th century. We will also deal with the various art movements that appeared in the late 20th century and their relationship with christianity as wells as other religions, such as japanese and chinese.

BA-thesis in Art History

The course will discuss the art market and art as a commodity. Students will gain knowledge of the rules, written and unwritten, that apply in the primary art market and the secondary art market. Students will gain an insight into the leading figures and players in the art market and get to know the galleries and auction houses, domestic and foreign, that are the most active in the field. Students will understand how value is built up in the art market and which artists are considered the most valuable today. Students will also become familiar with art commissions in an institutional context. Finally, the main trends in the art market, new global interest in contemporary art, and economic consequences due to financial crises and wars will be discussed.

This course focuses on socially and politically engaged art in the current condition of warfare and environmental crisis, polarisation, crumbling welfare states, European disintegration, artificial scarcity of resources and job opportunities, resurgent nationalism and the rise of neo-fascism as a convincing socio-political discourse. Of particular interest in the course is the importance of infrastructure as a contemporary political category and the attempts of artists to affect and change existing infrastructures — and create new ones. This focus includes theoretical attention to Marina Vishmidt‘s formulation of infrastructural critique and ruangrupa‘s curation of Documenta 15 in 2022.

This course engages with the upheaval and the changes that have characterised our ideas about the role and the characteristics of visual presentation on a two-dimensional surface since the birth of Modernism. The painting as a medium has during this time gone through death and resurrection and the photograph has found its place as one of the most significant part of contemporary art. There is a particular focus on the possibilities of these mediums in exploring reality and the ideological premises on which such an exploration rests. Theories on how we perceive two-dimensional visual art have dominated art theory in the last century and in this course, these theories are explored in depth.

The beginning of the 21st century has seen profound changes to the social and economic organization of societies that are to a large extent based on technological advances. Yet, in opposition to the early 20th century's avant-garde, the 21st does not show the same tendency for grandiose statements about revolutionary movements within art. There are however a few artistic tendencies that have been articulated as aesthetic movements of the 21st century, among them the Post-digital aesthetic that addresses the prevalence of digital culture and how it has altered the production and perception of works even of those artists who do not directly relate their works to the influence of contemporary technology. To address this shift in the conditions of art production, we will contemplate the Post-digital aesthetic and compare it with the associated or even competing terms of Post-internet art and the New Aesthetic. We will also compare manifestos such the "Accelerationist Manifesto" and the "Cyberspace Manifesto" with traditional avant-garde manifestos of Futurism. This will help students to formulate a critical stance towards possible continuities within avant-garde traditions and the complexities involved in addressing an evolving aesthetic of the 21st century.

Exhibition making is a complex process that affects and influences multiple aspects of artworks and representation. In the course students will get to know exhibition making from different points of view with a special emphasis on current methods and approaches. Different aspects of exhibition making will be addressed, students will work in groups as well as on individual assignments and though these get to know varied aspects of the process. In the course students are introduced to the concepts of curator and curation, theories on, and different kinds of, collaboration with artists and the context of space and theory in regards to exhibition making.
Research and practical know how in relation to exhibition making will be the main focus of the course. Students will contribute to an exhibition in public space, though research, conceptual work, selection of works, writing, making of a exhibition catalog, installing works to name a few aspect.

An interdisciplinary and introductory course entailing a dialogue between the academic fields of the department, i.e. comparative literature, film studies, gender studies, art studies, linguistics, cultural studies, sign language and interpreting studies and translation studies. The latest international developments in the field of humanities will be examined and questions asked about the relationship of academic studies and our world view(s). We will analyse the semiotic system of language, inquiring whether it can serve as the basis for our understanding of other semiotic systems. We will ask about the connection and relationship between different languages and linguistic worlds. What is "multiculture"? How are spoken language, written language and visual language interconnected within society? What constitutes cultural literacy? Literature, art, film and other visual material will be examined in both a national and international context, with a view to how these semiotic systems influence the borderlines of gender, race, class, nation, and different world cultures. The study materials include theoretical and critical writings, literary works, visual art and images, and films, as well as some current media coverage. Evaluation is based on four assignments and a written exam.

Surrealism developed in the existential vacuum of the 1920s as a reaction to the destruction of World War I. As a defiance to “reason” and “rationality” that led to such violence and chaos, surrealists defied reason and sought to reunite the conscious and unconscious, or rather the everyday reality with the dream world. Drawing from Freud and other forms of experimental psychology, spiritualism and meditation in the pursuit of access to an untapped well of creativity, surrealism of the European avant-garde has evolved throughout the continued history of film, reaching the contemporary Hollywood of today. From André Breton and Salvador Dalí to David Lynch and Lady Gaga, this course aims to analyze the surrealist approach through the lens of different artists and auteurs over time, tracing the history of surrealism and its influence on narrative cinema. Directors and artists featured in this class include: Luis Buñuel, Jean Cocteau, Maya Derren, Federico Felini, Jan Svankmajer, the Quay Brothers, Alejandro Jodorowsy, David Lynch, Michel Gondry, Charlie Kaufman and more.

