University of Washington Scandinavian Studies Department

University of Washington Scandinavian Studies Department The Department of Scandinavian Studies was established by an act of the Legislature in 1909. We offe

Hej alla! Jag heter Jordan och jag tog nyligen examen från UW år 2024. Jag pluggade både svenska och ekonomi. Sedan dess...
05/28/2025

Hej alla! Jag heter Jordan och jag tog nyligen examen från UW år 2024. Jag pluggade både svenska och ekonomi. Sedan dess har jag fortsatt min utbildning i Nederländerna där jag studerar hållbara strategier samtidigt som svenska! Förra veckan flög jag till Stockholm för att ta det nationella C1-provet på Folkuniversitet och jag klarade det! Jag är så tacksam över att ha haft Karin Filipsson och Kim Kraft som svenska lärare. De visade mig hur vackert den svenska kulturen och språket var. Det har motiverat mig så mycket! Jag planerar att flytta till Sverige till hösten! :-)

Hi everyone! My name is Jordan and I recently graduated from UW in 2024. I studied both Swedish and Economics. Since then, I have continued my education in the Netherlands, studying sustainability strategies and working to become fluent in Swedish. Just last week I flew to Stockholm to take the national C1 exam at Folkuniversitet and I passed! I am so thankful to have had Karin Filipsson and Kim Kraft as my Swedish professors. They showed me how beautiful the Swedish culture and language was, and it has motivated me so much! I plan to move to Sweden in the fall :-)

Last week, the Department of Scandinavian Studies and the Jackson School for International studies Studies hosted Dr. Hi...
05/27/2025

Last week, the Department of Scandinavian Studies and the Jackson School for International studies Studies hosted Dr. Hiski Haukkala, the Director of the Finnish Institute of International Affairs. Dr. Haukkala is also an Adjunct Professor of International Relations at the Faculty of Management and Business, Tampere University, Finland, and a Senior Research Associate at RAND Europe. Dr. Haukkala visited several UW classes and participated in a roundtable discussion at the National Nordic Museum in Seattle. During his visit, he gave a public lecture at the UW on the changing security dynamics in the north. Dr. Haukkala argued that the Russian Invasion of Ukraine is a watershed moment in European history. According to Haukkala, post-Cold War Europe was mistaken to rely on the peace dividend and not to recognize Russian ambitions to reassert supremacy over formerly Soviet-occupied countries. Consequently Hauakkala argued that Nordic and Baltic countries will need to increase their own defensive capabilities to meet current hybrid attacks from Russian and future acts of aggression. Finland joined NATO in 2023 and Sweden joined in 2023. However, support from NATO has been jeopardized as American support becomes more uncertain. Despite the Nordic countries having a large number of fighter jets, Haukkala argued that Europe will need to develop a credible deterrent that is independent of the United States in order to protect the sovereignty of its member states.

Gratulerer med dagen, Norgesmenn! The Seventeenth of May, or "syttende mai" is Norway's consititution day, and Ballard b...
05/22/2025

Gratulerer med dagen, Norgesmenn! The Seventeenth of May, or "syttende mai" is Norway's consititution day, and Ballard boasts the largest 17. mai celebration outside of Norway. Scandinavian Studies undergrad and grad students and faculty took part in the parade, marching to represent the UW dept of Scandinavian Studies and the Pacific Sámi Searvi. But that´s not all! Last Friday Norwegian language students received a visit from Norway´s ambassador to the US, Anniken Huidfeld, who had a signed letter from King Harald and Queen Sonja of Norway thanking all of us for our 17. mai greetings and hip-hip-hoorahs!

Curious what faculty in the Global Literary Studies are up to in their research? Faculty will be presenting a series of ...
05/20/2025

Curious what faculty in the Global Literary Studies are up to in their research? Faculty will be presenting a series of lighting talks (max 4 minutes) to share their latest investigations.

Our own Dr. Marianne Stecher-Hansen will be one of the presenters this year.

All are welcome! Open to the public.

Thursday May 29
3:30-5:30
Petersen Room
Allen Library, 4th Floor, Room 485

Do you like furniture? Do you like design? Come see Lars Vejen, the 2025 Distinguished Visiting Professor in Furniture t...
05/19/2025

Do you like furniture? Do you like design? Come see Lars Vejen, the 2025 Distinguished Visiting Professor in Furniture to speak at the UW College of Built Environments.

Thursday May 29
West Canal Yard, Seattle

Reception at 5pm
Lecture at 6pm

Space is limited!
REGISTRATION REQUIRED
email: [email protected]
Entry information upon confirmation

This event is supported through the generosity of UW College of Built Environments, the ScanDesign Foundation, Traver Gallery, West Canal Yards, and JAS Design Build.

https://www.larsvejen.dk/lars-vejen-about-me/

https://blog.scandesignfoundation.org/scan-design-foundation-uw-retrospective

http://westcanalyards.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/WCY_Brochure_Digital_v17.pdf

https://www.travergallery.com/

https://jasdesignbuild.com/

Thank you Estonian language students Megan, Anthony, and Florian and Finnish language students Vaugn and Alex for your p...
05/16/2025

Thank you Estonian language students Megan, Anthony, and Florian and Finnish language students Vaugn and Alex for your presentations today at the Spring Quarter Language Meet & Greet. These students shared a variety of motivations for pursuing their languages of study, but a common theme was "connection," beautifully summed up by Vaughn, who said the most important thing about learning Finnish at UW "is the people you learn it with ... We're a close knit bundle," adding "I've made enough memories to last a lifetime."

