“I am excited,” “I am inspired,” “I can’t wait!” That is what faculty wrote when we asked them about the new academic year. Hitting a similar note, our graduate students also found excitement and energy in their work. The faculty’s and students’ words make clear why the department works together so well. We are united in an intellectual community with shared goals of learning about the Nordic and Baltic countries' culture and history, and we want to share our knowledge with others. One of the…

We asked our faculty, “What are you excited about doing in 2017-18?” Our faculty are publishing books, conducting original research, teaching new courses, and serving as leaders at the UW and in Scandinavian and Baltic studies. We are so proud of all they have accomplished, and look forward to learning from them during the next year! Amanda Doxtater Excited doesn’t even begin to describe how I feel about starting as Assistant Professor of Scandinavian and Pro-Tem Barbro Osher Chair in Swedish…

The visiting lecturers in our department are passionate about language, and have devoted their careers to teaching it. Each of them have come to the UW as holders of visiting lectureships, paid for by both the government of their respective countries and the UW. Their term at the UW may be up to five years. This year, we have three new lecturers, and two who have taught at the UW for one year.  So  we thought it would be good to start out with some questions about their passion…

Earning a Master’s Degree or Doctorate in graduate school is famously challenging: demanding seminars, tens of thousands of pages of reading, exams, and a final 200-page term paper (The Dissertation),, which is expected to be an “original contribution to knowledge.”  These challenges inspire our incredible graduate students.We asked them, “ What was your most inspiring moment in 2016-17?” Their responses are amazing. They are filled with “Aha” moments, realizations, personal growth,…

Forget whatever you think you know about retirement: Our emeriti faculty bring the same zing and passion to life after the UW, as they did to their students, colleagues and research. UW faculty have the right to continue to teach at forty percent (two courses annually), after retiring. Many of our faculty have taken the 40% option. But they are also travelling, lecturing, writing, publishing, and farming… We asked our emeriti faculty, “What are you excited about in 2017-18?” Ann-Charlotte…