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

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

In this course, 19th and 20th century ideas that had fundamental effects on Western philosophy and intellectual history, will be examined. These are socially transformative ideas such as freedom, secularism, equality, resistance, the relation between the individual and society, ideas concerning existence and the soul, oppression, injustice, the national state and capitalism. Perhaps last but not least ideas about history, time and evolution of humanity and the planet. 

Each week a new thinker or idea that transformed Western intellectual history is introduced and engaged with. Thinkers such as G.W.F. Hegel, Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud, Rosa Luxembourg and Emma Goldman are analysed and influential isms such as phenomenology, neoliberalism or postructuralism. The aim is to read these thinkers and isms in accordance with the zeitgeist of the historical period they belong to (to the extent that we, people in the 21st century can “read” zeitgeists of older periods). At the same time the aim is to dig deep into original texts and to acquire multi-dimensional understanding of the ideas. Important part of the course is also to look at these themes in relation to the present times and the issues happening at the moment in Western societies and all around the globe. 

This course introduces students to some of the basic skills that they will use in the study of history. The special character of history and its relationship with other fields of study will be discussed. The students will be introduced to the sources and methods used in historical research and the writing and presenting of historical work. - Students must register for the course in the beginning of their history study (first or second semester, depending on whether they start in January or September).

A historical overview of cinema from its emergence in the late 19th century to it contemporary role. The course will introduce students to influential film movements and styles from around the world, including Soviet Montage, French Impressionism, German Expressionism, classical Hollywood cinema, Italian Neorealism, Japanese Minimalism, the French New Wave, New German cinema, Third cinema, and Hong Kong action cinema. Diverse readings will provide a comprehensive overview supplementing screenings of key films. Particular emphasis will be placed on the aesthetic development of the film medium and its social and cultural relevance.

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

The course looks at how identities and images of Icelanders and other nations have been shaped and they use traditions in each case. We examine Icelandic experiences and images in relation to neighbouring countries and how narratives, traditions and material culture shape nations, from national museums to midwinter festivals in London, from a wee dram of whiskey (in Scotland) to Viking sagas (in Scandinavia), with a quick stop at Up Helly Aa (in the Shetland Islands) and Olavsvaka (in the Faroe Islands); we look at a fashion show in Nuuk Center (Greenland), Nordic settlements in the New World and then we’ll post it all on social media.

We explore films and music, festivals, games and political spectacles. In particular we will analyse how national images unite and divide different groups of people. In that context we look at men and women, rural and urban communities, mobile people, racism and gender. We’ll study these images as dynamics and ideals, resources and matters of dispute, that are used for various purposes by different people in different places, by demagogues and greens, government institutions and banks, scholars and students.

The course provides a historical overview of film theory, with students reading a wide range of texts by important theorists and philosophers of cinema, and watching historically relevant films. It will cover the work of such pioneers as Sergei Eisenstein, Rudolf Arnheim, Siegfried Kracauer and André Bazin, before addressing major theoretical shifts beginning with structuralism in the 1960s, while also including Althusserian Marxism, psychoanalysis, feminism, postcolonial theory and cultural studies. Screened films will emphasize the heterogeneity of film theory and provide fruitful ground for further discussions.

This course is an introduction to the study of the material culture of everyday life. Students will be get a good glimpse of this multidisciplinary field, with examples drawn from the past as well as the present, and with equal emphasis on the material culture of Iceland and that of other countries. The topics of study will range from clothes and fashion to foodways, from the objects in our daily surroundings to trash and hygiene, from crafts and consumer goods to houses, gardens and the home, and from urban landscapes to museums and exhibits. Along the way, students will gain familiarity with various theoretical concepts and approaches emphasizing for example the human body, gender, consumption, place and space.

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 form:
The teaching takes place in the form of lectures and discussion on the material of the lectures.

This course introduces students to some of the basic skills that they will use in the study of history. The special character of history and its relationship with other fields of study will be discussed. The students will be introduced to the sources and methods used in historical research and the writing and presenting of historical work. - Students must register for the course in the beginning of their history study (first or second semester, depending on whether they start in January or September).

This is a basic composition course. Writing skills will be honed through regular assignments, lectures, class discussions and workshops.Approaches to writing research papers will be addressed, such as choosing and narrowing a topic, structure, and sources. Register, style, spelling, punctuation, and resources for writers will be discussed. Students write essays and papers of various kinds and get regular feedback from peers and teachers. Course assessment is based on written assignments and class participation. The course can only be passed if all assignments are turned in.

In the course the main works of Western art from the early renaissance to the early 19. century. Geographically, the focus is on works of art from Italy and Spain, France, the Netherlands, Germany and England. Main methods and schools, academies and manifestations of art in religious, political and social contexts will be discussed. Painting, sculpture, architecture, the artisanal works and printmaking will be discussed. Efforts will be made to examine the extent to which art reflects society, how imagery reflects the life and worldview of people in different periods. Different approaches to time and space at any given time will be discussed, changes in the symbolic image of the body, the status and social role of the artist, and the interactions of art and institutions of power. In connection with these issues, key works of each period will be taken for detailed interpretation and their distribution history discussed.

