Spring 2016

Language Courses | R&C Courses | Courses in English | Graduate Courses

LANGUAGE COURSES

DANISH 1B: Beginning Danish

TuTh 2-3:30, B33B Dwinelle. Instructor: Karen Moller

Units: 4

ENTRANCE POLICY FOR DANISH, NORWEGIAN, AND SWEDISH LANGUAGE COURSES

  • No auditing is permitted in Scandinavian language courses.
  • Berkeley faculty and staff members interested in participating in the Scandinavian language classes must first consult the Scandinavian languages coordinator, Karen Moller at: kmoller@berkeley.edu
  • To enroll in a Scandinavian language course via UC Extension go to the Concurrent Enrollment website.

Classes meet for three hours of Danish instruction a week. Students will acquire basic communicative competence in all four foreign language skills (speaking, listening, reading and writing) within a cultural context. Danish 1B is the second half of Beginning Danish.

Workload: About five hours of work outside of class per week, a written midterm and an oral and written final.

Text: Puls 1 (and Puls 2) by Fanny Slotorub and Neel Jersild Moreira

 Prerequisites: Danish 1A. The course is not open to native, near-native, or heritage speakers of any Nordic language. Course cannot be repeated without prior consent from the language coordinator.

FINNISH 1B: Beginning Finnish

TuTh 11-12:30, B33B Dwinelle. Instructor: Sirpa Tuomainen

Units: 4

THIS COURSE IS OFFERED AS A DISTANCE LEARNING CLASS FOR STUDENTS AT OTHER UC CAMPUSES. PLEASE CONTACT THE INSTRUCTOR FOR INFORMATION.

A continuation of Finnish 1A offered in the fall semester. Three hours of language instruction per week. Students continue to develop the basic elements of communicative competence in both spoken and written language within a cultural context. Workload: about three hours of homework and preparation outside of class per week. Oral and written midterm; a final exam, including a short oral presentation.

Texts:
Sun suomi – Finnish for Beginners (2013)
Kristiina Kuparinen, Terhi Tapaninen, Karoliina Kuismam, 9789511261513, Otava

Prerequisite: Finnish 1A or permission by instructor.

ICELANDIC 1B: Beginning Modern Icelandic

MWF 9-10, 206 Dwinelle. Instructor: Jackson Crawford

Units: 4

Velkomin! Modern Icelandic is the language spoken by the 300,000+ inhabitants of Iceland, a volcanic island in the middle of the North Atlantic. Iceland was settled by Viking-era settlers from Scandinavia and their slaves, who arrived from Scandinavia and the Scandinavian colonies in Great Britain and Ireland. These Vikings colonized Iceland and Greenland and, briefly, North America. While Icelandic is a Scandinavian language, closely related to Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish, the remote location of the island and the pride that Icelanders have historically taken in their language has kept the changes in the language to a minimum since the Viking Age. This means that Icelandic has a more complicated structure than other Scandinavian languages, but it also means that learning Modern Icelandic makes it easier to learn to read Old Norse, the language of the sagas, poetry, and mythology recorded during the medieval period.

Learning Outcomes
The goal for the first year will be to comprehend spoken and written Icelandic relating to familiar, everyday topics, and to speak and write Icelandic well enough to satisfy immediate needs. In the second semester we will continue to focus on developing more advanced grammar skills, as well as readiness for basic social situations and common needs, while working on more fluent speaking and writing.

Texts:
(None as such; written materials provided by instructor)

Course Requirements
Homework/Attendance: 15%
Quizzes: 10%
Exams: 25%
Final Exam: 25%
Oral Exams: 10%
Compositions: 15%

Prerequisites: Icelandic 101A.

NORWEGIAN 1B: Beginning Norwegian

MWF 9-10, 106 Dwinelle. Instructor: Ida Johnson

Units: 4

ENTRANCE POLICY FOR DANISH, NORWEGIAN, AND SWEDISH LANGUAGE COURSES

  • No auditing is permitted in Scandinavian language courses.
  • Berkeley faculty and staff members interested in participating in the Scandinavian language classes must first consult the Scandinavian languages coordinator, Karen Moller at: kmoller@berkeley.edu
  • To enroll in a Scandinavian language course via UC Extension go to the Concurrent Enrollment website.

