Recent News
God jul allihopa! Wishing you warm holiday greetings from the UW Swedish Studies program!
This year, Associate Teaching Professor Lauren Poyer and Kim Kraft organized another wildly successful summer study abroad program in Stockholm and Helsinki titled, "Art and Activism in the Nordic Region". Over the course of a month, a group of twenty-one students pursuing a variety of majors embraced experiential learning with a focus on activism and creative expression. This included visits… Read more
Gleðilega hátíð! Happy Holidays!
Greetings from the Old Norse Program at UW!
Firstly, I’m absolutely thrilled and honoured to have joined the Department of Scandinavian Studies this past September as Assistant Professor of Old Norse.
I was previously a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at University College London, and over the summer I taught a course on fantasy literature at the University of Oxford and conducted fieldwork in Greenland, visiting archives and sites of Norse settlement. I’m… Read more
Dear friends, students, alumni, and supporters of UW Norwegian,
Season’s Greetings: God jul og godt nyttår!
It’s been a busy, fun, and productive time for the Norwegian program at UW. This academic year, graduate students Erik Moe and Elizabeth Stang are teaching first and second year Norwegian, respectively. Norwegian 101 was fully enrolled, which is excellent news. Both Erik and Elizabeth will take exams this spring:
Erik will defend his master’s thesis on the centennial (1925) and… Read more
Greetings / Tervehdys!
We send you warmest holiday greetings from the UW Finnish Program! Meillä on ilo toivottaa kaikille rauhallista joulun aikaa ja onnellista uutta vuotta Suomen ohjelman puolesta.
We have reconfigured this year. Our new Acting Instructor of Finnish is Eveliina Suuniitty. You may remember Eveliina from 2021-22, when she was Fulbright Language Teaching Assistant at UW, supervised by Anna-Maria Peltomäki. We’re delighted to have Eveliina return in her new role! Since… Read more
Our warmest holiday greetings to friends, alumni, and supporters! Glædelig jul og godt nytår!
It has been an exceptional year for the Danish program!
First of all, our heartfelt gratitude to our long-standing supporters, the Pedersens. The Georg and Nina Pedersen Endowed Professorship in Danish Studies has now been established. We plan a community celebration of this milestone in Spring 2025 on VE Day (May 8th).
Secondly, a grant from the ScanDesign… Read more
The UW Baltic Program is off to a fantastic start in Fall Quarter 2024. A cohort of seventeen students is enrolled in Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian language classes; and more are studying in two classes taught in English – “Latvian Literary and Cultural History” and “Baltic Politics and Society.” Bex, a student in the Latvian class, comments, "I feel more connected to my culture than ever, and am meeting new language friends." The Baltic teachers agree that something special is… Read more
Marletta Iwasyk, a Scandinavian Studies alum, retired last week after over 50 years of teaching, making her Seattle Public Schools’ longest-serving teacher.
This article really says it better than we could: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/education/seattle-public-schools-longest-serving-teacher-retires-from-orca-k-8/
One way her time… Read more
Yesterday, June 6th, we had the pleasure of celebrating our 2024 graduating students. This year we had one graduate student receiving her Master of Arts degree in Scandinavian Languages and Literature (with an emphasis in Norwegian), as well as 8 undergraduate majors in: Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, and Scandinavian Area Studies, and 15 undergrads receiving a minor in: Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish, and Scandinavian Area Studies. We were able to celebrate our students'… Read more
The Norwegian program had another fun and successful retreat to Friday Harbor Labs this April. We had some lovely sunny weather for enjoying the impressive scenery around the labs before our friluftliv activities were cut short on Saturday. Thankfully, we made it to the top of Young Hill, taking in the views across the Puget Sound, before the rain and wind set it. Most importantly, we had plenty of time for playing games, getting to know one another, and singing--på norsk! Thank you to all the… Read more
This past May, 9th-11th, our department hosted colleagues from around the globe at the annual meeting for the Society for the Advancement of Scandinavian Studies (SASS). It’s always an energizing and enlightening conference when you get to share ideas with the best and brightest in the field! One of the highlights was the opening keynote address by Professor Ethelene Whitmire from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who shared stories from her latest book, /Searching for Utopia: African… Read more