Contents
President's
Greeting
Hilsen fra NorTANA and
welcome to another issue of the Norwegian Teachers
Newsletter. Since the last issue I attended the annual
meeting of the US-Norway Forum, held in Washington, D.C. in
December, which I will report on later.
Also in this issue is a
report from the ad hoc Bylaws Committee that was formed at
last fall's Norway Seminar. They have several proposals for
you to look at, and invite further suggestions and
discussion by a deadline of April 20. Please feel free to
use the NorTANA listserv to continue the discussion. Just
send submissions to: nortana@stolaf.edu.
Some of you may have heard
about the threatened closure of the Consulate General in
Minneapolis, which has existed since 1906. I have good news
to report! On March 12 Consul General Ulf Christiansen
announced that the Ministry had decided to maintain the
status of the Minneapolis office as a Consulate General.
Christiansen said that the letters and contacts from
Norwegian-Americans to everyone from the King to the
President of Storting really made a difference, and that he
was grateful for the support. Unfortunately he will be
leaving us on April 7 to take up his post as Ambassador to
the United Arab Emirates, but Vice-Consul Ole Øveraas
will serve as acting Consul until his replacement is
named.
I hope to see you all at the
NorTANA lunch at the SASS conference, Chicago, April 26-28,
2001.
Margaret Hayford O'Leary
NorTANA President
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US-Norway Forum,
Washington, D.C. December 11, 2000
The meeting was attended by
representatives from all the main Norwegian-American groups,
including Nordmanns-Forbundet, Sons of Norway, NAHA and
Vesterheim, among others. Of great interest to NorTANA were
the reports from Kirsti Koch Christensen, president of the
University of Bergen, and Hilde Haaland Kramer, Coordinator
of International Education at the Norwegian Consulate
General in New York, who gave presentations of the
University of Bergen and its activities in the field of
student exchange and international education, and of the
status of Norwegian students in the U.S. They noted that
although the number of Norwegians studying abroad has
increased, the numbers in the U.S. have fallen. Of course
there are difficulties with Lånekassa policies, but
Kramer suggested that American colleges and universities
need to do a more aggressive job of promoting themselves in
Norway and also of developing agreements with departments at
universities in Norway that would permit Norwegian students
to arrange shorter study programs whereby they could apply
courses taken in the U.S. or Canada toward their degree
program in Norway. Christensen also pointed to the many
courses available in English at the University of Bergen,
and acknowledged the need for more publicity on their part,
as they are eager to have more American students.
The morning meetings were
followed by a lunch hosted by the Norwegian caucus in the
United States Congress. State Senator Roger Moe, (D)
Minnesota, spoke to the group about proposals for the
celebration of the 100th anniversary of Norwegian
independence in 2005. He felt it was essential that the
Norwegian-American community be engaged in such an effort,
and that some sort of gift to Norway might be appropriate to
mark the occasion. The Embassy will follow up.
Kjetil Flatin, president of
Nordmanns-Forbundet, announced plans to establish a center
to coordinate the activities of all Norwegian-American
organizations in the U.S. and Canada, modeled after the
Swedish Council of America, which was introduced to the
group by Nils Hasselmo. See announcement below for more
information.
Deputy Director General Jan
Gerhard Lassen of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs outlined
plans for cultural activities sponsored by UD, including a
celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Nobel Prize in
2001, exhibits of Norway as a Coastal Nation, Norwegian Ski
Tacks Across the World, the Vikings (continuing), Edvard
Grieg, and contemporary Norwegian architecture. It was
announced that the exhibit on display in Union Station would
be available for other cities, though some of the artifacts
would have to be returned to their owners, and details of
shipping, etc. would have to be worked out.
Finally the Ambassador's
Award was awarded to the late Ambassador David Hermelin and
his wife, Doreen, in recognition of their shared dedication
and outstanding contributions in strengthening the ties
between Norway and the United States. The award consists of
a lithograph by Norwegian artist Eva Harr and a diploma.
David Hermelin was appointed Ambassador to Norway in
November 1997 and resigned due to poor health in January
2000. He passed away on November 22, 2000.
Margaret Hayford
O'Leary
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New Norwegian American Foundation
Kjetil Flatin, president of
Nordmanns-Forbundet, announced plans to establish a
Foundation to coordinate the activities of all
Norwegian-American organizations in the U.S. and Canada,
modeled after the Swedish Council of America, which was
introduced to the group by Nils Hasselmo. Called "Norwegian
American Foundation", the organization will initially be
housed in Minneapolis. The officers include Leif Andersen
(president), Gary Gandrud (vice president), Stephen Prues
(treasurer), and Kjetil Flatin (secretary).
Louis Janus has been
appointed Administrative Director. The first set of
priorities includes gathering and disseminating a list of
all 17.mai celebrations in North America, and producing a
catalog of all Norwegian-American organizations. This
catalog will be available on the web and in
print.
Contact information:
Norwegian American Foundation
Louis Janus, Administrative Director
Norwegian American Foundation
Box 285
3722 50th Street
Mineapolis, MN 55410-2016
phone: 1+612.822.4810
fax: (none yet, will be 612.822-5061)
email: (temporarily) janus005@umn.edu
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NorTANA Business
NorTANA Stipend for CARLA
Summer Institute
NorTANA announces that it
will partially sponsor a NorTANA member to participate in
the summer institute: Developing Classroom Materials for
Less Commonly Taught Languages (June 25-29, 2001) sponsored
by the LCTL project and CARLA at the University of
Minnesota. Complete details on the week-long institute are
available at:
http://carla.acad.umn.edu/lctl-inst2001.html
or can be requested
from the
CARLA office (carla@tc.umn.edu,
612.626-8600).
The NorTANA stipend will be
$250, an amount that can be supplemented with several other
funding opportunities ($125 to submit to CARLA sharable
material based on the institute; $650 from the University of
Minnesota's European Studies Consortium-- funds available to
teachers from any institution, see http://esc.cla.umn.edu/stipends.html
for details.) NorTANA members in good standing are eligible
to apply. The successful candidate will be expected to write
a short article for the NorTANA newsletter about the
institute, and offer to share the material that is developed
with other Norwegian teachers.
