As part of its Baltic Studies program, the Department of Scandinavian Studies at the University of Washington offers two years of classroom instruction in Estonian as well as an opportunity for continued independent study of the language. A broad array of courses related to Estonia and the Baltics are also offered. Students majoring in Scandinavian Area Studies may select Estonian as their language of emphasis, and Estonian may also be a focus of those who do graduate work leading to the M.A. and Ph.D. in Scandinavian Studies.
Related Faculty
Kazickas Family Endowed Professor in Baltic Studies; Associate Professor of Baltic Studies; Director, Center for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies, Jackson School of International Studies
Latest News
- Supporting a Threatened Language (June 4, 2026)
- UW Study Abroad Fair (January 20, 2026)
- Ian Gwin Named Nadia Christensen Scholar, 2025-6 (June 17, 2025)
- 2019 Letter From the Chair (December 13, 2019)
- Baltic Studies Program celebrates 25th Anniversary (December 11, 2019)
Related Research
- DuBois, Thomas A., and Guntis Šmidchens. “Kristin Kuutma (1959–2025).” The Journal of American Folklore 139 (January 2026), pp. 219–21.
- Toomet, Tiina. Female Agency and Violence in Danish and Estonian Folk Ballads. Master's Thesis, Scandinavian Languages and Literature, University of Washington, 2020.
- Pošeiko, S. (2018). Glocal Names in the Linguistic Landscape of the Baltic States. In: Multilingualism in the Baltic States: Social Discourses and Contact Phenomena (eds., S.Lazdiņa, H.F. Marten). Palgrave macmillan. pp. 369 - 405.
- Pošeiko, S. (2018). “Following footsteps of names”: Commercial Ergonymia in Linguistic Landscape of the Baltic Countries. In: Cotticelli Kurras, P., Alfredo Rizza, A. (eds., 2018). Language, Media and Economy in Virtual and Real Life. New perspectives. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. pp. 99–122.
- Guntis Šmidchens, "Singing Revolution, Past and Present" Foreign Policy Research Institute Baltic Bulletin, 12 October 2016
- Baltimaade üldlaulupidude laulutraditsioonid ja pärand. Mäetagused 63 (2016): 21-34.
- Guntis Šmidchens. The Power of Song: Nonviolent National Cultures in the Baltic Singing Revolution. University of Washington Press and Museum Tusculanum Press, 2014.
- Garbes, H. and A. Schmidt. “Baltic Languages: Latvian, Lithuanian and Estonian,” in D. Karna, ed., The Use of the International Phonetic Alphabet in the Choral Rehearsal. Landham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2012.
- Guntis Šmidchens. "Estonia, Poetry of." Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics, 4th ed. 2012. 459-461.
- Guntis Šmidchens. "Baltic Studies Summer Institute." Film. BALSSI Consortium: 2004.