Three hours of language instruction per week. Students continue to develop the basic elements of communicative competence in both spoken and written language within a cultural context. Norwegian 1B is the second half of Beginning Norwegian.

Workload: About five hours of work outside of class per week, a written midterm and an oral and written final.

TextSett i gang 1 (Text and exercise book). Later in the semester the class will need Sett i gang 2, which can be ordered online. Instructions will be given by the instructor at the beginning of the semester.

Prerequisites: Norwegian 1A. The course is not open to native, near-native, or heritage speakers of any Nordic language. Course cannot be repeated without prior consent from the language coordinator.

SWEDISH 1B: Beginning Swedish

MWF 9-10, 235 Dwinelle. Instructor: Carl Olsen

Units: 4

ENTRANCE POLICY FOR DANISH, NORWEGIAN, AND SWEDISH LANGUAGE COURSES

  • No auditing is permitted in Scandinavian language courses.
  • Berkeley faculty and staff members interested in participating in the Scandinavian language classes must first consult the Scandinavian languages coordinator, Karen Moller at: kmoller@berkeley.edu
  • To enroll in a Scandinavian language course via UC Extension go to the Concurrent Enrollment website.

Välkomna! Welcome to first year Swedish! This semester you will get started with the basics of the Swedish language through exercises and practice conversations in class, examples and lessons in our textbook Rivstart, reading and listening to sample texts, watching videos of Swedish programs, and daily homework exercises.

Our primary objectives are to develop our conversational and written abilities in Swedish and to develop our listening and reading comprehension in Swedish. Our secondary objectives are to broaden our knowledge of Swedish culture by looking at contemporary and past Sweden, and to learn about how Swedish culture is interconnected with the rest of Scandinavia and Europe, as well as Sweden’s significance in the global arena.

Essentials of the course:

Three hours of language instruction per week. Students continue to develop the basic elements of communicative competence in both spoken and written language within a cultural context. Swedish 1B is the second half of the elementary Swedish course, Swedish 1A.

Workload: About three hours of work outside of class per week and option individual work in the Berkeley Language Media Center. An oral and written midterm and final exam.

Textbook: Rivstart A1 + A2 (textbook and exercise book)

Prerequisite: Swedish 1A. The course is not open to native, near-native, or heritage speakers of any Nordic language. Course cannot be repeated without prior consent from the language coordinator.

SCANDINAVIAN 101B: Introduction to Old Norse

TuTh 12:30-2, 6415 Dwinelle. Instructor: Kate Heslop

Units: 4

L&S Breadth: Arts & Literature

In this, the second part of the Old Norse language course, we practice and extend the language skills learned in Old Norse 101A. Grammar topics from 101A will be repeated and deepened as needed. Students will both prepare translations out of class and work cooperatively on translating Old Norse texts during class time.

We will read a broad range of texts, intended to give a taste of the genres and styles of Old Norse prose and poetry, supplemented by secondary literature illuminating the historical context in which the primary texts were written, transmitted and read. Students will also learn how to work critically with modern editions and reference tools.

By the end of the course, students will have a solid basis for literary and philological work in the Old Norse field. They should be able to read Old Norse prose fluently and decode Old Norse poetry. They should also be capable of analyzing and situating Old Norse literary works in their literary, cultural and historical contexts.

Course requirements: regular participation, weekly translation exercises, midterm, translation project, class presentation, final exam.

Calculation of final grade
Class participation: 20%
Midterm: 10%
Translation project: 20%
Class presentation: 10%
Final exam: 40%

The course is assessed via a midterm, translation project, class presentation and final exam. To receive full marks for participation, students will need to regularly submit translations prepared out of class as well as participating in in-class translation exercises. The final exam is closed-book.

Prerequisite: Scandinavian 101A: Introduction to Old Norse I

Texts

Michael Barnes, A New Introduction to Old Norse. Part I: Grammar. London: Viking Society for Northern Research, 2008. ISBN 978-0-903521-74-1.

Anthony Faulkes, A New Introduction to Old Norse. Part II: Reader. London: Viking Society for Northern Research, 2011. ISBN 978-0-903521-83-3.

Anthony Faulkes, A New Introduction to Old Norse. Part III: Glossary and Index of Names. London: Viking Society for Northern Research, 2011. ISBN 978-0-903521-70-3.