Methodology and Theory of Art History (LIS101G) is an introductory methods course. The concept of art will be discussed and students will be introduced to the historical foundation and development of art history, the theoretical grounds of art history as an independent subject, and its relation to other academic subjects. Key concepts, methodologies of art historical research and analysis, and some of the major theories that have shaped the practice of art history will be introduced. Students receive training in visual analysis and are introduced to some of the most important methodologies of art historical analysis, including formalism, iconography, and Marxist analysis. Emphasis is placed on the development of critical thinking and student's ability to analyse texts and images in a critical manner. 

A survey of Icelandic art from 1860 to 1970. The course will look at the origins of Icelandic modern art, selected Icelandic artists and factors influencing the Icelandic art scene, influence from foreign art ideas and movements, attempts at definging "national" Icelandic art, government support and influence on the development of visual art, the tension between proponents of "national" art and "non-national" art as well as between "expressive"art and " conceptual" forms of art presentation, local art education and the characteristics of art critic as it appeared in the printed media. An attempt will be made to evaluate characteristics of Icelandic visual art in relation to foreign developments and changes in Icelandic society and history.

The main characteristics and historical development of Icelandic art in the last decades of the 20th century and the first decade of the 21st century will be examined in the light of Icelandic society and the context of foreign art development. Topics include SÚM's legacy in the seventies, the establishment of Gallerí Suðurgata 7 and the Living Art Museum, the characteristics of the Icelandic conceptual art and developmeent of contemporary media, such as photography, installation art, and performance art, the establishment of the Sculptors' Association in Reykjavík and the rise of three-dimensional art, media and more recently the overlap of art, film, and music. Emphasis will be made on approach of emerging artists to visual arts heritage at any given time, e.g. to natural heritage and “national” representation in art. The characteristics of critical art discussion, art education, participation in the Venice Biennale, the operation of galleries, and the establishment of contemporary exhibition groups will also be reviewed

A survey of the development of visual art from the upheaval of Modernism at the beginning of the 20th Century and through the major 20th century progressive movements up to 1960. The main principles, politics and characteristics of Modern art and its impact on later times will be clarified. The relationship between art and politics, philosophy, and societal development will be discussed and thought will be given to the radical reevaluation of the concept of aesthetics in art of the 20th century. How are changed perceptions of time and space reflected in art? How do the above-mentioned art movements disturb the people's general perceptions of the environment and reality? What is "inner" reality? Must art be visible? What is the deifference between visual language, the language we speak, and other forms of sign languege? 

In the course, the development of international contemporary visual art from 1970 and up until our times is reviewed. Using thematic premises contemporary art processes, main directions, movements, individuals and ideas which have characterised the period will be scrutinized. New modes of practice will be examined, with special focus on new modes of practice, environmental art and installation art, performance art; interactive digital media; experimental cineme and video art; conceptual art and photography as an artform. Visual art practice is also examined in the context og local and global issues, in terms of politics, economy and society.

A survey of Icelandic art from 1860 to 1970. The course will look at the origins of Icelandic modern art, selected Icelandic artists and factors influencing the Icelandic art scene, influence from foreign art ideas and movements, attempts at definging "national" Icelandic art, government support and influence on the development of visual art, the tension between proponents of "national" art and "non-national" art as well as between "expressive"art and " conceptual" forms of art presentation, local art education and the characteristics of art critic as it appeared in the printed media. An attempt will be made to evaluate characteristics of Icelandic visual art in relation to foreign developments and changes in Icelandic society and history.

BA-thesis in Art History

The course aims to give a brief survey of selected topics in the philosophy of art; to introduce students to particular discussions, questions, theories and arguments in the philosophy of art through selected readings, both historical and contemporary; and to enable students to discuss topics related to aesthetics.

The sensations of smell and taste are crucial dimensions of the work of several contemporary artists and serve a variety of purposes in artistic practice. In this course we will consider the foundations of art history on the basis of a sensory hierarchy, in which vision and hearing has traditionally been prioritized over the sensations of touch, smell and taste. We will discuss how this hierarchy converges with the distinction of humans from animals and with the hierarchical classification of the human sexes and races within the western philosophical tradition. Students will be introduced to new theories within aesthetics and art theory that seek to reveal and analyse the historical, political and philosophical basis of this hierarchy and its continued effect in the present. In this context, we will examine the work of artists who directly or indirectly mobilize the sensations of smell and taste in their practice and consider the role of the olfactory and the gustatory in artistic practice from the 20th century to the present moment.

In the course we will explore one of the fundamental questions of Western Art and History of ideas: the origin of the Individual and the definition of the Self. What is it to be a person? To be yourself? What does Art have to say about Me? We will explore these ideas through Design, Installation Art and Radical Philosophical Inquiry. Questions about gender, body, mind and mental health are reframed in the context of Self and Identity, and how these concepts evolved from the ancient Greek imperative of Gnothi Seauton - Know thyself! We will assume a critical position towards this history in order to analyse current trends in Arts, Neuroscience and Philosophy. In the course, students will be taught to think philosophically by dealing with installation art and interactive design. The course is a laboratory of ideas and artistic practice -- where students will be required to present a proposal for an installation piece or design project.