We couldn't agree more, and we hope you will all continue with your studies in our many language programs. Look at all the great courses we have coming up this summer and next fall:

1. Language student Megan shares her joys in learning Estonian.
2. SCAND 230: Intro to Folklore
3. SCAND 247: Scandinavian Women Writers (Women on Men)
4. SCAND 445: Nordic War Stories: WWII as Cultural Memory
5. LITH 101: Lithuanian Language
6. LAT 101/152: Latvian Language /Latvian Literature and Culture
7. FIN101: Finnish language

Yesterday we were lucky to recieve Dr. Tuomas Forsberg, Professor of International Relations at Tampere University, Finl...
05/15/2025

Yesterday we were lucky to recieve Dr. Tuomas Forsberg, Professor of International Relations at Tampere University, Finland, to hear his research talk, "Ten Paradoxes of Finland and Sweden’s NATO membership." Among these paradoxes, "NATO membership represented both change and continuity. For the region, NATO’s northern enlargement has both increased stability and heightened tensions. For Russia, NATO’s enlargement to Finland and Sweden was both expected and a major surprise. Yet, the greatest paradox of all can be that Finland and Sweden joined the alliance just before its entire logic was challenged by a new NATO-skeptical US administration." According to Dr. Forsberg, the pressure to join NATO mounted at an opportune moment when both countries were lead by social democratic prime ministers, who might have otherwise formed the opposition had they not been in power. With a groundswelling of public support for joining NATO in Feb 2022, the path for political action became clear. Finally, Dr. Forsberg believes that joining NATO will strengthen Nordic defense cooperation, because all Nordic members have equal standing in the alliance.

Dr. Forsberg's visit was partially funded by a special grant from the Washington State Legislature, “The Finland-Washington Research Exchange Program,” which supports a recently signed Memorandum of Understanding between The Ministry of Transport and Communications of Finland and the state of Washington intended to make Finland and Washington safer and more sustainable places to live.

"“But he hasn’t got anything on!” a little child said.""..were the unforgettable words penned by Hans Christian Andersen...
05/08/2025

"“But he hasn’t got anything on!” a little child said.""
..were the unforgettable words penned by Hans Christian Andersen when he wrote "The Emperor's New Clothes" in 1837. Remembering the relevance of Danish literature through history was a major theme of the 50th Anniversary of the Danish Program at UW, which was celebrated today. Dr. Marianne Stecher-Hansen, who serves proudly as the Georg and Nina Pedersen Endowed Professor of Danish Studies at UW, had the honor of sharing a short lecture on one of HCA's most popular and enduring tales. Inspired by a medieval exemplum, HCA adapted the tale to fit the emerging meritocracy of his contemporary Denmark, where professional competency was overtaking aristocratic heritage as the necessary and desired qualification for civil service. Indeed, the emperor's new clothes were invisible to anyone who was unfit for their position--the emperor and his aristocratic attendants who stood in the way of qualified professionals from working for the good of the nation. Thank you Dr. Stecher-Hansen for these rousing words!

The Danish program is sustained by the generosity of many donors and partners. This includes our Danish lectureship, co-funded by the College of Arts & Sciences and the Danish Agency for Science and Higher Education for the past three decades (since 1997). Currently, Morten Stensgaard Larsen is our visiting lecturer. The Danish program is also bolstered by support from the Scand Design Foundation and the “Inger and Jens Bruun Legacy grants.” Our deepest thanks go to Nina Pedersen, and her late husband, Georg, for establishing the Georg and Nina Pedersen Professorship in Danish Studies, which is held by Dr. Stecher-Hansen.

May the Danish program enjoy another 50 years!

Last month our department was very lucky to receive in our classes a visit from the Honorable Audra Plepytē, Lithuanian ...
05/07/2025

Last month our department was very lucky to receive in our classes a visit from the Honorable Audra Plepytē, Lithuanian ambassador to the USA. She joined the Honorable Mark Gitenstein, former US ambassador to Romania and the EU, for the plenary talk of the REECAS (Russian, Eastern Europe, and Central Asian Studies) conference hosted at UW this year. They spoke on the Future of Democracy and Free Markets in Central and Eastern Europe.

Congratulations to this year's scholarship recipients, who were celebrated for their dedication to the Nordic and Baltic...
05/02/2025

Congratulations to this year's scholarship recipients, who were celebrated for their dedication to the Nordic and Baltic language studies with a breakfast and a chance to meet some of the amazing donors whose generous support of Scandinavian Studies makes it possible for our small department to send many student abroad to improve and enrich their UW educations in the Nordic and Baltic countries. Thank you, donors, and congratulations, students!

Two weeks ago Professor Martin Cloonan of the Turku Institute for Advanced Studies in Finland visited UW to share lesson...
04/21/2025

Two weeks ago Professor Martin Cloonan of the Turku Institute for Advanced Studies in Finland visited UW to share lessons learned from his tenure as director of the Institute.

From the TIAS website: “Turku Institute for Advanced Studies (TIAS) promotes cutting-edge university research in humanities and social sciences. It is a joint enterprise between the faculties of Humanities, Education, Social Sciences and Law and Turku School of Economics, founded in 2008. TIAS aims to establish a community of interdisciplinary researchers dedicated to research excellence.”

The Institute offers 3-year post-doctoral fellowships for researchers to pursue interdisciplinary projects. Learn more:

https://www.utu.fi/en/research/research-collegia/tias

Martin’s visit was partially funded by a special grant from the Washington State Legislature, “The Finland-Washington Research Exchange Program,” which supports a recently signed Memorandum of Understanding between The Ministry of Transport and Communications of Finland and the state of Washington intended to make Finland and Washington safer and more sustainable places to live.

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Wednesday 9am - 4pm
Thursday 9am - 4pm
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