To apply, send a note to
Margaret Hayford O'Leary <oleary@stolaf.edu>
(NorTANA president) stating your interest in attending the
institute, and an area you hope to develop material
in.
DEADLINE for submitting an
application is Monday, April 2, 2001. The award recipient
will be announced at the NorTANA luncheon at the SASS
meeting in Chicago.
NorTANA Name Change
Proposals
At the Norway Seminar in
October 2000 a committee was formed with the instructions
that 1) they bring suggestions to change the organization's
name to the attention of the entire membership, 2) elicit
suggestions from members not present at the Norway Seminar,
3) and finally bring the matter to a vote in the form of a
mail ballot sent out to all members.
Below is a letter submitted
to the Newsletter by Terje Leiren in early 2000. The
committee wishes to reprint this letter in its entirety
because it so clearly presents and delineates the issues.
Following Terje's letter is a proposal made by Chris Hale at
the Norway Seminar last October.
Special Committee
(Katherine Hanson, Terje
Leiren, Chris Hale, Troy Storfjell)
Proposal Submitted by
Terje Leiren
Proposal to change the name
of "NORWEGIAN TEACHERS ASSOCIATION OF NORTH AMERICA," to
"NORWEGIAN STUDIES ASSOCIATION OF NORTH AMERICA."
As a follow-up to the
beginning of the discussion at the Norway Seminar in
Bozeman, Montana, I would like to propose that the
membership of NorTANA change the name of our organization to
"Norwegian Studies Association of North America."
I am making this proposal so
that our organization's name fully reflects what we stand
for and thereby also demonstrates our inclusion of ALL
teachers and scholars and students of Norwegian studies
whether they teach or not. Over the last several years, I,
and several other dedicated members, have come to believe
that by calling ourselves "teachers association," we have,
inadvertently at best, signalled to those who do not teach
the Norwegian languages that this professional organization
is not for them. We have had difficulty recruiting members
whose interests are in political science, sociology,
history, etc. because they were not "teachers of Norwegian."
Even though our by-laws state we are inclusive, the title
says otherwise to many outsiders. I believe it is time to
take a serious look at how we can make our organization
stronger and better. This also includes how we can appeal to
a larger and broader constituency. Therefore, I am asking
that a discussion of this proposal be placed on the agenda
for the NorTANA meeting in Madison and that we change the
name of our organization to the "Norwegian Studies
Association of North America." (NorSANA or NSA, for
short.)
Sincerely, Terje
Leiren
Proposal submitted by
Chris Hale
One objection to a name
change for NorTANA is that it would necessitate a change in
the acronym. NorTANA (Norwegian Teachers Association of
North America) has become a recognized name and has received
an award under it. The main objection to the current name
seems to be that the word "Teachers" is not inclusive enough
and makes it sound as though the organization is meant to be
primarily for Norwegian language teachers and not for those
who deal with Norway in non- language courses or in their
research. My proposal is to rename the association to make
it more inclusive and to keep basically the same acronym.
Therefore, I would like to suggest that the name NorTANA be
changed to NoRTANA (Norwegian Researchers and Teachers
Association of North America).
Chris Hale
Letter to the Editor from
Lloyd Hustvedt
After Terje Leiren's
proposal was printed in the NorTANA newsletter last spring,
we received the following letter as a contribution to the
discussion. Printed with the permission of Lloyd
Hustvedt.
ed.
I ask that my statement
below be considered when and if Terje Leiren's name change
proposal comes up for discussion:
We already have a
Scandinavian Studies Society. Do we need or want a Norwegian
version of something we already have in larger format? Will
the name suggest a corresponding agenda?
NorTANA began, at least,
with an uncomplicated focus on problems related to the
teaching of the Norwegian language, and there was,
fortunately, no shortage of problems. I have no desire to be
parochial about this. If the proposed name change will
invite a dilution of or shifts in NorTANA's traditional
agenda, we should ask if that is what we want? If a name
change will not dilute or alter the former agenda, then we
might ask, why change the name? If a name changes is geared
to attract more members, social scientists in particular,
with no corresponding agenda changes, then an element of
sham enters.
I have been outside the loop
for some time. As long as the focus remains on "teaching," I
can only welcome the entry of as many social scientists as
we can possibly recruit. Leiren is right, the by-laws are
"inclusive" when it comes to membership, and the
organziation can, to be sure, use all the help it can get.
We might examine where social scientists and language
teachers share common views and where they diverge. Working
for an expanded Norwegian studies program in American
education is certainly a common cause. When it comes to how
we go about making what we already have better, we may have
little to tell the social scientists and they in return have
little to tell the language teachers. Here each must go
their own way and do their own thing. Can you think of
anything less interested in the problems of language
teaching than SASS? NorTANA must not drift in that
direction, and at all costs stay away from reading papers to
each other.
Lloyd Hustvedt
The committee invites all
members to submit additional suggestions or changing the
name of our organization. Suggestions can be emailed to
Katherine Hanson at kjhanson@u.washington.edu,
or sent via regular mail to 2920-B Fuhrman Avenue East,
Seattle WA 98102. As we would like to resolve this matter as
quickly as possible, we ask that you submit your suggestions
no later than April 20.
Name change proposals will
be submitted to the membership for a vote later this year in
the form of a mail ballot.
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Positions and Position Announcements
Summer Position
Open
Sons of Norway is looking
for an Academic Director for Camp Norway this summer.
Program dates are from June 20-July 22. Contact Liv Dahl at
1-800-945-8851 for more information or to
apply.
Position
Announcements
Anne Sabo has been appointed
to a tenure-track position at St. Olaf College.
Congratulations, Anne!
Seeking
employment
Forespørsel
angående eventuelt ledig norsklektorat.
Mitt navn er Ingunn M.
Sønmør, født 02.08.54. Jeg underviser i
norsk og engelsk ved Notodden videregående
skole.