The course provides an introduction to experimental film and film theory within the context of fine art. Various epochs and the critical responses that they provoked are defined and analysed. We look at different theoretical frameworks, such as Modernism, Humanism, Structuralism, Postmodernism, and the Anti-Aesthetic and make use of works by authors such as Kant, Nietzsche, Marx, Lacan, Bazin, Baudrillard, McLuhan and Jameson in order to analyse these. This theoretical framework provides a lens to interpret avant-garde cinema and fine art movements beginning with the emergence of expressionism. The course seeks to interpret the role of individualism via mass media as we explore various artists and filmmakers whose works are relevant in the context of this theoretical framework. Emphasis is placed on the viewing of time-based media that illustrate the various theories presented during the course, with a focus being on artists and filmmakers who have embraced these ideologies within their practice.

We will discuss religious motives in European fine art from early christianity up to the present. The importance of the christian churches for art history will be our subject matter, both in terms of the Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church. Special focus will be on the changes that occurred with the renaissance, the reformation, and the age of enlightenment. The we will examine the effects of the secularisation of art and the origins of modern art in late 19thcentury and early 20th century. We will also deal with the various art movements that appeared in the late 20th century and their relationship with christianity as wells as other religions, such as japanese and chinese.

BA-thesis in Art History

The course will discuss the art market and art as a commodity. Students will gain knowledge of the rules, written and unwritten, that apply in the primary art market and the secondary art market. Students will gain an insight into the leading figures and players in the art market and get to know the galleries and auction houses, domestic and foreign, that are the most active in the field. Students will understand how value is built up in the art market and which artists are considered the most valuable today. Students will also become familiar with art commissions in an institutional context. Finally, the main trends in the art market, new global interest in contemporary art, and economic consequences due to financial crises and wars will be discussed.

This course focuses on socially and politically engaged art in the current condition of warfare and environmental crisis, polarisation, crumbling welfare states, European disintegration, artificial scarcity of resources and job opportunities, resurgent nationalism and the rise of neo-fascism as a convincing socio-political discourse. Of particular interest in the course is the importance of infrastructure as a contemporary political category and the attempts of artists to affect and change existing infrastructures — and create new ones. This focus includes theoretical attention to Marina Vishmidt‘s formulation of infrastructural critique and ruangrupa‘s curation of Documenta 15 in 2022.

This course engages with the upheaval and the changes that have characterised our ideas about the role and the characteristics of visual presentation on a two-dimensional surface since the birth of Modernism. The painting as a medium has during this time gone through death and resurrection and the photograph has found its place as one of the most significant part of contemporary art. There is a particular focus on the possibilities of these mediums in exploring reality and the ideological premises on which such an exploration rests. Theories on how we perceive two-dimensional visual art have dominated art theory in the last century and in this course, these theories are explored in depth.

The beginning of the 21st century has seen profound changes to the social and economic organization of societies that are to a large extent based on technological advances. Yet, in opposition to the early 20th century's avant-garde, the 21st does not show the same tendency for grandiose statements about revolutionary movements within art. There are however a few artistic tendencies that have been articulated as aesthetic movements of the 21st century, among them the Post-digital aesthetic that addresses the prevalence of digital culture and how it has altered the production and perception of works even of those artists who do not directly relate their works to the influence of contemporary technology. To address this shift in the conditions of art production, we will contemplate the Post-digital aesthetic and compare it with the associated or even competing terms of Post-internet art and the New Aesthetic. We will also compare manifestos such the "Accelerationist Manifesto" and the "Cyberspace Manifesto" with traditional avant-garde manifestos of Futurism. This will help students to formulate a critical stance towards possible continuities within avant-garde traditions and the complexities involved in addressing an evolving aesthetic of the 21st century.

Exhibition making is a complex process that affects and influences multiple aspects of artworks and representation. In the course students will get to know exhibition making from different points of view with a special emphasis on current methods and approaches. Different aspects of exhibition making will be addressed, students will work in groups as well as on individual assignments and though these get to know varied aspects of the process. In the course students are introduced to the concepts of curator and curation, theories on, and different kinds of, collaboration with artists and the context of space and theory in regards to exhibition making.
Research and practical know how in relation to exhibition making will be the main focus of the course. Students will contribute to an exhibition in public space, though research, conceptual work, selection of works, writing, making of a exhibition catalog, installing works to name a few aspect.

An interdisciplinary and introductory course entailing a dialogue between the academic fields of the department, i.e. comparative literature, film studies, gender studies, art studies, linguistics, cultural studies, sign language and interpreting studies and translation studies. The latest international developments in the field of humanities will be examined and questions asked about the relationship of academic studies and our world view(s). We will analyse the semiotic system of language, inquiring whether it can serve as the basis for our understanding of other semiotic systems. We will ask about the connection and relationship between different languages and linguistic worlds. What is "multiculture"? How are spoken language, written language and visual language interconnected within society? What constitutes cultural literacy? Literature, art, film and other visual material will be examined in both a national and international context, with a view to how these semiotic systems influence the borderlines of gender, race, class, nation, and different world cultures. The study materials include theoretical and critical writings, literary works, visual art and images, and films, as well as some current media coverage. Evaluation is based on four assignments and a written exam.

