Scott Mellor
Credentials: Nordic
Position title: Teaching Professor
Email: samellor@wisc.edu
Address:
Office Number: 1310 Van Hise Hall
Language(s): High Proficiency: Swedish Reading and Communication Skills: Danish, French, German, Icelandic, Norwegian, Russian, Spanish Reading Languages: Gothic, Latin, Middle English, Old English, Old High German, Old Norse
Research/Language Interests: Scandinavian Studies, Folklore Studies, Medieval Studies, Medieval through 19th century literature.
About Me: I have been at the University of Wisconsin-Madison since September 1989. I started with an interest in Historical Scandinavian Linguistics, which has grown to a general interest in medieval Scandinavia. My dissertation was written on the transition from orality to literacy in Scandinavia, dealing mostly with Codex Regius. The Dissertation title is Function and Formula: An Analysis of Ten Poems from the Codex Regius. My research interests currently consist of Oral Theory and The Volsunga Saga, I have just completed an article and translation on Saint Ansgar and his mission to Sweden and finally HC Andersen’s use of Romantic era flower language in his texts and “The Little Mermaid”. I am currently working on a project on the folk life on the Åland islands. I am currently the Norden House Faculty Director, the Scandinavian language floor with the International Learning Community, and a faculty fellow for the Bradley Learning community. I have created several distance education course; one for the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, The Vikings; I worked with Niels Ingwersen on a DVD set for the distance course The Tale of Hans Christian Andersen; and Susan Brantly on a distance course on 19th Century Scandinavian Literature. I am also currently a member of the Humanities Council of Wisconsin’s Speakers Bureau.
Affiliated Departments: Department of Comparative Literature, Religions Studies, Medieval Studies
Education:
• University of Wisconsin-Madison, Ph.D. in Advanced Folklore Studies Dissertation: “Function and Formula: An Analysis of Ten Poems from the Codex Regius” (1992-99)
• University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Scandinavian Studies, Master of Arts Degree in Scandinavian Linguistics (1989-92)
• University of Minnesota, Department of Applied Linguistics English as a Second Language Teaching (1987-88)
• University of Minnesota, Department of Linguistics Bachelor of Arts Degree in Linguistics (1983-84, 1986-87)
• Goethe Institute; Staufen, BRD, German Language and Literature (1984-85)
LIST OF PUBLICATIONS