Hejsan allihopa! 

A more detailed syllabus is coming later this summer. Here's a taste of what we'll be doing this term.  

*SWEDISH 301 (TOPICS) is an upper-division Swedish culture course taught in Swedish that can be taken multiple times for credit. This course is conducted in Swedish and is appropriate for students who have completed SWED 203, or who have equivalent proficiencies. If you have learned Swedish somewhere else but would like to participate, please contact the instructor to see about placing into the course. I will need to issue you an add code to enroll. Also, if you are interested in taking this course, but have a time conflict, please also feel free to email the instructor. Depending on the number of students enrolled, it may be possible to find an alternate time that works for everyone.

COURSE DESCRIPTION: HISTORIEN OM SVERIGE  --- Attention on Arkivism 

In this course, we’ll work our way through one of Sweden’s most expensive and intriguing television productions, Historien om Sverige (The History of Sweden) from 2023. We’ll explore aspects of this epic show that strives to present 10,000 years of “Swedish” history in 10 hours. Together we’ll consider questions of historical representation; nationalism and Swedish self-understanding; dramatization and reenactment; source materials and archives; and the status of historical and archeological objects represented. We’ll explore extra materials related to the series, such as discussions of the science behind it and criticism levelled against it. Course assignments will allow students to delve more deeply into topics that they see depicted as well as histories that remain absent.

This October, the Department of Scandinavian Studies will be hosting an international conference related to archival activism and citizen history writing, aka. "archivism" (arkivism) and our Swedish 301 course will link into this event. 

To give you a sense of my approach to teaching language and culture...  

COURSE EXPECTATIONS FOR ADVANCED LANGUAGE STUDY: 

• I expect that students will come to advanced Swedish with a range of backgrounds and a variety of different strengths and weaknesses. Often students feel more comfortable speaking than writing. Often students feel comfortable speaking about their life, but need practice using more “official” Swedish such as the language used in newspapers. I can work with all of this. I will meet you where you are in your Swedish abilities. Rather than assigning a textbook, I bring in grammar exercises, for instance, when I see that it would benefit the group. Välkomna allihopa!

• I expect that students will spend 8-10 hours a week on homework, preparation, practice, and self-study for this course. According to Undergraduate Advising, “College courses require much more study time than high school courses. In general, courses require two hours of homework for every hour of class.” If the assigned homework takes you less than this budgeted time, then I expect students to practice vocabulary, make flashcards, listen to Swedish media, review assignments etc. Track how you’re spending your time in your weekly Swedish journal. This will also let me know if you’re spending too much time on a particular assignment, for instance if it is too difficult.

• I expect students to listen to at least 10 minutes of Swedish news or radio on SR.SE daily. Just let it flow over you. Don’t worry about understanding anything. Simply let yourself get used to the rhythms of the language. This counts toward your Swedish time tracking.

• I expect that most of your language learning will happen outside of the classroom. That is inevitable. Also, learning a language in a course is as much about learning how you learn as it is learning to read, write, and speak another language. Over the course of the quarter, we’ll reflect on what techniques work best for us as individuals.

• I expect students to take notes during class. This may be on your computer or tablet, but I’d encourage you to consider paper and pencil. If I write something on the board, I expect you to write it down. This is an important aspect of learning a language by moving to embody it.

• I expect students to be mindful of how they use technology such as google translate or AI. Please write in Swedish rather than writing in any other language that you speak and then translating it. Online dictionaries are crucial tools that we can use to improve our ability to communicate without them. We’ll also practice writing in class, without using technology. If you are using AI in class, please talk to me about it. I’m also curious how it might be incorporated into the language classroom in a productive way.

• I expect students to speak pretty much exclusively in Swedish. This includes explaining what a word means if another student doesn’t understand. You can do it! (There might also be a few moments when I clarify something in English.)

• I expect each of my students to challenge themselves and improve in ways that are unique to them.

• I expect students to show grace, respect, and professionalism toward each other in the classroom. Learning a language involves making lots of mistakes, some of which might make us feel embarrassed or shy. Mistakes can also be hilarious. I will do everything I can to ensure that our classroom is an environment in which we all feel comfortable taking risks and laughing together at our mistakes. I encourage you to reach out to me if there are measures that I can take to accomplish this goal.