NB: all three volumes of the above can be downloaded free from http://vsnrweb-publications.org.uk/.

Rory McTurk, ed. A Companion to Old Norse-Icelandic Literature and Culture. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2007. ISBN 978-1-4051-6367-5.

Geir T. Zoëga. A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic. Medieval Academy Reprints for Teaching. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2004 [or any other edition]. ISBN 978-0486434315.

Additional materials will be made available to the students through bCourses.

FINNISH 102B: Intermediate Finnish

TuTh 2-3:30, B37 Dwinelle. Instructor: Sirpa Tuomainen

Units: 4

DISTANCE LEARNING COURSE!

 THIS COURSE IS OFFERED AS A DISTANCE LEARNING CLASS FOR STUDENTS AT OTHER UC CAMPUSES. PLEASE CONTACT THE INSTRUCTOR FOR INFORMATION.

L&S Breadth: International Studies OR Arts & Literature

Three hours of language instruction per week. This course will further develop the students’ oral communicative competence, their reading and writing ability and cultural understanding. Emphasis in will be on aural/oral language skills, strategic reading comprehension skills and essay writing. Reading in different registers with vocabulary development will be studied and discussed. The class is multi-level, and class material, homework and assessment will be adjusted according to each student’s skill level.

Workload: About three hours of work outside the class per week, including independent work with DVD’s and websites. Midterm exam and a final project. This is a multiple level course, repeatable for credit.

Texts:
Suomen mestari 2. (Sonja Gehring & Sanni Heinzmann), Oy Finn Lectura Ab. ISBN: 9789517924771

Texts and other study materials provided by the instructor

Prerequisites: Finnish 102A or consent of instructor.

Berkeley faculty and staff members interested in participating in the Finnish language classes must first consult the Finnish language coordinator, Sirpa Tuomainen at: sirpa@berkeley.edu or (510) 693-1052.

To enroll in a Finnish language course via UC Extension go to the Concurrent Enrollment website.

READING AND COMPOSITION COURSES

SCANDINAVIAN R5B, Section 1: Reading and Composition: Distant Shores: Travel in the Viking Age

TuTh 8-9:30, 221 Wheeler. Instructor: Rosie Taylor

Units: 4

All Reading & Composition courses must be taken for a letter grade in order to fulfill this requirement for the Bachelor’s Degree. This course satisfies the second half or the “B” portion of the Reading and Composition requirement.

The Vikings are remembered today for their raids—but they also made a name for themselves through their voyages to the edges of the medieval world. Touching down on four continents, they pushed the borders of the map in their endeavors as raiders, merchants, mercenaries and explorers. This course will follow the Norsemen on some of these journeys, beginning with local voyages in and around Scandinavia and expanding to their most far-flung destinations. From Iceland to Africa, Canada to the Caspian Sea, we will look to literary as well as archaeological evidence to explore the impact of the Norsemen on their foreign surroundings, and vice versa. Why did they travel? What did they learn in these foreign societies? And what did they bring home with them?

The aim of this course is to help students further their skills in reading, analysis and composition, and to feel more confident participating in existing academic debates. The semester will culminate in a research project designed for students to learn how to find, analyze and engage with secondary sources at the university level.

Texts:
The Sagas of the Icelanders (Penguin, ISBN: 978-0141000039)
Further readings will be provided.

Prerequisites: Successful completion of the first half or “A” portion of the Reading and Composition requirement. Students may not enroll nor attend R1B/R5B courses without completing this prerequisite.

SCANDINAVIAN R5B, Section 2: Reading and Composition: Engaging the Document: Non-Fiction in the Arts

TuTh 8-9:30, 121 Wheeler. Instructor: Ian Thompson

Units: 4

All Reading & Composition courses must be taken for a letter grade in order to fulfill this requirement for the Bachelor’s Degree. This course satisfies the second half or the “B” portion of the Reading and Composition requirement.

What impulse drives us to document the world around us? The urge to inform? To entertain? To agitate? To polemicize? Perhaps, even, all of these at once? This course focuses on this desire, and the manners in which the document is spun to these diverse and self-contradictory ends. In what ways is the document itself formed by its medium? What does the documentarian, whether through film, prose, or photography, hope to capture of the world?

