Overview
The Department of Scandinavian offers undergraduate and graduate instruction in the languages, cultures, and literatures of northern Europe. Languages taught are Danish, Finnish, Icelandic, Norwegian, Swedish, and Old Norse. 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 five separate concentrations in Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish, and Old Norse Studies, including related aspects of Scandinavian culture and literature. An undergraduate minor is also available. The graduate program leads to the PhD.
The department also administers the Program in Celtic Studies, an interdisciplinary major where students may focus on the intersection of early Celtic and Scandinavian history, mythology, and folklore. Majors in Celtic Studies also pursue study in modern and early forms of Irish, Welsh, and Breton and early and modern literatures of Ireland and Wales.
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.). For more information about this collection, see the Doe Library website for 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 is not a lending library; its 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 stored at PFA can be searched by title in the OSKICAT 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, Minor
Scandinavian: BA (with concentrations in Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, and Swedish), Minor
Graduate Program
Courses
Literature and Culture:
Languages:
Scandinavian
Danish
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| DANISH 1A | Beginning Danish | 4 |
| DANISH 1B | Beginning Danish | 4 |
| SCANDIN 100A | Intermediate Scandinavian Languages (Danish, Norwegian, Swedish) | 4 |
| SCANDIN 100B | INTERMEDIATE SCANDINAVIAN LANGUAGES (DANISH, NORWEGIAN, SWEDISH) | 4 |
Finnish
Icelandic
Old Norse
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| SCANDIN 101A | Introduction to Old Norse I | 4 |
| SCANDIN 101B | Introduction to Old Norse II | 4 |
Norwegian
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| NORWEGN 1A | Beginning Norwegian | 4 |
| NORWEGN 1B | Beginning Norwegian | 4 |
| SCANDIN 100A | Intermediate Scandinavian Languages (Danish, Norwegian, Swedish) | 4 |
| SCANDIN 100B | INTERMEDIATE SCANDINAVIAN LANGUAGES (DANISH, NORWEGIAN, SWEDISH) | 4 |
Swedish
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| SWEDISH 1A | Beginning Swedish | 4 |
| SWEDISH 1B | Beginning Swedish | 4 |
| SCANDIN 100A | Intermediate Scandinavian Languages (Danish, Norwegian, Swedish) | 4 |
| SCANDIN 100B | INTERMEDIATE SCANDINAVIAN LANGUAGES (DANISH, NORWEGIAN, SWEDISH) | 4 |
Faculty and Instructors
Faculty
Kate Heslop, Assistant Professor. Medieval Studies, Old Norse literature, Viking and medieval Scandinavia.
Research Profile
Linda H. Rugg, 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 Sandberg, Professor. Silent film, late nineteenth-century visual culture, theater history, 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
Jonas Wellendorf, Assistant Professor. Old Norse language and literature, Scandinavian mythology, Scandinavian cultural history (Viking Age and Middle ages).
Research Profile
Lecturers
Karen Moller, Lecturer.
Lotta Weckstrom, Lecturer.
Emeritus Faculty
Carol J. Clover, Professor Emeritus. Medieval studies (Northern Europe), film (especially American).
Research Profile
James L. Larson, Professor Emeritus.
John Lindow, Professor Emeritus. Old Norse-Icelandic literature, Scandinavian folklore, Finno-Ugric folklore, Pre-Christian religion of the North, Scandinavian mythology.
Research Profile
Borge G. Madsen, Professor Emeritus.
Gregory Nybo, Professor Emeritus.
Contact Information
Department of Scandinavian
6303 Dwinelle Hall
Phone: 510-642-2979
Undergraduate Student Services Advisor
Amanda Minafo
6303 Dwinelle Hall
Phone: 510-642-4661
Graduate Student Services Advisor
Seth Arnopole
6313 Dwinelle Hall
Phone: 510-642-9051
Fax: 510-642-6220