At the beginning of the 2014-2015 academic year we are both looking forward to what the new year may bring and reflecting on the department’s recent achievements. We are most grateful for our many excellent students, the support which we have received both on campus and from the local community, and for the hard work and well-deserved achievements of our faculty.
During the past academic year we saw a record-breaking four students receive their Ph.D.s, two in Danish (Kirstine Kastbjerg and… Read more
The daily life at the Scandinavian Department is full of excitement and challenges. The excitement comes of course from my dear colleagues and our many wonderful students, undergraduates and graduates. Last fall I taught the large “sex course” again with near 200 students to keep track of with the help of my TA, Sabina Ivenäs. Every time I teach the course it is different and creates a new challenge thanks to the new course material and the very different dynamic of each new student body. In… Read more
New Ph.D. in Scandinavian Studies, Maren Anderson Johnson
Maren Anderson Johnson successfully defended her Ph.D. dissertation “Staging Genius: Henrik Ibsen and Biographical Theater” on May 29th, 2014. The dissertation argues that recent Norwegian dramas by Robert Ferguson, Jon Fosse, and Niels Fredrik Dahl have shifted the discussion around Ibsen’s authorship and altered perceptions of Ibsen’s status as a genius. The plays stress the ways in which women played a necessary, complicated… Read more
Alumni Beth Meberg
Since graduation Beth Meberg has been working primarily in the film and television industry. Currently, Beth an Associate Producer on the Travel Channel original series "Expedition Unknown". Previously she worked on A&E’s Emmy-nominated “Hoarders” and various narrative and commercial projects. Her passions for Scandinavian Studies and Norwegian language have carried over in interesting ways. From finding fellow Norsk speakers to… Read more
2014-2015 Kielland-Løvdall Fellowship Awarded to Anna Rühl
Anna Rühl, a doctoral student in Norwegian Studies, has been awarded the 2014-2015 Ruth Kielland - Leif and Sophie Løvdal Fellowship.The fellowship will allow Anna to spend an academic year at the University of Bergen, Norway, where professor Pål Bjørby has graciously agreed to host her and help supervise her dissertation project entitled 'Imot naturen?' - Images of 'nature' in contemporary Norwegian life-writing. In… Read more
Barbro Osher ProSuecia Foundation upgrades Professorship in Swedish to an Endowed Chair in Swedish Studies
The Barbro Osher ProSuecia Foundation has upgraded the Barbro Osher Endowed Professorship in Swedish Studies to an Endowed Chair in Swedish Studies with a most generous donation now totaling $1,000,000.
A native of Stockholm, Sweden, Barbro Osher graduated from Stockholm University with a degree in languages and political science. Osher is deeply concerned that Scandinavian Studies… Read more