Scandinavian Languages and Literatures

University of California, Berkeley

This is an archived copy of the 2014-15 guide. To access the most recent version of the guide, please visit http://guide.berkeley.edu/.

Overview

The Department of Scandinavian offers undergraduate and graduate instruction in the languages, cultures, and literatures of northern Europe. Offered languages include Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish, and Old Norse-Icelandic. Lower division Reading and Composition courses based on Scandinavian materials are also offered. Lower and upper division lecture courses, all based on readings in English and open to those without a knowledge of Nordic languages, cover a wide variety of topics. The undergraduate major involves a program integrating the study of Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, or Swedish language with important aspects of Scandinavian culture and literature, and an undergraduate minor is also available. The graduate program leads to the PhD. The Department also administers the Program in Celtic Studies.

Collections

Doe Library, the main research library on campus, has extensive holdings in the several areas of research that make up the field of Scandinavian Studies (literature, linguistics, history, folklore, film history, the social sciences, etc.). Visit the Doe Library website for more information about the Berkeley Scandinavian Collection .

A smaller departmental collection, the Olof Lundberg Memorial Library, is located in 6337B Dwinelle Hall, adjacent to the current faculty offices. It is open to the public at certain times during the day that are determined at the beginning of each semester, but it is not a lending library; books must be used on site. The Lundberg library houses an extensive collection of over 13,000 volumes, ranging from medieval to modern history and literature. There is no online list of holdings, but there is a card catalog in the library itself. The Department also receives a daily or weekly newspaper from all three of the mainland Scandinavian countries. The librarian can be reached at (510) 643-2932, and the library schedule is posted on the library door (varies by semester).

The Barbro Osher Film and Video Collection is a research collection of over 250 Scandinavian film titles. The 35mm and 16mm films in the collection are housed at the Pacific Film Archive  (PFA). The films can be searched by title using OskiCat , the online library catalog. The remaining titles of the Osher Collection come in a variety of formats (DVD, laser disc, VHS and PAL video, 3/4" video) and are stored in the Lundberg Library. These may only be used on-site. 

Undergraduate Programs

Celtic Studies : BA
Scandinavian : BA (with concentrations in Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, and Swedish)
Celtic Studies : Minor
Scandinavian : Minor

Graduate Program

Scandinavian Languages and Literatures : PhD

Visit Department Website

Courses

Literature and Culture:

Languages:

Scandinavian

SCANDIN 201A Old Norse 4 Units

An introduction to the language of medieval Iceland and Norway. Grammar, historical phonology, and texts.

SCANDIN 201B Norse Literature 4 Units

Literary production of early Iceland and Norway. Reading of representative texts in the original.

SCANDIN 206 Studies in Philology and Linguistics 4 Units

Variable subject matter; see departmental announcement for description. Sample topics: runology; history of the Scandinavian languages; dialectology.

SCANDIN 215 Literary and Cultural Theory 4 Units

Introduction to varieties of literary and cultural theory used in the analysis of literary texts and other cultural artefacts.

SCANDIN 220 Early Scandinavian Literature 4 Units

Variable subject matter; see departmental announcement for description. Course normally focuses on one of two areas: Eddic and skaldic poetry; or sagas (royal family, legendary, courtly, episcopal).

SCANDIN 235 Studies in Romanticism and Realism 4 Units

Variable subject matter; see departmental announcement for description. Reading and analysis of representative works.

SCANDIN 240 Modern and Contemporary Scandinavian Literature 4 Units

Reading and analysis of representative works. Topics vary from semester to semester; see departmental announcement for description.

SCANDIN 249 Graduate Studies 1 Unit

Additional work in connection with one of the following courses: Scandinavian C107, C108, 115, 116, 117, 120, 123, 125, C160, 165. Students attend lectures and do all written work in the "main course," and also read assignments in the Scandinavian languages, and write a paper.

SCANDIN 250 Seminar in Scandinavian Literature 4 Units

Investigation of selected authors, topics, or problems. Variable subject matter; see departmental announcement for description.

SCANDIN 298 Special Study 2 - 12 Units

Designed to explore a restricted field involving the writing of a report. May not be substituted for available seminars.

