University of Washington Scandinavian Studies Department

Thanks to everyone for following along with our summer study abroad on art and activism this last month! Our last official day was last Friday, and everyone is now back home — unless they’re traveling somewhere else before autumn quarter stars next month!

On our last day, we met with art historian and artist Jacob Kimvall at Konstfack, who first gave a lecture on the history of graffiti / style writing in Stockholm and then led a workshop at the “open” (legal!) Tantoväggen, where aspiring and experienced style writing artists alike can practice their craft. Go Huskies!

1 Go dawgs 🐾
2 Students applying their newly-learned techniques
Memories:
3 Picnicking on Artipelag
4 Making music
5 Making art in Helsinki
6 ASMR(t) at the Design Music
7 Timbuktu’s concert

Hej alla sammen! My name’s Lexi, and this is probably one of the last Instagram posts of the UW Art and Activism study abroad trip here in Sweden. We’ll all be flying back home in a couple of days—it’s crazy to think about how fast these four weeks have gone by!

Today was pretty relaxed. We started off with a debrief out in front of the hostel. The weather here has been really nice, so I think we all enjoyed spending some time outdoors. Our conversation was mainly centered around linguistic landscape and language learning, and afterwards Kim and Lauren hosted some “office hours” out on the lawn.

Afterwards a few of us ventured back out to Gamla Stan. It’s definitely a more touristy area, but there are some great bookstores to find there! To end the day, though, plenty of us decided to visit the nearby lake and enjoy the sun before we once again return to the doom and gloom of Seattle. Overall, a very nice day to start to round out the trip!

Moi! Minä olen Wylie! I’m in charge of the Instagram account for our last day in Finland! 🇫🇮 Our group started the day at the apartments. We discussed what we have learned in Finland, participated in a mindfulness exercise, and previewed our day! We walked along the vibrant Helsinki waterfront and through the city center to the Design Museum in the Ullanlinna district. The Design Museum displays artifacts and art pieces exhibiting Finnish and Nordic design. The exhibits explored wear and repair of objects and our perception of new and worn objects, traditional and industrial design, and the enormously influential mid-century Nordic design style. Standout Finnish designers from the mid-twentieth century include Armi Ratia, the founder of the company Marimekko and its distinctive colorful fabric pattern, and Eero Aarnio, the inventor of the iconic ball-shaped chair.🪑Also in the museum were elements of Finnish game design, including the massively popular mobile games Angry Birds and Clash of Clans. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about the enormous impacts of Finnish design on the world and the clever ways these designers created their works. After a quick lunch, we then said Moi Moi! to Finland and boarded our ferry back to Stockholm. 🛳️ I’d have to say my favorite activity of the program so far was exploring Suomenlinna, an 18th century fort on an island outside of Helsinki. Overall though, I loved Finland. Throughout our brief stay in Helsinki, I experienced a country of remarkable resilience in times of distress, a culture of wellbeing and social vitality, and beautiful natural and urban landscapes. 🌲

Moi! Minä olen Emily and I’m taking over the instagram today! It is our 2nd day in Helsinki, and we had a free day!

A group of us spent the morning a 15 minute ferry ride away at Suomenlinna. Suomelinna is a fortress built in 1748. The fortress was built for defense for Sweden against Russia. It was first put into use in 1788 as a naval base when war broke out between Russia and Sweden. In 1809 the fortress was surrendered to the Russian army and remained in their hands for 110 years. The fortress finally returned to the Finnish army during the Finnish Civil War and was named Suomelinna. Today the fortress is a UNESCO Heritage Site and it one of the most popular places to visit in all of Finland! We stopped at a cafe on the island for some Fika with views of the Baltic Sea before heading back to Katajanokka, the area where we’re staying.

After a lunch break, I spent the afternoon exploring and shopping around Helsinki. It’s been so fun to be in a new city these past couple days, and I look forward to learning, exploring, and growing more in the days to come! Moi moi!

Tervetuloa Helsinkiin (Welcome to Helsinki)
Today, we went on a Helsinki city walking tour. Helsinki is Finland’s largest city and capitol. The capitol was moved here from Turku in 1812

Helsinki Cathedral
The cathedral was completed in 1852 and is a part of the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran church. Before the cathedral, there was a small wooden church and cemetery here. Carl Ludvig Engel designed the cathedral but died before it was completed. One of Engel’s students took over after Engel’s death and made some changes to its design.

Eastern Orthodox Cathedral
This cathedral was commissioned along with Helsinki cathedral. The bricks used for the cathedral were taken from a fortress in Åland.

University of Helsinki main building. This building was designed by Carl Ludvig Engel.