This course investigates the means and methods of representing the world, and what it means to represent within the supposedly neutral realm of documents and facts. We will begin by exploring the photography and essays of Jacob Riis, the famous Danish-American polemicist at the dawn of the era of flash photography, into documentary films Häxan (The Witches) and the Five Obstructions, and ultimately documentary novels, namely Thorkild Hansen’s Islands of Slaves (concerning the Danish west indies) and Per Olov Enqvist’s The Book about Blanche and Marie (detailing the lives of Marie Curie and her close friend and victim of radiation poisoning Blanche Wittman). In each of these diverse works, we explore how a seemingly inert document becomes a creative medium with the very same power to compel as fiction.

Prerequisites: Successful completion of the first half or “A” portion of the Reading and Composition requirement. Students may not enroll nor attend R1B/R5B courses without completing this prerequisite.

SCANDINAVIAN R5B, Section 3: Reading and Composition: Traveling through Tales and Reaching Research

MWF 8-9, 235 Dwinelle. Instructor: Adam J Carl

Units: 4

All Reading & Composition courses must be taken for a letter grade in order to fulfill this requirement for the Bachelor’s Degree. This course satisfies the second half or the “B” portion of the Reading and Composition requirement.

“To travel is to live,” as Hans Christian Andersen wrote in My Life’s Adventures. In an age before airplanes and internet reviews, authors of travelogues acted as the gatekeepers for knowledge of different countries. They would find new markets for their publications, describe unfamiliar cultures, and generally shape public opinions in their home countries. Scandinavian authors are no exception to this, as they sought to define Denmark, Norway, and Sweden with and against each other.

Our reading list follows several influential Scandinavian authors whose works have earned them a place in national, regional, and international literary cannons. These writings demonstrably engage with the linguistic, gender, race, and genre politics of their time: Karen Blixen writes in her non-native English with a masculine pen name, H C Andersen blurs realistic travelogue and fantastic fairy tale, and Selma Lagerlöf embraces the fantastic in her state-sponsored geography textbook. With Edward Said as our guiding theorist, we can begin to examine Orientalism as it manifests in Scandinavian literature, as well as Nordic Exoticism.

In this course, we will distinguish primary sources from secondary, scholarly from popular, and define relevant research. With the critical writing background from R5A or R1A (the prerequisite for this course), we can focus on making innovative arguments in two main research papers.

Required reading:
Hans Christian Andersen’s Pictures of Sweden. 978-1500363710
Jonas Lie’s Weird Tales from Northern Seas, translated by Robert Nisbet Bain. 1475179073
Selma Lagerlöf’s The Wonderful Adventures of Nils translated by Velma Swanston Howard. 9781515201021
Isak Dinesen’s (Karen Blixen’s) Out of Africa. 978-0679600213
Edward Said’s Orientalism. 978-0394740676
A Pocket Style Manual, 7th Edition by Diana Hacker & Nancy Sommers (no earlier than 5th edition, please). 978-0205309023

Other readings will be made available through bCourses, such as “Fru Fønns” by J P Jakobsen and Benedict Anderson’s Imagined Communities.

Prerequisites: Successful completion of the first half or “A” portion of the Reading and Composition requirement. Students may not enroll nor attend R1B/R5B courses without completing this prerequisite

SCANDINAVIAN R5B, Section 4: Reading and Composition: Feud and Family in Medieval Iceland

MWF 8-9, 243 Dwinelle. Instructor: Molly Jacobs

Units: 4

All Reading & Composition courses must be taken for a letter grade in order to fulfill this requirement for the Bachelor’s Degree. This course satisfies the second half or the “B” portion of the Reading and Composition requirement.

Medieval Icelandic sagas are dominated by stories of feud & revenge. But beyond being thrilling stories of action and suspense, they engage important ethical questions: what offenses require revenge? What is appropriate revenge? How is a balance achieved between maintaining social standing and preserving social stability? Most importantly, what happens when your family gets involved? In this course, we will study the dynamics of feud and family in some of the classic stories of the Icelandic Middle Ages as a framework for learning the basics of writing college-level research papers.

This class is designed to fulfill the university’s Reading and Composition (R&C) requirement. Emphasis will be placed on argumentation, source evaluation, and research strategies. Students will sharpen their critical reading and writing skills through a series of short writing assignments, secondary source analysis, and a final research project.

