The graduate program in Scandinavian is designed to train future scholars, teachers, translators, and other research professionals in the fields of Scandinavian language, literature, and cultural history.
The department’s strengths lie in modern literatures (Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish), Old Norse and medieval studies, film studies and visual culture, and in broad interdisciplinary fields of the intellectual and cultural history of the North. Graduate students in this program are expected to work comparatively across the Nordic region using one specific language and literature field as a foundation. The program is especially designed to accommodate interdisciplinary work in all fields and periods.
The Department of Scandinavian does not admit students who have the M.A. as a final career goal; admission is granted to the combined M.A./Ph.D. program. Students with M.A. degrees in Scandinavian from other comparable institutions, however, will apply directly to the Ph.D. program at UCB and petition to proceed without repeating the M.A.
The Graduate Student Handbook for the Department of Scandinavian is the consolidated reference resource for continuing graduate students in the department. It contains the most detailed and recent statement of official departmental and divisional policies relevant to progress through the M.A. and Ph.D. programs, and students are encouraged to consult it regularly.