Surrealism developed in the existential vacuum of the 1920s as a reaction to the destruction of World War I. As a defiance to “reason” and “rationality” that led to such violence and chaos, surrealists defied reason and sought to reunite the conscious and unconscious, or rather the everyday reality with the dream world. Drawing from Freud and other forms of experimental psychology, spiritualism and meditation in the pursuit of access to an untapped well of creativity, surrealism of the European avant-garde has evolved throughout the continued history of film, reaching the contemporary Hollywood of today. From André Breton and Salvador Dalí to David Lynch and Lady Gaga, this course aims to analyze the surrealist approach through the lens of different artists and auteurs over time, tracing the history of surrealism and its influence on narrative cinema. Directors and artists featured in this class include: Luis Buñuel, Jean Cocteau, Maya Derren, Federico Felini, Jan Svankmajer, the Quay Brothers, Alejandro Jodorowsy, David Lynch, Michel Gondry, Charlie Kaufman and more.

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

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

In this course, 19th and 20th century ideas that had fundamental effects on Western philosophy and intellectual history, will be examined. These are socially transformative ideas such as freedom, secularism, equality, resistance, the relation between the individual and society, ideas concerning existence and the soul, oppression, injustice, the national state and capitalism. Perhaps last but not least ideas about history, time and evolution of humanity and the planet. 

Each week a new thinker or idea that transformed Western intellectual history is introduced and engaged with. Thinkers such as G.W.F. Hegel, Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud, Rosa Luxembourg and Emma Goldman are analysed and influential isms such as phenomenology, neoliberalism or postructuralism. The aim is to read these thinkers and isms in accordance with the zeitgeist of the historical period they belong to (to the extent that we, people in the 21st century can “read” zeitgeists of older periods). At the same time the aim is to dig deep into original texts and to acquire multi-dimensional understanding of the ideas. Important part of the course is also to look at these themes in relation to the present times and the issues happening at the moment in Western societies and all around the globe. 

This course introduces students to some of the basic skills that they will use in the study of history. The special character of history and its relationship with other fields of study will be discussed. The students will be introduced to the sources and methods used in historical research and the writing and presenting of historical work. - Students must register for the course in the beginning of their history study (first or second semester, depending on whether they start in January or September).

A historical overview of cinema from its emergence in the late 19th century to it contemporary role. The course will introduce students to influential film movements and styles from around the world, including Soviet Montage, French Impressionism, German Expressionism, classical Hollywood cinema, Italian Neorealism, Japanese Minimalism, the French New Wave, New German cinema, Third cinema, and Hong Kong action cinema. Diverse readings will provide a comprehensive overview supplementing screenings of key films. Particular emphasis will be placed on the aesthetic development of the film medium and its social and cultural relevance.

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

The course looks at how identities and images of Icelanders and other nations have been shaped and they use traditions in each case. We examine Icelandic experiences and images in relation to neighbouring countries and how narratives, traditions and material culture shape nations, from national museums to midwinter festivals in London, from a wee dram of whiskey (in Scotland) to Viking sagas (in Scandinavia), with a quick stop at Up Helly Aa (in the Shetland Islands) and Olavsvaka (in the Faroe Islands); we look at a fashion show in Nuuk Center (Greenland), Nordic settlements in the New World and then we’ll post it all on social media.

We explore films and music, festivals, games and political spectacles. In particular we will analyse how national images unite and divide different groups of people. In that context we look at men and women, rural and urban communities, mobile people, racism and gender. We’ll study these images as dynamics and ideals, resources and matters of dispute, that are used for various purposes by different people in different places, by demagogues and greens, government institutions and banks, scholars and students.

The course provides a historical overview of film theory, with students reading a wide range of texts by important theorists and philosophers of cinema, and watching historically relevant films. It will cover the work of such pioneers as Sergei Eisenstein, Rudolf Arnheim, Siegfried Kracauer and André Bazin, before addressing major theoretical shifts beginning with structuralism in the 1960s, while also including Althusserian Marxism, psychoanalysis, feminism, postcolonial theory and cultural studies. Screened films will emphasize the heterogeneity of film theory and provide fruitful ground for further discussions.

This course is an introduction to the study of the material culture of everyday life. Students will be get a good glimpse of this multidisciplinary field, with examples drawn from the past as well as the present, and with equal emphasis on the material culture of Iceland and that of other countries. The topics of study will range from clothes and fashion to foodways, from the objects in our daily surroundings to trash and hygiene, from crafts and consumer goods to houses, gardens and the home, and from urban landscapes to museums and exhibits. Along the way, students will gain familiarity with various theoretical concepts and approaches emphasizing for example the human body, gender, consumption, place and space.

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 form:
The teaching takes place in the form of lectures and discussion on the material of the lectures.

This course introduces students to some of the basic skills that they will use in the study of history. The special character of history and its relationship with other fields of study will be discussed. The students will be introduced to the sources and methods used in historical research and the writing and presenting of historical work. - Students must register for the course in the beginning of their history study (first or second semester, depending on whether they start in January or September).

This is a basic composition course. Writing skills will be honed through regular assignments, lectures, class discussions and workshops.Approaches to writing research papers will be addressed, such as choosing and narrowing a topic, structure, and sources. Register, style, spelling, punctuation, and resources for writers will be discussed. Students write essays and papers of various kinds and get regular feedback from peers and teachers. Course assessment is based on written assignments and class participation. The course can only be passed if all assignments are turned in.