Jeg har lenge hatt lyst til
å undervise i norsk i et engelskspråklig land,
og jeg sender derfor denne forespørselen for å
høre om dere har ledig norsklektorat fra
høsten 2001.
Jeg har cand.philol.eksamen
fra universitetet i Bergen (avlagt høsten 1982) med
fagkretsen nordisk hovedfag, engelsk mellomfag og allmenn
litteraturkunnskap grunnfag. I tillegg har jeg pedagogisk
eksamen fra universitetet i Bergen.
Jeg har vært ansatt
ved Notodden videregående skole fra 1985,og før
det var jeg to år ved Gransherad barne- og
ungdomsskole.
Jeg hadde permisjon fra
stillingen min fra feb.1990 til feb.1992. Jeg bodde da med
familien min i Sudan og Kenya der vi arbeidet for Kirkens
Nødhjelp.
Jeg er gift og har to barn
som nå er 17 og 20 år.
Dette var bare noen korte
data om meg selv. Fullstendig CV kan sendes hvis
ønskelig, enten på norsk eller
engelsk.
Jeg har forstått det
slik at bare noen få av de norsklektoratene som hvert
år er ledige blir lyst ut gjennom UD, derfor sender
jeg denne henvendelsen. Dersom dere har ledig norsklektorat
fra høsten 2001, håper jeg å høre
fra dere.
Med vennlig hilsen
Ingunn Sønmør
Ingunn Mælandsmo
Sønmør
Bolkesjø
3680 Notodden
Norge
tlf.privat; 35018643
e-post privat; bsonmor@eunet.no
tlf.arbeid;35027900
epost, arbeid: Ingunn.Sonmor@notodden.vgs.no
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Study
Opportunities in Norway
Nytt studietilbud for
utenlandske studenter ved NTNU
Det er med glede at jeg
presenterer vårt nye studietilbud til utenlandske
studenter. Siden jeg begynte som kontaktperson for
utenlandske studenter ved Institutt for nordistikk og
litteraturvitenskap her i Trondheim, har jeg konstatert et
behov for større fleksibilitet med hensyn til
grunnfagspensum og -eksamen for de utenlandske studentene
som har et studieopphold hos oss. Derfor har jeg i samarbeid
med mine kollegaer utarbeidet et tilbud som
forhåpentligvis i stor grad vil imøtekomme de
behovene disse studentene har, og som vil tilbys hvert
semester uavhengig av antall studenter som måtte
ønske å benytte seg av det. Vi håper med
dette å fremstå som et mer attraktivt studiested
for ikke-norske studenter og dermed øke antall
utenlandske studenter som til enhver tid tar et
studieopphold hos oss.
Som det går frem av
den vedlagte informasjonen, kan utenlandske studenter
fremdeles ta norsk grunnfag på ordinær
måte og på lik linje med norske studenter.
Samtidig har utenlandske studenter muligheten til å
gå opp til eksamen i kun deler av grunnfagspensumet og
få godkjente vekttall for dette. Informasjon om tilbud
til utenlandske studenter på mellom- og
hovedfagsnivå finnes også i vedlagt informasjon,
men her er tilbudene i stor grad i samsvar med våre
ordinære tilbud i.o.m. at det ikke har vist seg
å være behov for store avvik fra disse.
Studenter på alle nivå har mye frihet med hensyn
til valg av pensum, men de oppfordres til å utarbeide
pensumet sitt i forhold til de konkrete
undervisningsforløpene som tilbys under sitt opphold,
og i samråd med faglærere eller kontaktperson
for utenlandske studenter. Mer konkret informasjon om
pensumkravene på de forskjellige nivåene er
å finne på våre websider http://www.hf.ntnu.no/nor/inl.htm
under rubrikken "nordisk".
Vi har valgt å sende
ut dette brevet og vedlagt informasjon til én person
ved de instituttene der det er flere ansatte med norsk som
fagområde. Dessuten er vår adresseliste noe
mangelfull. Derfor ber vi dere som mottar dette brevet, om
å gjøre dets innhold kjent blant deres
kollegaer både ved deres eget universitet og ved andre
universiteter. Informasjonen om studietilbudet vedlegges i
noen få eksemplarer i både norsk og engelsk
utgave, men tilsvarende informasjon er også å
finne på våre websider under rubrikken "foreign
student".
Studenter ved universiteter
i Norden og Europa som ønsker et studieopphold hos
oss, kan søke stipend knyttet til eksisterende
utvekslingsprogrammer som Sokrates eller Nordliks, som
også har noen stipend til studenter fra Baltikum.
Studenter ved colleger og universiteter i USA kan
søke NTNU direkte om opptak ved å henvende seg
til Kjersti Møller ved Internasjonal seksjon, NTNU
(kjersti.moller@adm.ntnu.no)
for søknadsskjema og informasjon. Internasjonal
seksjon er også behjelpelig med anskaffelse av bolig
og tar seg av andre praktiske forhold i forbindelse med et
studieopphold i Trondheim. I alle tilfeller bør
kontaktperson ved INL informeres på forhånd om
studenter som planlegger et slikt opphold. Kontaktpersonen
samarbeider med Internasjonal seksjon med hensyn til opptak
og vil også kunne formidle nødvendig
informasjon om semesterstart, frister, m.m.
Jeg er selv ute i permisjon
frem til 01.01.2002, men min vikar John Brumo har også
overtatt som kontaktperson for utenlandske studenter.
Henvendelser bør dermed rettes til ham på tlf.
+47 73 59 79 97 eller på adressa john.brumo@hf.ntnu.no
Vi håper at dere og
deres studenter finner dette tilbudet såpass
interessant at noen vil få lyst til å ta et
studieopphold hos oss. Vi ser i så fall frem til
å kunne ønske deres studenter velkommen til
Trondheim!
Sarah J. Paulson,
NTNU
Graduate programs in
linguistics at the University of Tromsø,
Norway.
The Linguistics Department
at the University of Tromsø, Norway offers the
following English-taught graduate programs for international
students:
1. a one year program giving
a specialization in Scandinavian generative syntax and
phonology,
2. a two years program leading to a Master of Philosophy
degree,
3. a three years program leading to a Ph.D.
degree.
