There are independent studies, and then there are fiercely independent studies. Find your true north in a wide range of Scandinavian studies courses covering everything from Vikings to contemporary cinema and beyond.
Welcome to the Scandinavian Program at the University of Illinois! Our program offers a friendly and supportive environment. Courses range from Old Norse sagas and mythology to contemporary film, literature, design, and multiculturalism. The program emphasizes Scandinavian’s position in a global, multi-ethnic world and its relationship to the European Union. Interdisciplinary and comparative approaches guide the teaching, research, and outreach of the program.
We offer two Scandinavian languages (Swedish and Old Norse) as well as a number of General Education, upper-division and graduate courses. These can be combined for an undergraduate Minor in Scandinavian Studies or a Concentration in Scandinavian Studies for the Major in German. Danish and Norwegian language courses can be taken abroad, and receive credit upon your return to the University of Illinois.
Students involved our program come from many different disciplines on campus, and go on to pursue a range of careers, including education, journalism, translation, civil service, and non-profits. The Scandinavian faculty work with undergraduate and graduate students in German, Comparative and World Literature, Linguistics, Theatre, Music, English, Library and Information Science, History, Engineering, Philosophy, and Geology, among others fields.
Many students take advantage of several excellent Study Abroad programs in Scandinavia. Among the most popular are: KTH-Royal Institute of Technology and Uppsala University in Sweden, Oslo University in Norway, and study in Copenhagen, Denmark.
The Scandinavian Program has recently received grants from the Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation and the Swedish Institute, as well as from the University of Illinois European Union Center, CIBER, and the School of Literatures, Cultures, and Linguistics.
Let your journey into the unknown begin here! Rewards and adventures await. See Dr. Theo Malekin or the department's undergraduate advisor for more information.