In the course the main works of Western art from the early renaissance to the early 19. century. Geographically, the focus is on works of art from Italy and Spain, France, the Netherlands, Germany and England. Main methods and schools, academies and manifestations of art in religious, political and social contexts will be discussed. Painting, sculpture, architecture, the artisanal works and printmaking will be discussed. Efforts will be made to examine the extent to which art reflects society, how imagery reflects the life and worldview of people in different periods. Different approaches to time and space at any given time will be discussed, changes in the symbolic image of the body, the status and social role of the artist, and the interactions of art and institutions of power. In connection with these issues, key works of each period will be taken for detailed interpretation and their distribution history discussed.

Methodology and Theory of Art History (LIS101G) is an introductory methods course. The concept of art will be discussed and students will be introduced to the historical foundation and development of art history, the theoretical grounds of art history as an independent subject, and its relation to other academic subjects. Key concepts, methodologies of art historical research and analysis, and some of the major theories that have shaped the practice of art history will be introduced. Students receive training in visual analysis and are introduced to some of the most important methodologies of art historical analysis, including formalism, iconography, and Marxist analysis. Emphasis is placed on the development of critical thinking and student's ability to analyse texts and images in a critical manner. 

A survey of Icelandic art from 1860 to 1970. The course will look at the origins of Icelandic modern art, selected Icelandic artists and factors influencing the Icelandic art scene, influence from foreign art ideas and movements, attempts at definging "national" Icelandic art, government support and influence on the development of visual art, the tension between proponents of "national" art and "non-national" art as well as between "expressive"art and " conceptual" forms of art presentation, local art education and the characteristics of art critic as it appeared in the printed media. An attempt will be made to evaluate characteristics of Icelandic visual art in relation to foreign developments and changes in Icelandic society and history.

The main characteristics and historical development of Icelandic art in the last decades of the 20th century and the first decade of the 21st century will be examined in the light of Icelandic society and the context of foreign art development. Topics include SÚM's legacy in the seventies, the establishment of Gallerí Suðurgata 7 and the Living Art Museum, the characteristics of the Icelandic conceptual art and developmeent of contemporary media, such as photography, installation art, and performance art, the establishment of the Sculptors' Association in Reykjavík and the rise of three-dimensional art, media and more recently the overlap of art, film, and music. Emphasis will be made on approach of emerging artists to visual arts heritage at any given time, e.g. to natural heritage and “national” representation in art. The characteristics of critical art discussion, art education, participation in the Venice Biennale, the operation of galleries, and the establishment of contemporary exhibition groups will also be reviewed

A survey of the development of visual art from the upheaval of Modernism at the beginning of the 20th Century and through the major 20th century progressive movements up to 1960. The main principles, politics and characteristics of Modern art and its impact on later times will be clarified. The relationship between art and politics, philosophy, and societal development will be discussed and thought will be given to the radical reevaluation of the concept of aesthetics in art of the 20th century. How are changed perceptions of time and space reflected in art? How do the above-mentioned art movements disturb the people's general perceptions of the environment and reality? What is "inner" reality? Must art be visible? What is the deifference between visual language, the language we speak, and other forms of sign languege? 

In the course, the development of international contemporary visual art from 1970 and up until our times is reviewed. Using thematic premises contemporary art processes, main directions, movements, individuals and ideas which have characterised the period will be scrutinized. New modes of practice will be examined, with special focus on new modes of practice, environmental art and installation art, performance art; interactive digital media; experimental cineme and video art; conceptual art and photography as an artform. Visual art practice is also examined in the context og local and global issues, in terms of politics, economy and society.

A survey of Icelandic art from 1860 to 1970. The course will look at the origins of Icelandic modern art, selected Icelandic artists and factors influencing the Icelandic art scene, influence from foreign art ideas and movements, attempts at definging "national" Icelandic art, government support and influence on the development of visual art, the tension between proponents of "national" art and "non-national" art as well as between "expressive"art and " conceptual" forms of art presentation, local art education and the characteristics of art critic as it appeared in the printed media. An attempt will be made to evaluate characteristics of Icelandic visual art in relation to foreign developments and changes in Icelandic society and history.

BA-thesis in Art History

The course aims to give a brief survey of selected topics in the philosophy of art; to introduce students to particular discussions, questions, theories and arguments in the philosophy of art through selected readings, both historical and contemporary; and to enable students to discuss topics related to aesthetics.

The sensations of smell and taste are crucial dimensions of the work of several contemporary artists and serve a variety of purposes in artistic practice. In this course we will consider the foundations of art history on the basis of a sensory hierarchy, in which vision and hearing has traditionally been prioritized over the sensations of touch, smell and taste. We will discuss how this hierarchy converges with the distinction of humans from animals and with the hierarchical classification of the human sexes and races within the western philosophical tradition. Students will be introduced to new theories within aesthetics and art theory that seek to reveal and analyse the historical, political and philosophical basis of this hierarchy and its continued effect in the present. In this context, we will examine the work of artists who directly or indirectly mobilize the sensations of smell and taste in their practice and consider the role of the olfactory and the gustatory in artistic practice from the 20th century to the present moment.