For the programs 1 and 2
students should have a background corresponding to a B.A.
with a major in linguistics. For the Ph.D. program the
students should have a background corresponding to an M.A.
in linguistics. There is no tuition. A limited number of
grants are available for students from (former) Eastern
Europe or developing countries.
The one-year program is
designed to prepare students for research in generative
syntax and phonology with special attention to the
Scandinavian languages. No previous knowledge of a
Scandinavian language or Scandinavian grammar is required.
The M.Phil. program puts special emphasis on the comparative
perspective in syntax and phonology. The first year consists
of course work. In the second year the students write a
thesis, often on a topic relating to their native language.
The Ph.D. program consists of 2 semesters of course work and
a Ph.D. dissertation.
The teachers include Anders
Holmberg, Knut Tarald Taraldsen, Peter Svenonius (syntax),
Ove Lorentz, Curt Rice (phonology).
The deadline for
applications for the year 2001-2002 is January 15, 2001 for
those who wish to be considered for a grant, April 1 for
others. For application forms and further information,
contact the following people:
Tone Haug (Foreign Students
advisor)
e-mail: kons.utl.stud@adm.uit.no
Anders Holmberg
(Professor)
e-mail: anders.holmberg@hum.uit.no
See also our web page
<http://www.hum.uit.no/lin/index.html
>
New Program in Bø,
Telemark
Scandinavian Studies in
Telemark
Telemark University College
is introducing a new fall-semester study abroad program for
undergraduate students in Bø i Telemark. The academic
component of "Scandinavian Studies in Telemark" offers a
choice of courses reflecting aspects of Norwegian culture:
history, literature, language, environment, philosophy,
communication studies, etc.; the social agenda includes
study trips to Telemark's coasts and high country which
focus on the interaction of these aspects, theoretically and
in the everyday sphere. Students engage in intercultural
experience through student classroom and field trips, dorm
life and campus activities, and through community
interaction. Telemark University College faculty and staff
teach and coordinate the program. No language prerequisite.
Application deadline is April 10. Late applications accepted
on a space-available basis.
Contact: Program Coordinator
Lisa Hjelmeland, Telemark University College,
3800 Bø i Telemark, Norway, at <scandstud@hit.no>
<www-bo.hit.no/scandstud/>
University of Oslo
International Summer
School (ISS)
The Oslo International
Summer School is a six-week summer program at the University
of Oslo, in an exciting international milieu, with over 500
students from 80-90 different countries participating every
year. Students can study Norwegian language at all levels,
or study a variety of courses (Norwegian literature,
history, art history, folklore, music, Norwegian society and
culture, political science, international relations,
economics, etc.) in English. For more information, contact
the ISS office at 1-800-639-0058 or iss@stolaf.edu.
Oslo Year
Program
The Oslo Year Program offers
students who have studied Norwegian language for at least
three semesters the opportunity to study at the University
of Oslo during Fall or Spring semesters or for an entire
academic year. Participants take one course each term from
the Oslo Year Program Leader plus courses offered for
foreign students at the University of Oslo. Some regular
University of Oslo courses may also be opened to qualified
studentsWe are pleased to announce that the Program leaders
for the Oslo Year Program are; for Fall 2001 Prof. Arne
Hassing (Northern Arizona University), and for Spring
Semester 2002 Prof. Audun Toven (Pacific Lutheran
University). Prof. Hassing will be offering a course on
"Religion in Norway: An Historical and Contemporary
Perspective". This is a unique and exciting course that can
only be taught in the religiously rich and widely diverse
environment of Oslo! Prof. Toven will be teaching a course
in "The Viking Achievements 800-1100". This course will draw
from the many historical sites in Oslo and the surrounding
areas. Both of these courses offer opportunities to view
Norwegian History from a unique perspective and make use of
resources not available in the US.
For more information,
contact the ISS office at 1-800-639-0058 or iss@stolaf.edu.
Scandinavian Urban
Studies Term (SUST)
- Fall semester program in
Oslo, Norway, with field study-travel to Sweden and
Estonia.
- Based on the Blindern
campus, lodging at Sogn Studentby, two weekend
homestays
Courses examine Norways's
social democratic state past and present, and Norway's role
as an innovator worldwide in its approach to issues such as
social welfare, the environment, women's rights, education
and international relations. Students take three
inter-related seminar courses with a group of American
students (taught in English); plus either Norwegian language
offered through the University of Oslo, or an Independent
Study Project on a topic of the student's choice.
All courses actively engage
students in the learning process and help connect theory
with prsent realities by bringing students beyond the
classroom through a variety of field experiences. Students
meet with political parties to understand the political
involvement of citizens in affecting public policy. They
visit diverse parts of Oslo for research on issues facing
communities. In Estonia they live with families to get an
inside view of life in that developing democracy. Students
report the field experiences as the highlight of their term
abroad.
For further information,
contact HECUA at 1-800-554-1089 or see our web site at
www.hecua.org.
Study/Work
Opportunities for Students
Camp
Norway
Sons of Norway continues to
offer Camp Norway in cooperation with Augsburg College for
college credit, and with Concordia Language Villages as a
"graduate experience" to students who have experienced
Norway at Skogfjorden or other language camps.Students must
be 16 years of age, but there is no upper age limit.
Scholarships are available for Camp Norway participants.
More information is available at <www.sofn.com>.
Sons of Norway also welcomes
applications for staff positions at Camp Norway. the program
starts on June 20, and staff need to arrive in Skogn a
couple of days ahead of time. Sons of Norway pays for
overseas travel, room and board, and a stipend. Please have
interested students contact Liv Dahl at Sons of Norway, 1455
W. Lake St., Minneapolis, MN 55408 or by e-mail at
ldahl@sofn.com.