Texts:
Njal’s saga – trans. Cook, ISBN 9780140447699
Course Reader

Prerequisite: Successful completion of the first half or the “A” portion of the Reading and Composition requirement. Students may not enroll nor attend R1B/R5B courses without completing this prerequisite.

SCANDINAVIAN R5B, Section 5: Reading and Composition: The Machiavellian Narrative

MWF 10-11, 103 Wheeler. Instructor: Monica Hidalgo

Units: 4

All Reading & Composition courses must be taken for a letter grade in order to fulfill this requirement for the Bachelor’s Degree. This course satisfies the second half or the “B” portion of the Reading and Composition requirement.

The purpose of this course is to familiarize students with the forms and mechanics of academic writing. As a guiding theme, we will read, analyze, and respond to short stories and novels that toy with our desire to understand characters’ true motivations – these are known as Machiavellian narratives, named after the Italian political theorist notorious for advocating trickery, subterfuge, and fear-mongering as effective methods of rule.

The power of Machiavellian narratives will be explored through following Scandinavian texts such as Victoria Benedictsson’s “From the Darkness,” St. St. Blicher’s “Tardy Awakening,” Hjalmar Söderberg’s Doctor Glas, and Pär Lagerkvist’s The Dwarf. While we may not be accustomed to thinking too much about a story’s narrator as a character, Machiavellian narratives raise the question of how much we can trust a story’s narrator. How do we know what the narrator tells us is true? Does the narrator have an interest in telling us certain things but not others about the characters in the novel? What does the narrator think of the reader listening to his or her tale? By raising these questions, students will become more adept at identifying manipulative narratorial moves, discerning and analyzing the power constellations governing fiction, and, most importantly, developing the analytic skills necessary to becoming successful academic writers.

Texts:
Lagerkvist, Pär. The Dwarf. Translated by Alexandra Dick. New York: Hill and Wang, 1958. ISBN-13: 978-0374521356
Söderberg, Hjalmar. Dr. Glas. Translated by Paul Bitten Austin. Anchor, 2002. ISBN-13: 978-0385722674

*Additional readings will be made available in a course reader or bCourses.

 Prerequisites: Successful completion of the first half or “A” portion of the Reading and Composition requirement. Students may not enroll nor attend R1B/R5B courses without completing this prerequisite.

SCANDINAVIAN R5B, Section 6: Reading and Composition: Other Worlds in Scandinavian Literature

TuTh 8-9:30, 106 Wheeler. Instructor: Carl Olsen

Units: 4

All Reading & Composition courses must be taken for a letter grade in order to fulfill this requirement for the Bachelor’s Degree. This course satisfies the second half or the “B” portion of the Reading and Composition requirement.

In this course we will read/view, discuss, and write about various Scandinavian texts and films that deal in some way with the theme of Other Worlds or Otherworldliness. Special attention will be given to understanding these texts in their national, regional, and global contexts, along with investigating the utility of various theoretical approaches to understanding these texts. Students will have the opportunity to focus on particular topics or themes that interest them throughout the semester and will write, in addition to several minor assignments, a Critical paper, a Research paper, and a Final paper.

Texts:
Nils Klim’s Journey Underground, Holberg
Peer Gynt, Henrik Ibsen
Brother’s Lionheart, Astrid Lindgren
Comet in Moominland, Tove Jansson
Kallocain, Karin Boye
Smilla’s Sense of Snow, Peter Høeg
Handling the Undead, John Ajvide Lindqvist

Course Reader

Prerequisites: Successful completion of the first half or “A” portion of the Reading and Composition requirement. Students may not enroll nor attend R1B/R5B courses without completing this prerequisite.

SCANDINAVIAN R5B, Section 7: Reading and Composition: Norse Myths and Sagas

MWF 12-1, 109 Wheeler. Instructor: Jackson Crawford

Units: 4

All Reading & Composition courses must be taken for a letter grade in order to fulfill this requirement for the Bachelor’s Degree. This course satisfies the second half or the “B” portion of the Reading and Composition requirement.

This class is an introduction to the exciting literature written in medieval Scandinavia about the Norse gods (such as Odin, Thor, and Loki) and the Viking heroes who sacrificed to them. It is also a forum for students to develop their skills in academic research, analysis, and writing by composing essays that engage with both primary and secondary readings on these topics.

