Recent News

Attention, literature and Scandinavian Studies scholars! Our Sagas of the Vikings course (which is SCAND 270 A in our section, and GLITS 252 B in that section) still has a bunch of open spots in GLITS 252 B – if you have been looking for an interesting and knowledge-packed course to help you fulfill some of your Humanities credits, Sagas of the Vikings is exactly what you’ve been waiting for! … Read more
Back in fall 1993, the UW Baltic Studies Program welcomed students into its first Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian language courses; and thirty years later, we’re going strong! Inga Daraškienė is in her third year as Lithuanian lecturer, and Guntis Šmidchens is teaching Estonian; he is also teaching English-language courses about Baltic Politics and Society Today, and about Baltic History. Latvian lecturer Solvita Burr moved to the East Coast and taught remotely in fall 2023, assisted in-person… Read more
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God jul allihopa! Bright holiday greetings to you from the UW Swedish Studies program!  We’ve been busy in the Swedish Program here at the University of Washington. I wrote last year that we’d be hosting Jonas Hassen Khemiri, a luminary of the Swedish literary scene, in the department in November 2022. Happily, his whirlwind visit was a great success. Khemiri spoke to 100 students in our large… Read more
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Tervehdys/Greetings! It’s a pleasure to send you holiday greetings! Minulla on ilo toivottaa kaikille rauhallista joulun aikaa ja onnellista uutta vuotta! We were thrilled to welcome two new colleagues to the Finnish Program in fall 2023: Dr. Tapio Hokkanen, our new acting instructor of Finnish, and Ronja Salo, our new Fulbright Language Teaching Assistant (FLTA) of Finnish. Tapio comes to us from the University of Eastern Finland. He has taught at numerous universities in Europe and North… Read more
Dear friends of the UW Danish program, Our warmest holiday wishes to friends, alumni, and program supporters! What a wonderful year it has been for the Danish program! First and foremost, we like to extend our deep gratitude for the establishment of an Endowed Professorship of Danish Studies by our long-standing supporters Nina and (the late) Georg Pedersen. Sadly, we lost Georg last November 2022, but Nina’s resoluteness has secured a legacy for the UW Danish program. In addition to… Read more
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God jul og godt nyttår! Dear friends, students, alumni, and supporters of UW Norwegian, The time has come, once again, to send warm greetings in a colder season, as well as best wishes for the new year. The Norwegian program at UW is small but mighty. This academic year, graduate students Elizabeth Stang and Thea Lund are teaching first and second year Norwegian, respectively, while the advanced courses will be taught by Associate Professor Olivia Gunn and Affiliate Associate… Read more
Earlier this month, on October 10th, historian Bjorn Westlie visited our SCAND 445/JSIS A 442 class to discuss his book, 'My Father's War', which was assigned reading for the class. As you can see, the students are holding up their copies. Dr. Marianne Stecher-Hansen, who was teaching this course, also interviewed Westlie about his work and the book (recently translated by Prof. Dean Krouk and published by U Wisconsin Press). Most of the class' 32 students were present that day, so they got a… Read more
After the pandemic derailed our hosting plans in 2021, the Department of Scandinavian Studies is hosting the upcoming 2024 SASS conference, right here in Seattle!  And the call for papers is open now!   SASS 2024 will take place in Seattle, Washington at the Renaissance Seattle hotel, hosted by the University of Washington from May 9-11th. The presidential theme of this SASS meeting is movement. This theme speaks to ‘movements’ as both contemporary and historical, strategic and reactionary… Read more
This coming Saturday, September 9th, the National Nordic Museum will be hosting a panel discussion on the topic of Bringing Nordic Children's Literature to an English Readership.  But the most exciting part?  It will involve not one, not two, but THREE UW Scandinavian Studies alumni and/or Emeritus Professors!   The panelists are Laura Simeon, alumna Mia Spangenberg, Professor Emerita Lotta Gavel Adams, and moderated by alumna Elizabeth DeNoma. You can register for this (free!) panel here: … Read more
Get ready for a fun event with your young (preschool-aged) children or young child friends -- next Thursday, September 7th, our own department alumna Mia Spangenberg will be reading her translation of Marika Maijala's award-winning children's picture book 'Rosie Runs', which is out this month from Elsewhere Editions, at the National Nordic Museum! This is part of the Nordic Museum's monthly Nordic Stories program, which is specifically geared towards preschool-aged children and their caregivers… Read more