5th District Sons of
Norway
Masse Moro Youth Heritage Camp and Adult
Retreat
We are currently accepting
applications for staff positions at two summer events,
Norwegian Heritage Camp for Youth and Norwegian Heritage
Retreat for Adults. The dates for the Adult Retreat are
Sunday, July 15 Friday, July 20. The Youth Camp orientation
will start on Friday, July 20, with camp running Sunday,
July 22 Saturday, August 4. Both camps feature Norwegian
language classes, crafts, folk dancing, sports, holidays and
lots of fun, all set in the beautiful pine forest of the
Beaver Creek Reserve along the Eau Claire River in
Wisconsin. If you are interested in learning more about
camp, please check us out on the 5th District website:
<http://hometown.aol.com/john1307/page4.html>
Staff positions available
are Director, Counselor, Junior Counselor, Cook, Cook's
Assistant, and Health Aide. For more information and an
application form, please contact Bjørg Corneliussen
at the address listed below.
Administrator: Bjørg
Corneliussen
N4177 Golf Course Rd, Brodhead, WI 53520
608-862-3072 (evenings)
masse_moro@yahoo.com
Back
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Grants and Scholarships for US Citizens/Residents for
Study and Research in Norway, 2001/2002
The deadlines for many of
these grants may have passed for 2001, but most are
recurring, so note deadlines for the following
year.
1. GOVERNMENT GRANTS AND
SCHOLARSHIPS:
1.1 TRAVEL GRANTS
1. Type of grant
The Norwegian Ministry of
Foreign Affairs and the Norwegian Information Service in the
United States are offering travel grants to members of
NORTANA. The awards are meant as a financial assistance for
teachers and graduate students visiting Norway for study and
research purposes. Within these general limitations the
awards may be used in accordance with personal
preferences.
2. Amount of grant
$ 750 - $ 1,500
3. Who is
eligible?
Citizens and residents of
the United States who are members of NORTANA. They must be
university or college teachers of Norwegian or other courses
in Norwegian culture or society, or graduate students who
have passed their preliminary examinations in these
fields.
4. Application
form
There is no application
form. Your letter of application should include:
- name
- address
- phone number
- date and place of
birth
- member of NORTANA
since
- suggested
amount
- outline of subject to be
studied in Norway
- what kind of grants you
have previously received from the Norwegian Government,
if any
- brief description of
professional position and education
- other factors you
consider relevant.
5. Applications should be
sent to
The Norwegian Information
Service in the United States
825 Third Avenue, 38th floor
New York, N.Y. 10022-7584
6. Application
deadline
15 February 2001
7. For further information,
please contact
The Norwegian Information
Service in the United States
825 Third Avenue, 38th floor
New York, N.Y. 10022-7584
Tel. (212) 421-7333
1.2 THE NORWEGIAN
EMIGRATION FUND OF 1975
1. Type of grant
In 1975 Norway´s
Parliament, as part of the celebration of the 150th
anniversary of organized Norwegian emigration to the United
States, decided to establish the "Emigration Fund of 1975"
with a capital of one million kroner. The purpose of the
fund is to award scholarships to Americans for advanced or
specialized studies in Norway of subjects dealing with
emigration history and relations between the United States
and Norway.
2. Amount of
grant
The total amount to be
awarded in scholarships for such studies in Norway in 2001
will be approximately NOK 50,000 - 60,000. Last year, the
individual grants were between NOK 5,000 and NOK
20,000.
3. Who is
eligible?
The grants are awarded to
citizens and residents of the United States. The fund may
also give grants to institutions in the United States whose
activities are primarily centered on the subjects
mentioned.
4. Application
forms
Requests for application
forms should be addressed to
Nordmanns-Forbundet
Rådhusgt. 23 B
N-0158 Oslo
Norway
Phone: 011 47 23 35 71 70
Fax: 011 47 23 35 71 75
E-mail: norseman@online.no
5. Application
deadline
Applications should be
received no later than 15 February 2001. Applicants may
expect to be informed about the selection of scholarship
winners during April 2001. The scholarships will then be
made available at any time during 2001.
1.3 THE MEMORIAL FUND OF
8th MAY
For more information, please
visit
www.folkehogskole.no/undersider/engminnefond.html
2. OTHER SOURCES
(This list is indicative of grants and scholarships
available from other major sources):
2.1 THE NORWEGIAN
MARSHALL FUND
For more information, please
visit www.noram.no/index_am.html
2.2 THE AMERICA-NORWAY
HERITAGE FUND
1. Type of grant
The America-Norway Heritage
Fund was established in 1985 by the Lutheran Brotherhood
Insurance Society, Minneapolis with a grant of $100,000 to
The Norsemen´s Federation and The Norway-America
Association.
The purpose of the Fund is
to award special grants to Americans of Norwegian descent
who have made significant contributions to American culture,
enabling them to visit Norway to share the results of their
work - via lectures, exhibitions, and/or performances - with
the people of Norway. In this way, it is hoped that
Norwegians will become better acquainted with the cultural,
economic, political and religious contributions made by
Norwegian-Americans in the building of America.
Preferred length of stay is
1-2 weeks. Activities should be scheduled between
October-April. Presentations will be planned at two to four
different geographical locations in Norway.
2. Amount of
grant
Recipients will receive a
grant covering travel expenses as well as a
honorarium.
3. Who is
eligible?
Americans of Norwegian
descent who have made significant contributions to American
culture.
4. Applications
Applications for the grant
are no longer accepted. Candidates will be selected by the
Board of Directors of the Fund in cooperation with its
connections in the United States. However, the Board of
Directors of the Fund will appreciate receiving proposals
for possible candidates. Suggestions may be sent
to:
Nordmanns-Forbundet/
Norge-Amerika Foreningen
Rådhusgt. 23 B
N-0158 Oslo
Norway
5. Further
information
Please contact one of the
above addresses.
2.3 THE
AMERICAN-SCANDINAVIAN FOUNDATION
Through its grants and
fellowship programs the American-Scandinavian Foundation
encourages advanced study and research in the Scandinavian
countries. For more information, please visit
www.amscan.org
2.4 SONS OF
NORWAY
For more information, please
visit www.sofn.com.
Please go to FOUNDATION.