Texts:
Crawford (trans.), “The Poetic Edda: Stories of the Norse Gods and Heroes.” ISBN 978-1624663567
Faulkes (trans.), “Edda.” ISBN 978-0460876162
Hermann Pálsson and Edwards (trans.), “Seven Viking Romances.” ISBN 978-0140444742
Ringler (trans.), “Beowulf: A New Translation for Oral Delivery.” ISBN 978-0872208933
“The Sagas of Icelanders.” ISBN 978-0141000039

Additional readings on bCourses.

 Prerequisites: Successful completion of the first half or “A” portion of the Reading and Composition requirement. Students may not enroll nor attend R1B/R5B courses without completing this prerequisite.

UNDERGRADUATE COURSES TAUGHT IN ENGLISH

SCANDINAVIAN 60: Heroic Legends of the North

TuTh 9:30-11, 88 Dwinelle. Instructor: Kate Heslop

Units: 4

Scandinavian 60 is a requirement for the five major concentrations in Scandinavian.

L&S Breadth: Arts & Literature

What is a hero? What use were stories about heroes to the societies that produced them? What is the relationship between heroes and gods (pagan and Christian)? Does heroic narrative preserve memories of historical events? Can monsters or women be heroes? How do heroes die, and why do their stories enjoy such a long – if not altogether blameless – afterlife?

Such questions guide our engagement in this course with the heroic narratives of the Northern Middle Ages. The course has a double focus: on the hero and heroic ethos in a period of radical cultural, social and religious change; and on a particular body of literature, the Scandinavian versions of Germanic heroic narrative. It centers on the Poetic Edda, a unique medieval collection of mythological and heroic poetry whose roots reach back into the Viking Age, and perhaps still further back. But we will also explore other manifestations of the northern fascination with heroes, covering topics such as the oral transmission of heroic narrative; heroes in visual culture (runestones, sculptures, jewellery); Latin-speaking Norse heroes in Saxo grammaticus’ Gesta danorum (History of the Danes); how the heroic ethos plays out in more realistic saga genres, such as the lives of the Norwegian kings; and the late medieval flowering of heroic narrative in the Old Norse romances. A look at the post-medieval reception of heroic legend in Richard Wagner’s Ring cycle and in contemporary media (e.g. Game of Thrones, the History Channel series Vikings, video games, popular music) rounds off the course.

Texts:

The Poetic Edda, trans. by Carolyne Larrington, revised edition (OUP: 2014).
Seven Viking Romances, trans. by Hermann Pálsson and Paul Edwards (Penguin: 1985).
The Saga of the Völsungs, trans. by Jesse Byock (Penguin: 2000).
The Sagas of Ragnar Lodbrok, trans. by Ben Waggoner (Troth: 2009).

Additional texts will be made available in a Course Reader.

Prerequisites: none. The course and readings are in English.

SCANDINAVIAN 106: The Works of Hans Christian Andersen

TuTh 11-12:30, 20 Wheeler. Instructor: Karin Sanders

Units: 4

L&S Breadth: Arts & Literature

Hans Christian Andersen’s (1805-75) international fame is primarily built on his reputation as a writer of children’s fairy tales. Yet his authorship is multifaceted and complex both in terms of genres and intended reading audience. It reflects the historical and cultural concerns of his time. His written production includes poems, short stories, novels, plays, travel descriptions, autobiographies and diaries and offers a unique perspective on psychological and social questions of identity in the ninetieth century. We will investigate authorship and death, writing and sexuality, religion and philosophy, politics and ideology, and pay attention to Andersen as a “visual” writer. We will look into his distinctive way of using the material reality he encountered, examine how everyday ‘things’ are anthropomorphicized to reflect the workings of human agency, and study how his seismographic sensibility to the physical world resonated far beyond the period in which he lived (Romanticism/Realism) and extended backwards to the Enlightenment and forward to Surrealism. Andersen was an enthusiastic believer in various modern technologies and frequently imagined future modes of transport and communication. He also produced a number of sketches and paper-cuts, and he posed for numerous portraits (sculptures, paintings, photographs etc.) The course will include examinations of these visual materials. We will also investigate the reception of Andersen in popular culture: film versions, for example, of his life and his works.

Texts:

Hans Christian Andersen’s Complete Fairy Tales and Stories.
All other required materials will be available in the form of a reader.