The Presidential Palace.
This building is where the Finnish president works. The current Finnish president is Alexander Stubb.

Statue by Viktor Jansson. Jansson used his daughter Tove as a model for this statue. Tove Jansson was also an artist as well as an author. She is best known for creating the Moomins.

Tom of Finland
Touko Laaksonen (1920-1991), known as Tom of Finland, was a Finnish artist. His work focused on combating stereotypes about gay men. Today, we had a guest lecturer come and tell us about Tom of Finland, including his artistic style and the impact his work has had on Finnish culture.

Moi, minä olen Minami! I’m your instagram host for today.

After spending the night traveling on a ferry from Stockholm, we finally arrived at our second destination… Helsinki, Finland. We started off our day by walking through Helsinki’s city center to our hostel, where we dropped off luggage and discussed plans for the rest of the day, as well as some initial observations that we had of the city. We then headed toward the Helsinki Cathedral to meet our guest lecturer Anna-Maria Peltomäki, and had lunch with her at the University of Helsinki’s main building. The building was beautiful, with many art pieces and sculptures, and we had the opportunity to have our lecture in one of the rooms there. Our lecture consisted of three parts: a brief introduction to Finland, a Finnish language lesson, and a discussion about Tove Jansson. We learned a wide range of facts about Finland, from its political party system to the amount of saunas they have (3.3 million!!), learned the basics of Finnish such as common greetings and numbers, and talked about Tove Jansson, a Finnish-Swedish artist and author most famous for her Moomin characters. We were all gifted a book after the lecture, and most of us spent the rest of the day unpacking, grocery shopping, and resting.

Thanks for reading!! Kiitos!!

Hej! Ja heter Yi! I am hosting the instagram for today!!!

Today, we started with a group meeting in the courtyard to debrief the daytrip to Artipelag and talk about some logistics of the trip to Finland in two days. In the debriefing part, we discussed about how the nature in Artipelag is different from Seattle. For example, some people mentioned about Seattle has better wilderness exposure(unpopulated area, according to the student’s definition) than that of Artipelag. Then, the instructors provided some details of the trip to Finland, including the food choices, living condition and amenities in the ferry. We were very excited about things that we can do in the ferry and looking forward to going to Finland!

After the meeting, we went to the selected pride events on our own in the Pride house. The one I went to is called, “Sex workers around the world unite against the Nordic model”. The panelists touched upon some arguments about s*x work, such as “victim versus happy hooker”, and also how s*x workers’ career affect their personal lives. For example, they often are excluded from banking service; They are struggling to have a long-term romantic relationship; Challenges in big life role transition such as being a parent; It is a quite perspective-changing experience for me to hear about their stories and have new insights about s*x workers!

Thanks for reading! Tack så mycket !

Hallå! Jag heter Olyvia och jag ska sriva Instagram-inlägget idag!

To day we went on a boat tour through the islands that make up Stockholm with a final destination of Artipelag. On the tour we had a narrator pointing out notable buildings and houses. There were many cute cottages, my favorite was the yellow one in the pictures above. The boat ride took an hour and a half and we got to see a lot of Stockholm.

Then when we arrived at the island we had lunch down by the water next to one of the art pieces, a giant golden egg.

After lunch we had a guided tour of some of the sculptures on Artipelag. We started on the roof of the building and then wound all the way down to the water. There were lots of beautiful flowers and many sunflowers which were part of their current exhibit. My favorite sculpture was the person made up of a bunch of different symbols/characters, which is pictured above, even though I hit my head on it when I went inside of it.

After the tour we had a quick fika and then took an express bus back to downtown Stockholm.

Hej! Jag heter Ben! I’ll be hosting the Instagram today from the Sweden/Finland study abroad program! We started off the day with a group meeting in the courtyard of our hostel, where we debriefed yesterday’s activities and learned some basic Swedish language. This included some numbers, and a few phrases like “Hur gammal är du?” (How old are you?) and “Hur mår du?” (How are you?). Then, we finished off the meeting with some mindfulness practice and had some time to journal.

After lunch, our group had the options of going to Historiska Museet or National Museet (which is where I chose to go). There were three levels, and I think my favorite one had to be the top one! There were some stunning art pieces from the 16th and 17th century, and learning about their history was very interesting.

I, and a few others from the program, went and got fika after the museum at a cool spot right next to Kungsträdgården. Before going back to our hostel for a little homework break, we explored Norrmalm for a little while and then picked up our wristbands for the Pride events tomorrow, which I’m super excited for!