2.5 THE JOHN DANA
ARCHBOLD FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM
For more information, please
visit www.noram.no/index_am.html
2.6 THE FULBRIGHT
STIPEND
For more information, please
visit www.iie.org
3. HIGHER EDUCATION IN
NORWAY: A GUIDE FOR STUDENTS AND INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER
EDUCATION.
For more information about
higher education in Norway, please visit
www.nnr.no/index.html
- Please go to NAIC, then to English version for the
guide
Back
to Contents
Publications, Reviews, and Projects
New
Publications
"Caesar is my captive":
Hegel's Influence on Ibsen's Concept of Freedom. Paul
Sandvold Baxter: Boston: Boston University, 1998. 341
pp.
Ibsen on Screen. Ed.
Jan Erik Holst and Astrid Sæther. Oslo: The Centre for
Ibsen Studies, 2000. 98 pp.
Quisling: A Study in
Treachery. (Vidkun Quisling.) Hans Frederik Dahl.Transl.
by Anne-Marie Stanton0Ife. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1999. 452 pp.
Jan Erik Vold og Jan Erik
Vold. Ed. Ole Karlsen. Landslaget for norskundervisning
(LNU) Cappelen Akademisk Forlag.82-02-19666-3. 393 pp. 298
NOK.
PBL i
språkundervisningen. om problembasert læring i
teori og praksis. Gunilla Oliveira and Maria Berggren.
Forlaget Fag og Kultur, 1999 166 pp.
82-11-00453-4
The Sagas of Icelanders.
A Selection, with a preface by Jane Smiley and
introduction by Robert Kellogg. Penguin Books, 2001.782 pp..
0-14-100003-1. $20.00
The translations in this
paperback edition were first published in The Complete
Sagas of Icelanders Volume 1 V, Leifur Eiriksson
Publsihings Ltd, Iceland 1997.
Kommunikasjon i
språkundervisningen. Gerd Manne and Hazel
Helleland. Forlaget Fag og Kultur. 1991. 315 pp.
82-11-00165-9
The Phonology of
Norwegian. Gjert Kristoffersen. Oxford University Press,
2000 384 pp. 0-19-823765-0 $99.00
The Norwegian language has
undergone considerable change in the last 180 years. In this
book, Gjert Kristoffersen, provides readers with an original
analysis of the ways in which the sounds and meanings of
competing languageas may change and evolve.
Norwegian Language
Map. Bilingual Books, Seattle, WA. <www.bilingualbooks.org>.
0-944502-12-1. $7.95.
This four-fold laminated
learning aid is designed to accompany Norwegian in 10
Minutes a Day, and is most suitable for a similar audience.
It includes vocabulary and phrases related to the following
topics: Meeting People, Asking Questions, Money, Numbers,
Mail, Telephone, Dining Out, Time, Calendar, Shopping,
Emergencies, Sightseeing, Transportation, and
Hotels.
Norsk
Litteratur-vitenskapelig Tidsskrift
A relatively new Norwegian
journal in literary studies, NLvT has now entered its fourth
year of publication. The journal's background is the growth
of the discipline in recent years, while it also reflects an
attempt to connect with literary scholars in other
disciplines; languages, philosophy, and the arts, and to
enhance communication and discussion amongst scholars of
literature.
The latest issue of the
journal (2000:2) includes four articles; an answer to Per
Buvik's reading of Michel Foucault's discussion of madness
and literature; and four substantial reviews. Reviewed are
essay collections by two young contemporary Norwegian
literary critics, Henning Hagerup and Tom Egil Hverven; a
close reading of contemporary Danish literature; a study on
Det norske Selskab and Johan Herman Wessel; and three new
books on the subject of reading.
At first glance the articles
seem to cover a range of subjects, from Welhaven's
loveletters and Knut Hamsun's use of irony in Børn av
Tiden, to discussions on Michael Riffaterre, the
biographical writing of Norman Mailer and the psychology of
William James. However, what strikes the reader of this
issue is the predominant focus on the author and a desire to
reinstate the author after decades of textual analysis in
which talk about the author has ben banned. Two of the
articles call specifically for a renewed interest in the
author and the "human aspects" of the text, echoed in the
review of Hagerup's and Hverven's essays who (as literary
critics) strive to make literature a moral question.
The article by Erik Bjerk
Hagen, chief editor of NLvT, is the most interesting in this
respect. In his article, Hagen raises bold questions, such
as what good literature really is and how the reader
connects (or not) with the author. Hagen wants to bring the
self back into the field of literary studies after a century
in which the self (both the auther and the reader) has been
highly problematized, decentered, fragmented, and dissolved.
Inspired by William James' ideas on the self as a
conglomerate of experiences past and present, Hagen sets out
to discuss the experience of literary qualitity in terms of
the relationship between author, text, and reader,
interpreting "good literature" as authentic literature,
meaning that the text speaks to the reader with a certain
power and intimacy. While arguing that we should maintain a
separating line between the ethical norms with which we
judge an author's action (such as Hamsun's obituary over
Hitler) and the esthetic rod with which we consider a text
(here Hamsun's work), Hagen argues that a consideration of
the author as the self speaking in and through the text may
be desirable when interpreting a text if it enhances our
experience of the text (in this case seeing the obituary as
wild, brave, and unexpected). Hagen enters a forbidden
territory in his discussion of "self" and "authenticity,"
but while avoiding the embarrassing notions of a
metaphysical inner self and the washed-out talk about an
existential outer self, he makes some refreshing points by
placing both terms in a relational realm.
Atle Skaftun also pursues
the author-behind-the-text in his article. Focusing on
Hamsun's Børn av tiden, Skaftun opposes the disregard
of the author in recent years' textual analysis. Like Hagen,
Skaftun approaches the author in terms of relationsin this
case as the dialog the author carries on with characters in
his text. Resting his arguments on Mikhail Bakhtin's
theories of socially founded dialogs, Skaftun thus
highlights the author's voice and the text as his
expression.