Prerequisites: None. All readings in English.

SCANDINAVIAN 120: The Scandinavian Novel: Intrigue, Murder, and Madness

MWF 12-1, 206 Dwinelle. Instructor: Monica Hidalgo

Units: 4

L&S Breadth: Arts & Literature

Plotting dwarfs, crazed lovers, megalomaniacs, and femmes fatales – these are but a few of the characters we will encounter as we examine the haunting narratives of classic Scandinavian novels of the 19th and 20th centuries as well as suspenseful modern Scandinavian crime fiction.

What sets these works apart is their ability to simultaneously tell complex stories about psychologically enigmatic characters, while at the same time raising challenging and even disturbing ethical quandaries. A guiding theme of the class will be to try to understand what it is about the formal structure of the novel that enables it to so effectively draw in readers to the ethical dilemmas faced by its characters. We will explore this theme reading classics such as Jacobsen’s Niels Lyhne, Hamsun’s Hunger, Söderberg’s Doctor Glas, Lagerkvist’s The Dwarf, and Høeg’s Smilla’s Sense of Snow.

Texts:
Hamsun, Knut. Hunger. Translated by Robert Bly. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1998. ISBN-13: 978-0374525286
Høeg, Peter. Smilla’s Sense of Snow. Translated by Tiina Nunnally. Reprint edition. New York: Delta, 1995. ISBN-13: 9780385315142
Jacobsen, Jens Peter. Niels Lyhne. Translated by Tiina Nunnally. Penguin Classics, 2006. ISBN-13: 978-0143039815
Lagerkvist, Pär. The Dwarf. Translated by Alexandra Dick. New York: Hill and Wang, 1958. ISBN-13: 978-0374521356
Söderberg, Hjalmar. Dr. Glas. Translated by Paul Bitten Austin. Anchor, 2002. ISBN-13: 978-0385722674

*Additional readings will be made available in a course reader or bCourses.

Prerequisites: None. The course and readings are in English.

SCANDINAVIAN 150: Studies in Scandinavian Literature: Magic, Monsters, and Miracles in Medieval Scandinavian Literature

MWF 1-2, 247 Dwinelle. Instructor: Molly Jacobs

Units: 4

L&S Breadth: Arts & Literature

The literature of medieval Scandinavia is filled with elements of what we would call the “supernatural”: the walking dead, giants and trolls, sorcery, and even Christian miracles. In this class we will explore the function of the supernatural in Icelandic literature and society. Using primary source materials in English, as well as modern scholarly writings on the fantastic, we will investigate the following questions: were supernatural phenomena believed to be true? Is it possible for us to tell? If they were not viewed as true, what role(s) did these elements play? What do they tell us about the medieval Scandinavian worldview, and how they understood the “human” and the “normal”? How did later developments in science and technology affect our worldview, and our ability to understand dramatically different cultures? In this class we will learn about the culture of medieval Scandinavia as well as various scholarly approaches to the question of the “supernatural.” Students will develop critical and analytical skills through readings, class discussion, and independent research.

Texts: Course reader

Prerequisites: None. The course and readings are in English.

SCANDINAVIAN C160: Scandinavian Myth & Religion

MWF 10-11, 170 Barrows. Instructor: Jonas Wellendorf

Units: 4

Cross-listed with Religious Studies C108 section 1.

L&S Breadth: Arts & Literature OR Philosophy & Values

As of January 27, 2016, this course now meets in 170 Barrows Hall.

Who were the Norse gods? Why did they have to die? And how do we know? This course presents a survey of Scandinavian myth and religion from prehistory through the conversion to Christianity (eleventh century), as illustrated in narrative and, to a lesser extent, archaeological materials. The approach will be primarily source-critical, with some use of comparative materials from other mythologies. By the end of the course, students should know the sources well, have an understanding of the major problems involved in this study, and be aware of the more important scholarly trends in the field. Three hours of lecture and discussion per week.

Workload: A midterm exam (20% of the course grade); a draft of term paper (10% of course grade); term paper (40% of the course grade); and a final examination (30% of the course grade).

Texts:
Edda, trans. Anthony Faulkes, ISBN-13: 978-0460876162
The Poetic Edda (second edition), trans. Carolyne Larrington, ISBN-13: 978-0199675340
Norse Mythology, by John Lindow, ISBN-13: 978-0195153828

All other readings are to be found in the course reader which will be made available through bCourses.