In the course we will explore one of the fundamental questions of Western Art and History of ideas: the origin of the Individual and the definition of the Self. What is it to be a person? To be yourself? What does Art have to say about Me? We will explore these ideas through Design, Installation Art and Radical Philosophical Inquiry. Questions about gender, body, mind and mental health are reframed in the context of Self and Identity, and how these concepts evolved from the ancient Greek imperative of Gnothi Seauton - Know thyself! We will assume a critical position towards this history in order to analyse current trends in Arts, Neuroscience and Philosophy. In the course, students will be taught to think philosophically by dealing with installation art and interactive design. The course is a laboratory of ideas and artistic practice -- where students will be required to present a proposal for an installation piece or design project.

The course provides an introduction to experimental film and film theory within the context of fine art. Various epochs and the critical responses that they provoked are defined and analysed. We look at different theoretical frameworks, such as Modernism, Humanism, Structuralism, Postmodernism, and the Anti-Aesthetic and make use of works by authors such as Kant, Nietzsche, Marx, Lacan, Bazin, Baudrillard, McLuhan and Jameson in order to analyse these. This theoretical framework provides a lens to interpret avant-garde cinema and fine art movements beginning with the emergence of expressionism. The course seeks to interpret the role of individualism via mass media as we explore various artists and filmmakers whose works are relevant in the context of this theoretical framework. Emphasis is placed on the viewing of time-based media that illustrate the various theories presented during the course, with a focus being on artists and filmmakers who have embraced these ideologies within their practice.

We will discuss religious motives in European fine art from early christianity up to the present. The importance of the christian churches for art history will be our subject matter, both in terms of the Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church. Special focus will be on the changes that occurred with the renaissance, the reformation, and the age of enlightenment. The we will examine the effects of the secularisation of art and the origins of modern art in late 19thcentury and early 20th century. We will also deal with the various art movements that appeared in the late 20th century and their relationship with christianity as wells as other religions, such as japanese and chinese.

BA-thesis in Art History

The course will discuss the art market and art as a commodity. Students will gain knowledge of the rules, written and unwritten, that apply in the primary art market and the secondary art market. Students will gain an insight into the leading figures and players in the art market and get to know the galleries and auction houses, domestic and foreign, that are the most active in the field. Students will understand how value is built up in the art market and which artists are considered the most valuable today. Students will also become familiar with art commissions in an institutional context. Finally, the main trends in the art market, new global interest in contemporary art, and economic consequences due to financial crises and wars will be discussed.

This course focuses on socially and politically engaged art in the current condition of warfare and environmental crisis, polarisation, crumbling welfare states, European disintegration, artificial scarcity of resources and job opportunities, resurgent nationalism and the rise of neo-fascism as a convincing socio-political discourse. Of particular interest in the course is the importance of infrastructure as a contemporary political category and the attempts of artists to affect and change existing infrastructures — and create new ones. This focus includes theoretical attention to Marina Vishmidt‘s formulation of infrastructural critique and ruangrupa‘s curation of Documenta 15 in 2022.

This course engages with the upheaval and the changes that have characterised our ideas about the role and the characteristics of visual presentation on a two-dimensional surface since the birth of Modernism. The painting as a medium has during this time gone through death and resurrection and the photograph has found its place as one of the most significant part of contemporary art. There is a particular focus on the possibilities of these mediums in exploring reality and the ideological premises on which such an exploration rests. Theories on how we perceive two-dimensional visual art have dominated art theory in the last century and in this course, these theories are explored in depth.

The beginning of the 21st century has seen profound changes to the social and economic organization of societies that are to a large extent based on technological advances. Yet, in opposition to the early 20th century's avant-garde, the 21st does not show the same tendency for grandiose statements about revolutionary movements within art. There are however a few artistic tendencies that have been articulated as aesthetic movements of the 21st century, among them the Post-digital aesthetic that addresses the prevalence of digital culture and how it has altered the production and perception of works even of those artists who do not directly relate their works to the influence of contemporary technology. To address this shift in the conditions of art production, we will contemplate the Post-digital aesthetic and compare it with the associated or even competing terms of Post-internet art and the New Aesthetic. We will also compare manifestos such the "Accelerationist Manifesto" and the "Cyberspace Manifesto" with traditional avant-garde manifestos of Futurism. This will help students to formulate a critical stance towards possible continuities within avant-garde traditions and the complexities involved in addressing an evolving aesthetic of the 21st century.

Exhibition making is a complex process that affects and influences multiple aspects of artworks and representation. In the course students will get to know exhibition making from different points of view with a special emphasis on current methods and approaches. Different aspects of exhibition making will be addressed, students will work in groups as well as on individual assignments and though these get to know varied aspects of the process. In the course students are introduced to the concepts of curator and curation, theories on, and different kinds of, collaboration with artists and the context of space and theory in regards to exhibition making.
Research and practical know how in relation to exhibition making will be the main focus of the course. Students will contribute to an exhibition in public space, though research, conceptual work, selection of works, writing, making of a exhibition catalog, installing works to name a few aspect.