The two other articles in
this issue of NLvt are by Unni Langås and Per
Bäckström. According to Langås, Welhaven's
loveletters to Ida Kjerulf"the highlight of his
production"have never been thoroughly studied, only
"omtalt," an omission she sets out to remedy, studying the
letters as samples of a literary language of love
("litterært kjælighetsspråk"), marked by
romanticism's ideology of love and rhetorics in which
distance is what allows for the exalted language and the
idealizing of Ida. Relying on Julia Kristeva's theories of
the male egotist's use of two mistresses in order not to be
trapped by one, Langås shows how Welhaven positions
himself between Ida Kjerulf and Camilla Wergeland,
idealizing the former and demonizing the latter.
From a discussion of
romanticism's rhetorics of love, Per Bäckström
takes us to the semiotics of poetry. In his article,
Bäckström first presents the theories of Michael
Riffaterre before he tries these theories out in an analysis
of a modern experimential poem, asserting their value as a
tool, but not without pointing out the difficulties one
encounters in a practical application of Riffaterre's
theories. The problem, according to Bäckström,
with Riffaterre's semiotics (which are rooted in French
structuralism) is that they separate between a poetic
language and an everyday language, thereby ignoring large
amounts of text that do not match the "matrice" seen as the
governing principle of the poem.
NLvT follows the referee
system for publications, i.e. articles submitted for
publications are normally considered by a critical reader
(referee) in Norway or abroad. In their guidelines for
submission, NLvT points out that considering submitted
articles is a time consuming labor for the editors and they
therefore ask that submittors do not have the article
considered by another journal at the same time. More details
on submitting articles to NLvT can be obtained by contacting
the Editor Erik Bjerk Hagen via e-mail:
<erik.hagen@lit.uib.no>
There are two yearly issues
and the current editors are Kjersti Bale (UiO), Erik Bjerk
Hagen (UiB), Jon Haarberg (UiO), and Tone Selboe (UiT). In
the issue reviewed above, all contributors save a couple are
Norwegian scholars affiliated with Norwegian academic
institutions. However, in light of the journal's goal to
reach out and connect with a broad range of scholars dealing
with literature, it seems contributions from literary
scholars abroad would be appropriate and ought to be
appreciated. In any case, this journal enhances the line of
communication to scholars interested in contemporary
practices within literary studies in Norway, such as members
of NorTANA.
Anne Sabo
Promoting Nordic
Literature Discussion
Laurie Thompson, the editor
of Swedish Book Review, has initiated a discussion on the
difficulties of publishing and promoting Swedish literature
in the English book market. Roger Greenwald's contribution
(one of the first two) expands the topic to literature from
the entire Nordic region. You can read it at:
<http://www.swedishbookreview.asp/2000b-greenwald.asp
>.
Laurie welcomes submissions
from anyone who would like to contribute to the
discussion.
Roger Greenwald
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Online Courses
Online Reading
Course
I am currently completing
teaching a new course: "Norwegian For Reading Knowledge"
that I offered during January through March. Approximately
150 people responded to the initial call for participants
for this on-line pilot course, and about 70 were added to
the active student list (those that returned agreements
about their participation in the course). Of those only
about 12 students actively sent in homework.
I organized the course on
Blackboard, a web-based environment that allows teachers to
post handouts and homework, and provides a forum for
threaded discussions where students can post their comments
and read others' remarks. In addition Blackboard provides a
real-time chat facility.
I was most struck by the
students' enthusiasm. It felt like I couldn't feed them
enough material to satiate their appetites for Norwegian. I
had hoped to send out two lessons and assignments a week,
but that proved too much for my busy schedule, and at the
end was happy to be sending out one every other week. I
usually assigned some grammar reading, explained the grammar
in a "quick and dirty" lesson, trying to include as many
samples of the grammatical issues as I could -- always
bearing in mind that I was asking students to understand the
passages, not to create their own oral or written Norwegian.
With each lecture/ lesson, I sent out a reading assignment,
which always consisted in a web page about a topic I myself
found interesting, and hoped my students would also. I tried
to guide the readings with questions or suggestions for
approaches to take in reading and understanding. I found
several sites that offered simple quizzes on the material,
and assigned the students to try their hands at the quizzes.
More than once, the web page I was basing the reading on
disappeared between the time I finished writing the
assignment and the time I posted it.
I found the technological
issues of the course the most problematic. During the early
weeks, I got emails almost every day with students wanting
me to help them solve their computer or internet problems.
The threaded discussion part of Blackboard was cumbersome to
use, and students became frustrated with the lack of
organization in other students' responses. I found that
uploading lessons and assignments always took much longer
than I expected, and often thought that the session had quit
on me, so I uploaded it again, only to find the next day
that there were 3 or 4 copies of the same thing presented.
Time management for myself became a major issue, especially
because I got so interested in some of the lessons I was
developing and so involved in finding appropriate reading,
that the lessons became later and later. And when students
emailed me their homework, I tried to respond within a day
or two, but am afraid I fell short in my
attempts.
I focused entirely on
helping students learn to understand authentic written texts
in Norwegian. I discouraged word-for-word translations, but
provided several word and phrase lists with some of the most
commonly used terms in Norwegian. Some students took the
word lists I sent out and shared the flash cards they
developed with other students. While I don't generally think
flash cards are the best way to approach comprehension
(where's the context?) I felt that these students had a good
idea of what would help them, so I encouraged this kind of
active participation. One of the most successful lessons I
think dealt with strategies I hoped students would use. I
called the lesson "What to do while you wait for the
dictionary or some ideas about figuring out the meaning
without a dictionary." Many students thanked me for pointing
them in a direction that would serve them well for any text
for a long time.
I do plan to continue
developing this kind of course, and hopefully be able to
offer it under the auspices of a university's distance
education program, so that students could get credit.
Knowing the areas that are problematic in offering a course
on the internet will make the next round much more fun and
efficient for both me and the students
Louis Janus, CARLA
<lctl@umn.edu>.
New Online course at U of
MN
The Department of German,
Scandinavian, and Dutch at the University of Minnesota
announces an online beginning Norwegian course starting Fall
2001. This two credit course offers a new option for people
interested in an introduction to the Norwegian language and
culture for personal enrichment and travel interest, but who
do not live within proximity of a campus offering beginning
Norwegian or who cannot commit to a standard four credit
language course.