Prerequisites: None, although some background in folklore and mythology, religious studies, medieval literature and history, or Scandinavian culture are likely to prove helpful.

GRADUATE COURSES

SCANDINAVIAN 220: Early Scandinavian Literature: The Beginnings of Old Norse Literature

M 1-4, 6415 Dwinelle. Instructor: Jonas Wellendorf

Units: 4

This seminar will focus on the earliest phase of Old Norse (written) literature and the core philological skills of medieval Scandinavian studies; including reading, transcribing, dating, and normalizing original Old Norse texts from facsimiles. We will also consider editorial practices and the history of Old Norse studies.

Texts: We will read the First Grammatical Treatise, ÍslendingabókHungrvaka and other pre-classical Icelandic and Norwegian texts. Secondary readings will be in English and the modern Scandinavian languages.

Prerequisite: At least one semester of Old Norse-Icelandic.

SCANDINAVIAN 250: Scandinavian Literature Seminar: Ecology and Culture

Tu 2-5, 6415 Dwinelle. Instructor: Linda Rugg

Units: 4

A detailed description is forthcoming.

Texts: to be announced.

Prerequisites: Graduate standing; consent of instructor

SCANDINAVIAN 300B, Section 1: Teaching Practicum: Scandinavian Languages

MWF 8-9/TBD, 6410 Dwinelle. Instructor: Karen Moller

Units: 1

REQUIRED OF SCANDINAVIAN DEPARTMENT GSIs TEACHING LANGUAGE COURSES

This course is required of all Graduate Student Instructors teaching Norwegian and Swedish courses in the Scandinavian Department. Language GSIs also enroll in Scandinavian 300A, Methods of Teaching Scandinavian Languages.

Prerequisite: GSI status in the Department of Scandinavian.

SCANDINAVIAN 300B, Section 2: Teaching Practicum: Reading & Composition for Scandinavian GSIs

MWF 8-9/TBD, 6408 Dwinelle. Instructor: Jonas Wellendorf

Units: 1

REQUIRED OF SCANDINAVIAN DEPARTMENT GSIs TEACHING READING & COMPOSITION

This course is required of all Graduate Student Instructors teaching Reading & Composition courses in the Scandinavian Department. Reading and Composition GSIs also enroll in Prof. Wellendorf’s Scandinavian 301, Section 2 course for 3 units.

Prerequisite: GSI status in the Department of Scandinavian.

SCANDINAVIAN 301, Section 1: Teaching Methodology: Scandinavian Languages

TuTh 8-9:30/TBD, 6410 Dwinelle. Instructor: Karen Moller

Units: 3

REQUIRED OF SCANDINAVIAN DEPARTMENT GSIs TEACHING LANGUAGE COURSES

This course is required of all Graduate Student Instructors teaching language courses in the Scandinavian Department. Language GSIs also enroll in Karen Moller’s Scandinavian 300B, section 1, language teaching practicum, for 1 unit. Must be taken on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis.

Prerequisite: Employment as graduate student instructor in the Department of Scandinavian.

SCANDINAVIAN 301, Section 2: Teaching Methodology: Reading & Composition

TuTh 8-9:30/TBD, 6408 Dwinelle. Instructor: Jonas Wellendorf

Units: 3

REQUIRED OF SCANDINAVIAN DEPARTMENT GSIs TEACHING READING & COMPOSITION

This course is required of all Graduate Student Instructors teaching Reading & Composition courses in the Scandinavian Department. Reading and Composition GSIs also enroll in Prof. Wellendorf’s Scandinavian 300B, Section 2 course for 1 unit.

Course to be repeated for credit each semester of employment as graduate student instructor. The purpose of this course is to introduce new GSIs to teaching Scandinavian R5A and R5B. It will focus on preparation of teaching materials, including syllabi, and discussion of questions of pedagogy (teaching literature and writing, lecturing, leading class discussions, designing writing assignments, grading and formulating responses to student papers, working with students individually and in small groups). The course will help you prepare for a career as a college teacher of literature and for the teaching component of job applications. Must be taken on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis.

Prerequisite: Employment as graduate student instructor in the Department of Scandinavian.