Nordic
History of Scandinavian Studies (Nordic) at UW-Madison
Established in 1875, the Department of Scandinavian Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is the oldest Scandinavian Studies department in the United States. Since its founding, the department has offered a variety of courses on literature, language/linguistics, culture, philology, and folklore, within the field of Scandinavian and Nordic.
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Nordic News
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Norwegian Civil Resistance of the Nazi Occupation: 1940-1945
By Kourtney Juhl Minnesota State University, Mankato After finally gaining independence in 1905,[1] Norway had been a nation intent on building a national identity and relishing their freedom. The Norwegian Kingdom had…
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Subsistence Change for the Norse Vikings at Brattahlid, Greenland
By Jennifer Lien University of Wisconsin–Madison The immigration of the Viking pioneers to the North Atlantic islands was a period of expansive exploration, settlement, and colonization. Primary sources such as the King’s…
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At the Intersection of Religion and Divorce in History: A Comparative Analysis of Short Stories by Amalie Skram and Kate Chopin
By Ellen Robison University of Wisconsin–Madison Author and scholar Reza Aslan argues that “literature offers not just a window into the culture of diverse regions, but also the society, the politics; it’s…
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Article in The Conversation: Bonfires, Maypoles and a saint’s day: How Europe celebrates the longest day of the year
Thomas DuBois recently published an article in The Conversation. You can read it here:
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Announcing 2026-2027 Polish Language, Literature, and Culture Awards
The UW–Madison Polish Program is pleased to announce the winners of the Lapinski and Gąsiorowska awards for the academic year 2026-2027. Among the awardees are undergraduate and graduate students who will receive…
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Journal of Finnish Studies Podcast with Tom DuBois
Tom DuBois was joined by Anne Mäntynen, professor of nonfiction in the Finnish language department at the University of Helsinki, to discuss the Journal of Finnish Studies on November 24, 2025. The…
Nordic Program Partners
Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Culture
The Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Cultures is committed to the languages and cultural traditions of this region’s diverse peoples. We foster research and the preservation of archival collections, while producing educational and outreach programs for a broad public audience. We also assist community groups, classrooms, and scholars with projects involving Upper Midwestern Cultures
Scan-Design Fellowship
In 2010, the ScanDesign Foundation by Inger and Jens Bruun, based in Seattle, Washington, established a study abroad fellowship program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The program is designed to foster Danish-American relations by providing generous financial support to undergraduate and graduate students who have been accepted to study abroad in Denmark.
Folklore Program
The Folklore Program is a multidisciplinary field of study concerned with the documentation and analysis of verbal, customary, musical, material, and performance traditions. From oral stories to folksongs, dance to fiber arts, students in the Folklore Program use ethnographic methods to examine how traditions are sustained, revived, modified, or invented by individuals and communities. The Folklore Program is housed within GNS+ and offers courses on form, theory, methods, and public presentation, with an emphasis on cross-cultural approaches.
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