Recent News
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
Congratulations to this year's winner of the Nadia Christensen Award for Excellence in Nordic Studies, Helen Durst! Helen R. Durst is a lecturer at the University of Wisconsin and is working on her Ph.D. in Scandinavian Studies at the University of Washington. Helen loves language of any sort, and as such, also holds a B.A. & M.A. in Russian, and a B.A. & teaching certificate in mathematics and taught the language of math for many years before returning to graduate school to… Read more
“Joik [pronounced “yoik”] knows no end; joik goes on forever!” were the words of Sámi performer Iŋgor Ántte Áilu Gaup, better known by his stage name, Ailloš. On April 12 and 13th, Ailloš and fellow members of the Sámi National Theater Beaivváš performed… Read more
Tiina Nunnally, affiliate faculty member in Scandinavian Studies, earns critical acclaim in the Wall Street Journal and the Times Literary Supplement for new translations of Sigrid Undset's Olav Audunssøn tetralogy.
From Brad Leithauser's review in the WSJ:
"In 1928 Sigrid Undset became only the third woman to receive the Nobel Prize in literature, awarded “principally for her powerful descriptions of Northern life during the Middle Ages.” Many assume that this commendation spoke mainly to… Read more
Attention, literature and Scandinavian Studies scholars!
Our Sagas of the Vikings course (which is SCAND 270 A in our section, and GLITS 252 B in that section) still has a bunch of open spots in GLITS 252 B – if you have been looking for an interesting and knowledge-packed course to help you fulfill some of your Humanities credits, Sagas of the Vikings is exactly what you’ve been waiting for! … Read more
Back in fall 1993, the UW Baltic Studies Program welcomed students into its first Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian language courses; and thirty years later, we’re going strong! Inga Daraškienė is in her third year as Lithuanian lecturer, and Guntis Šmidchens is teaching Estonian; he is also teaching English-language courses about Baltic Politics and Society Today, and about Baltic History. Latvian lecturer Solvita Burr moved to the East Coast and taught remotely in fall 2023, assisted in-person… Read more
God jul allihopa! Bright holiday greetings to you from the UW Swedish Studies program!
We’ve been busy in the Swedish Program here at the University of Washington.
I wrote last year that we’d be hosting Jonas Hassen Khemiri, a luminary of the Swedish literary scene, in the department in November 2022. Happily, his whirlwind visit was a great success. Khemiri spoke to 100 students in our large… Read more