An interdisciplinary and introductory course entailing a dialogue between the academic fields of the department, i.e. comparative literature, film studies, gender studies, art studies, linguistics, cultural studies, sign language and interpreting studies and translation studies. The latest international developments in the field of humanities will be examined and questions asked about the relationship of academic studies and our world view(s). We will analyse the semiotic system of language, inquiring whether it can serve as the basis for our understanding of other semiotic systems. We will ask about the connection and relationship between different languages and linguistic worlds. What is "multiculture"? How are spoken language, written language and visual language interconnected within society? What constitutes cultural literacy? Literature, art, film and other visual material will be examined in both a national and international context, with a view to how these semiotic systems influence the borderlines of gender, race, class, nation, and different world cultures. The study materials include theoretical and critical writings, literary works, visual art and images, and films, as well as some current media coverage. Evaluation is based on four assignments and a written exam.

Surrealism developed in the existential vacuum of the 1920s as a reaction to the destruction of World War I. As a defiance to “reason” and “rationality” that led to such violence and chaos, surrealists defied reason and sought to reunite the conscious and unconscious, or rather the everyday reality with the dream world. Drawing from Freud and other forms of experimental psychology, spiritualism and meditation in the pursuit of access to an untapped well of creativity, surrealism of the European avant-garde has evolved throughout the continued history of film, reaching the contemporary Hollywood of today. From André Breton and Salvador Dalí to David Lynch and Lady Gaga, this course aims to analyze the surrealist approach through the lens of different artists and auteurs over time, tracing the history of surrealism and its influence on narrative cinema. Directors and artists featured in this class include: Luis Buñuel, Jean Cocteau, Maya Derren, Federico Felini, Jan Svankmajer, the Quay Brothers, Alejandro Jodorowsy, David Lynch, Michel Gondry, Charlie Kaufman and more.

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

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

In this course, 19th and 20th century ideas that had fundamental effects on Western philosophy and intellectual history, will be examined. These are socially transformative ideas such as freedom, secularism, equality, resistance, the relation between the individual and society, ideas concerning existence and the soul, oppression, injustice, the national state and capitalism. Perhaps last but not least ideas about history, time and evolution of humanity and the planet. 

Each week a new thinker or idea that transformed Western intellectual history is introduced and engaged with. Thinkers such as G.W.F. Hegel, Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud, Rosa Luxembourg and Emma Goldman are analysed and influential isms such as phenomenology, neoliberalism or postructuralism. The aim is to read these thinkers and isms in accordance with the zeitgeist of the historical period they belong to (to the extent that we, people in the 21st century can “read” zeitgeists of older periods). At the same time the aim is to dig deep into original texts and to acquire multi-dimensional understanding of the ideas. Important part of the course is also to look at these themes in relation to the present times and the issues happening at the moment in Western societies and all around the globe. 

This course introduces students to some of the basic skills that they will use in the study of history. The special character of history and its relationship with other fields of study will be discussed. The students will be introduced to the sources and methods used in historical research and the writing and presenting of historical work. - Students must register for the course in the beginning of their history study (first or second semester, depending on whether they start in January or September).

A historical overview of cinema from its emergence in the late 19th century to it contemporary role. The course will introduce students to influential film movements and styles from around the world, including Soviet Montage, French Impressionism, German Expressionism, classical Hollywood cinema, Italian Neorealism, Japanese Minimalism, the French New Wave, New German cinema, Third cinema, and Hong Kong action cinema. Diverse readings will provide a comprehensive overview supplementing screenings of key films. Particular emphasis will be placed on the aesthetic development of the film medium and its social and cultural relevance.

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

The course looks at how identities and images of Icelanders and other nations have been shaped and they use traditions in each case. We examine Icelandic experiences and images in relation to neighbouring countries and how narratives, traditions and material culture shape nations, from national museums to midwinter festivals in London, from a wee dram of whiskey (in Scotland) to Viking sagas (in Scandinavia), with a quick stop at Up Helly Aa (in the Shetland Islands) and Olavsvaka (in the Faroe Islands); we look at a fashion show in Nuuk Center (Greenland), Nordic settlements in the New World and then we’ll post it all on social media.

We explore films and music, festivals, games and political spectacles. In particular we will analyse how national images unite and divide different groups of people. In that context we look at men and women, rural and urban communities, mobile people, racism and gender. We’ll study these images as dynamics and ideals, resources and matters of dispute, that are used for various purposes by different people in different places, by demagogues and greens, government institutions and banks, scholars and students.

The course provides a historical overview of film theory, with students reading a wide range of texts by important theorists and philosophers of cinema, and watching historically relevant films. It will cover the work of such pioneers as Sergei Eisenstein, Rudolf Arnheim, Siegfried Kracauer and André Bazin, before addressing major theoretical shifts beginning with structuralism in the 1960s, while also including Althusserian Marxism, psychoanalysis, feminism, postcolonial theory and cultural studies. Screened films will emphasize the heterogeneity of film theory and provide fruitful ground for further discussions.

This course is an introduction to the study of the material culture of everyday life. Students will be get a good glimpse of this multidisciplinary field, with examples drawn from the past as well as the present, and with equal emphasis on the material culture of Iceland and that of other countries. The topics of study will range from clothes and fashion to foodways, from the objects in our daily surroundings to trash and hygiene, from crafts and consumer goods to houses, gardens and the home, and from urban landscapes to museums and exhibits. Along the way, students will gain familiarity with various theoretical concepts and approaches emphasizing for example the human body, gender, consumption, place and space.

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 form:
The teaching takes place in the form of lectures and discussion on the material of the lectures.