Requirements and Curriculum
Note: This information reflects the 2007-08 course catalog.
Requirements
Required for a major
Thirty-one hours, starting at 201 or above; an oral proficiency examination in Norwegian.
Recommended supporting courses for students majoring in Norwegian
Two semesters of another modern or a classical language and one or more linguistics courses such as 131, 135, 141, 241, 242, or 247.
Required for a minor
18 hours, including 345 and one literature course above 300; an oral proficiency examination in Norwegian.
Study abroad
A period of study abroad is strongly recommended for all minors and required of all majors. Those preparing to teach must spend at least one semester in Norway. All majors and minors are strongly urged to help maintain and advance their language skills by completing courses in the language during their final semesters at Luther.
Language Learning Center
The Modern Languages and Literatures department has a Language Learning Center in Main Building. Language students have access to computerized language learning materials, and to video study rooms where they may view prerecorded foreign language video cassettes or watch live international TV received by four satellite dishes. The Language Learning Center also provides language students with valuable work-study experiences related to their interest in languages.
Curriculum
101, 102 Elementary Norwegian I, II 4 hours
Speaking Norwegian from the first day of class, students learn to apply a practical knowledge, first to their own situation in this country and subsequently to selected aspects of Norwegian culture ranging from everyday customs and manners, travel and shopping, to history, the arts and education. Prerequisite for 102: 101, or consent of instructor.
139, 239, 339, 439 Special Topics credit arr.
185 First-year Seminar 4 hours
A variety of seminars for first-year students offered each January term.
201, 202 Intermediate Norwegian 4 hours
With the aim of developing the students’ ability to communicate in the language and to increase their knowledge of the country, the course combines readings, recent films, oral discussions, dramatization, and written compositions with a general review of grammar and pronunciation. Prerequisite: 102 or equivalent.
345 Composition and Advanced Grammar 4 hours
This course is for students who have completed four semesters of college-level Norwegian or the equivalent. Focus on developing skills in writing and reading comprehension. Review and practice of advanced grammar functions. The course culminates in a research project. Prerequisite: 202 or consent of instructor. (S, W)
346 Scandinavian Immigration History 4 hours
A study of the history of immigrants to the United States from Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and Iceland, and their descendants. Drawing on the rich ethnic resources of Luther College and Vesterheim museums, this course examines the nature of the immigration experience and the development within immigrant communities of a sense of old world ethnicity combined with a rising U.S. nationalism. Students taking the course for credit in Scandinavian studies will be required to do some of the reading in a Scandinavian language and meet one day a week in which the class is conducted in Norwegian. Prerequisite: 202, or consent of instructor. (HB, Hist)
348 Vikings in History 4 hours
This course covers the “Viking Era,” approximately 780–1070 CE. It will examine Viking society, religion and mythology, social structure, maritime technology and shipbuilding, political developments, literature and arts, and Viking expansion. Students will submit papers written in Norwegian, Danish or Swedish. Students without a background in Scandinavian studies should enroll in history 348. Pre-requisite: hist 149, 150, 241 or 242. (HBSSM, Hist)
349 Norwegian Folk Art 4 hours
Exploring the artistic, cultural and historical aspects of folk art created in Norway from the Middle Ages through the end of the 19th-century, students will gain a knowledge of traditional Norwegian values, customs, beliefs and way of life. Extensive use of material objects as well as slides of traditional Norwegian folk art, including architecture. Students will be required to do some of the reading in Norwegian. Students without a background in Scandinavian studies should enroll in foreign culture 349 or art 349. Prerequisite: 202, or consent of instructor. (HE)
352 Scandinavia and the Baltic 4 hours
A survey of Scandinavian and Baltic history (including Finland and Iceland), beginning with the Viking age and ending with the current status of the welfare state in the relevant countries. Special emphasis on the Great Power periods of Denmark and Sweden in the 16th and the 17th centuries, and on the emergence of Norwegian and Finnish national movements in the 18th and 19th centuries. Discussion as well of current political and economic issues in Scandinavia. Students must submit papers written in Norwegian, Danish, or Swedish. Students without a background in Scandinavian studies should enroll in history 352. Offered alternate years. (HB, Hist)
395 Independent Study 1, 2, or 4 hours
451 Survey of Modern Norwegian Literature 4 hours
Reading of representative texts from 1814 (the time of Norwegian independence) to the present. All readings and discussion in Norwegian. Offered on a rotating basis. Prerequisite: 202. (HE, W)
461 Henrik Ibsen 4 hours
Selected works of Ibsen, Norway’s preeminent playwright. The course will follow Ibsen’s development as it explores the cultural scene of his time. All readings and discussions in Norwegian. Offered on a rotating basis. Prerequisite: 202 or equivalent. (HEPT, R, W)
462 Modern Scandinavian Writers 4 hours
Selected reading from the works of modern Scandinavian authors. Offered on a rotating basis. Prerequisite: 202.
463 Norway’s Nobel Prize-Winning Writers 4 hours
Through the lives and literature of Nobel Prize-winning authors, Björnstjerne Björnson, Knut Hamsun, and Sigrid Undset, the history of Norway unfolds with its struggles and triumphs from the Middle Ages through Norway’s World War II occupation by Hitler’s forces. Reading selected works and viewing films based on them, as well as researching the authors’ lives and times, students will gain an understanding of the highlights of Norway’s history and literary production. Prerequisite: 202 or consent of instructor. (HEPT, R, W)
485 Seminar Credit arr.
490 Senior Project 1, 2, or 4 hours
493 Senior Honors Project 4 hours
A year-long independent research project. Applications are completed on the “Honors Program” form available at the registrar’s office, requiring the signatures of a faculty supervisor, the department head, the honors program director, and the registrar. Interdisciplinary projects require the signatures of two faculty supervisors. The project must be completed by the due date for senior projects. The completed project is evaluated by a review committee consisting of the faculty supervisor, another faculty member from the major department, and a faculty member from outside the major department. All projects must be presented publicly. Only projects awarded an “A- or A” qualify for “department honors” designation. The honors project fulfills the all-college senior project requirement.
For Scandinavian studies courses in translation, see foreign culture.