SCANDIN 299 Dissertation Writing 2 - 12 Units

SCANDIN 300A Methods of Teaching Scandinavian Languages 3 Units

The course consists of a two-hour session per week that will examine current theory and practice of foreign language teaching in connection with Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, and Swedish.

SCANDIN 300B Teaching Practicum 1 Unit

Graduate Student Instructors must enroll in 300B each semester following the completion of 300A or the equivalent. The course consists of a one-hour weekly session devoted to the analysis and a discussion of pedagogical problems as they arise in the classroom.

SCANDIN 301 Scandinavian Teaching Methods 3 Units

Course on practical teaching methods, grading, testing, classroom activities, and design of course materials and syllabi. Required of all Scandinavian Department GSIs.

SCANDIN 601 Individual Study for M.A. Candidates 1 - 8 Units

Individual study for the comprehensive or language requirements in consultation with the field adviser. Units may not be used to meet unit or residence requirements for the master's degree.

SCANDIN 602 Individual Study for Doctoral Candidates 1 - 8 Units

Individual study in consultation with the major field adviser to prepare qualified students for various examinations required of candidates for the Ph.D. May not be used to meet unit or residence requirements for the doctoral degree.

Danish

DANISH 1ABeginning Danish4
DANISH 1BIntermediate Danish4
SCANDIN 100AScandinavian Languages and Linguistics (section 103, intermediate Danish)4
SCANDIN 100BScandinavian Languages and Linguistics (section 103, advanced Danish)4

Finnish

FINNISH 1ABeginning Finnish4
FINNISH 1BBeginning Finnish4
FINNISH 102AIntermediate Finnish4
FINNISH 102BIntermediate Finnish4

Icelandic

ICELAND 1ABeginning Icelandic I4
ICELAND 1BBeginning Icelandic II4

Old Norse

SCANDIN 201AOld Norse4
SCANDIN 201BNorse Literature4

Norwegian

NORWEGN 1ABeginning Norwegian4
NORWEGN 1BIntermediate Norwegian4
SCANDIN 100AScandinavian Languages and Linguistics (section 102, intermediate)4
SCANDIN 100BScandinavian Languages and Linguistics (section 102, advanced)4

Swedish

SWEDISH 1ABeginning Swedish4
SWEDISH 1BIntermediate Swedish4
SCANDIN 100AScandinavian Languages and Linguistics (section 101, intermediate)4
SCANDIN 100BScandinavian Languages and Linguistics (section 101, advanced)4

Faculty

Professors

Linda H Rugg, PhD, Professor. Scandinavian, Swedish literature and culture 1870 to the present, August Strindberg, Ingmar Bergman, visual autobiography, literature and the visual arts, ecology and culture, film, whiteness studies.
Research Profile

Mark B. Sandberg, PhD, Professor. Silent film, late nineteenth-century visual culture, comedy, Scandinavian design, serial television, film historiography, Scandinavian film history, Henrik Ibsen, Norwegian literature, Nordic literary history.
Research Profile

Karin L. Sanders, Professor. Danish literature, 19th and 20th Century Scandinavian literature, literary history, gender and literature, word and image, archaeology in literature and visual art, death and the arts.
Research Profile

Assistant Professors

Jonas Wellendorf, Assistant Professor. Old Norse language and literature, Scandinavian cultural history (Viking Age and Middle ages).
Research Profile

Lecturers

Karen Moller, Lecturer.

Annalee Rejhon, Lecturer.

Sirpa Tuomainen, Lecturer.

Contact Information

Department of Scandinavian

6303 Dwinelle Hall

Phone: 510-642-4484

Fax: 510-642-6220

issa@berkeley.edu

Visit Department Website

Department Chair

Mark Sandberg, PhD

6303 Dwinelle Hall

Phone: 510-642-4484

Fax: 510- 642-6220

sandberg@berkeley.edu

Undergraduate Student Services Adviser

Kathi Brosnan

issaug@berkeley.edu

Graduate Student Services Adviser

Sandy Jones

6313 Dwinelle Hall

Phone: 510-642-9051

Fax: 510- 642-6220

issag@berkeley.edu

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