This online course will be
delivered via a web-based course site, but will also include
a printed textbook and materials on CD-ROM, such as audio
and video clips, photos, and interactive
exercises.
This course is a hybrid
between distance education and a regular on-campus course.
Students will have the flexibility to do much of the work
when and where they like, while at the same time
communicating and interacting with other students and the
instructor via email, threaded discussions, chat rooms,
audio-recorded message files, and if they choose, the
telephone. To facilitate this interaction, participants will
be required to move through the presented themes in a timely
manner in keeping with the syllabus.
Individuals interested in
this course will need regular access to a computer with
CD-ROM and Internet capability. To register log-on to
www.onestop.umn.edu
later this spring, or for further information contact the
Department of German, Scandinavian, and Dutch at
612-625-2080.
Karen Lybeck
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Note
from Norla
Greetings from
NORLA
Are you aware of NORLAs home
page where you find valuable links to all the major
newspapers' reviews of literature- and other stuff that
might interest you? Look us up on: www.boknett.no/norla
A couple of weeks ago we
sent a questionnaire to all recipients of our newsletter to
see if they still wanted the paper version in full, since we
have almost all reviews linked to the net from our home
page. So far we have not had any response from all our U.S.
contacts, but I hope we get a reaction.
NORLAs newsletter is now so
heavy that it would be great if we could only print what you
can't find on our home page. We have permission from all the
major newspapers to have their reviews linked to our own
pages. Several new fiction titles have now been sold to
publishers in the U.K. So you will have more novels to
choose from in 2001/2002..The U.S. is an even more difficult
market, but we don't give up!
All the best in the New Year
from
Kristin Brudevoll
Norla
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Norwegian American Library Collection
Norwegian-Americans in
Cyberspace
Norway's National Library offers a new key to unlock the
past
A visit to the new web site
of the National Library in Oslo brings you quickly to
Norwegian America. The key to a bilingual, multimedia
experience is: http://www.nb.no/emigration
and it is free of charge.
In observance of the 175th
anniversary of Norwegian emigration, the National Library,
in cooperation with the Norwegian Emigrant Museum at Hamar,
has developed a valuable web site that includes:
- articles and
excerpts/chapters from books in full text
- immigrant letters
- photos and
prints
- film and video
clips
- radio programs
- recordings of Norwegian
dialects in America
- bibliographies
- links to related web
sites
A click on the ship icon
that appears on every page, brings the user back to the
first page of the web site. A timeline gives a chronological
overview of important events in Norwegian-American history.
Material may be retrieved from the databasesuch as articles
in full text and photos related to specific eventsby
clicking on words that appear in blue. Here are a couple of
examples:
Bishop Neumann, wrote a
pastoral letter in 1837 in which he discouraged emigration.
His Word of Admonition to the Peasants may be accessed from
the timeline along with a portrait of the bishop.
President Coolidge's tribute
to Norwegian Americans during the centennial celebration
held in Minneapolis/St. Paul in 1925 may also be retrieved
in full text as well as historic film footage.
Johanna Barstad's
bibliography covering the period 1825-1975 constitutes the
basis for the selection of texts, supplemented with articles
published from 1975 until today. So far, 288 articles shed
light on aspects of Norwegian-American history and culture.
These include texts published since 1925 by the
Norwegian-American Historical Association in Northfield,
Minnesota. In addition, articles have been contributed by
leading specialists. These appear as "Articles about
selected Norwegian-American fields." So-called "America
letters" contribute to our understanding of the immigrant
experience, and many have been included both in English and
in Norwegian. The Norwegian Emigrant Museum at Hamar has
made about 500 immigrant letters, written between 1850-1930,
available for inclusion in the database.
The "photos and prints"
section includes portraits of many Norwegian-American
writers, church leaders, and other historical and political
figures. Emigrant departures, the Trans-Atlantic crossing,
settlement history; Norwegian community life in America,
paintings and satirical cartoons are represented in the 355
photos and prints found on the web site.
Several bibliographies are
also included, such as Thor M. Andersen's bibliographical
database Norwegians in America, which contains some 50,000
references to Norwegian-American life and letters between
1825-1930.
Genealogical records are not
included in the web site, but there are many links of
interest to genealogists. There are also links to
organizations, institutions, museums, archives, and academic
institutions, all with a Norwegian connection.
So far, some 6,500 guests
have visited the Norwegian version of the web site and 3,500
the English version.
Both the Norwegian Emigrant
Museum and the National Library of Norway hope the web site
will prove to be a valuable tool for researchers and that it
will promote interest in the Norwegian-American experience.
Dina Tolfsby
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Library Looking for a Home
Odd Lovoll received the
following letter from Frank Nelson, a strong supporter of
Norwegian and Norwegian American academic offerings. Any one
interested in his collection should contact Mr. Nelson
directly.
ed.
Dear Odd Lovoll:
Do you happen to know of
some organization, or some family trying to bring up the
next generation reasonably literate in the Old Country
language, which would be interested in receiving as a free
gift, in exchange for help with shipping costs from here in
Hawaii, some twenty-five shelf feet of books, largely in
Norwegian but a fair number in Swedish and a handful in
Danish? This is not essentially a research collection
suitable for a college library, but the haphazard
accumulation acquired over a lifetime: bound books and
paperbacks, some in excellent repair and others lamentably
in the process of falling apart, a few of them reference
books in history or literature, and the rest novels and
plays, ranging from classics to trash, and largely textbook
editions of poetry. In short: the kind of library most
likely to appeal to casual readers looking for "something to
read" in a long winter evening. I have been unable to find
any such among the handful of Scandinavians here on the "Big
Island". And I hate to think of the books I have loved being
pulped or tossed into some landfill when I am
gone.
Thanks for any help you may
be able to give me. I am now ninety-two and my time is
running out.
Beste hilsen.
Frank G. Nelson
1748 Waianuenue Avenue
Hilo, Hawaii, 96720
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