Hej! Ja heter Forrest and I’m your Instagram host for today! Today we took a daytrip to Uppsula, a city to the north of Stockholm. We started off the day with a one-hour train ride where we got to see the beautiful Swedish countryside. Our first stop was Gamla Uppsula, a village with a rich history that goes back to the 3rd and 4th centuries AD. There we saw the three burial mounds of the Yngling royal family. At the Gamla Uppsula Museum, we learned all about how Gamla Uppsula used to hold great political and religious significance during the Iron and Viking ages.
Next, we had a group guided tour of Gustavianum, the museum of Uppsula University, the oldest museum in Sweden. While there, we were walked through the university’s vast collections of art and artifacts. One of the things that stood out to me was the Anatomical theatre, where the university used to perform autopsies for its medical students to learn from.
After our tour, we were allowed to check out the city of Uppsula by ourselves. I went to see the Uppsala Cathedral which was breathtaking. It is the largest museum in the Nordics and holds the remains of Gustav Vasa, a former king of Sweden.

Hej! Jag heter Si Tong and I’m excited to be hosting the Instagram today! Today was a free day, so most of us went kayaking at Hellasgården. It’s about a 20 minute drive from downtown Stockholm, so about 40 minutes by public transit. Hellasgården has extensive walking and biking trails, and multiple areas around the lake that are perfect for swimming, as the water is pretty cool but not overly so. Other activities available included beach volleyball, fishing, tennis, mini golf, yoga, canoeing, and paddle boarding. The weather was cloudy but otherwise very nice while we were kayaking, right up until we were heading inside to grab lunch, when it started to pour. After lunch, I was fondly reminded of Seattle, because it was bright and sunny again as if nothing had happened. There were also some mini golf courses right outside, which were a lot of fun. Overall, this was another beautiful space in Sweden that I thoroughly enjoyed spending my time at. There are so many spaces, even in the city, that incorporate greenery and trails in a very effortless manner. Whenever the weather is nice and I glance outside, there are always so many people in the nearby park out and about, and I know it’s this ease of accessibility to large green spaces in the city that I’ll come to miss when it’s time to head home 💛

Hej allihopa! Jag heter CC. I’m your Instagram host for today!

Today, we visited Vasamuseet, which has been one of my favorite activities so far. The Vasa was a ship that was intended to set sail in 1628 but unfortunately sank 1500 meters into its maiden voyage. The majority of those aboard were able to escape, but around 30 perished in the accident, and 15 nearly complete skeletons can be viewed in the museum today.

The ship remained more than 30 meters under the cold water, sinking into the mud and clay, for the next 300 years. Sitting in a relatively-low salt location, it was protected from much of the erosion that would typically eat away a wooden ship like Vasa.

In the 1950s, the restoration process began. Pieces were delicately removed and protected with a chemical called PEG so that the ship could be preserved for the years to come. The initial process took many years to ensure everything was removed in good condition and work is still being done to ensure its survival. While the ship will not last forever, the cool, dark, climate-controlled museum and close monitoring of the ship’s body ensures it will be available for as long as possible.

The museum documents the rediscovery and restoration process and displays the majority of the ship across seven floors. It also analyzes those who died and speculates what their lives may have looked like.

Hej vänner! Jag heter Ava😋I have the honor of telling you all about our day today in Stockholm!

The group met at the hostel as the morning rain slowed and the sun came out, and we made our way to Djurgården to see the Nordiska Museet. The Nordiska Museet is home to all sorts of Nordic traditions and treasures; exhibits showcase everything from a complete model of a 1947 Scandinavian home to the colorful clothing pieces of the Indigenous Sami people. Half of the class started the adventure with a walkthrough of the exhibit “The Arctic – While the Ice is Melting,” which explains the impact of global warming on the Arctic region and Nordic societies, while the other half of the class explored the exhibit on “Nordic Life”, which provides historic snapshots of life in the Nordic countries over the last 500 years. Before switching exhibits, we had a lovely group lunch in the Museum cafe! Meal options ranged from cold poached salmon to traditional Swedish meatballs.

After swapping exhibits and listening to many of the museum’s helpful audio guides, students embraced their freetime! A smaller group of us was in desperate need of a “Fika” break—after getting some coffee and pastries, we slowly meandered back to the hostel. Deciding to take the ferry back, we passed the ABBA museum, admired the theme park Gröna Lund, and wove our way through the streets of the old town, Gamla Stan.

Late afternoon at the hostel brought about time for reflection. As we finish up our first written reflections, it is hard to believe that we have been here for a full week! Time has passed so slowly and yet not slowly enough—I am beyond excited for all of our adventures to come, and I already know that I’ll miss this place.

God kväll! Dröm Sött😴

Hej alla! Jag heter Cin.

*Note: some photos are turned sideways so the whole photo could be included!*

Today, we went to Kriminalvården, a part of Sweden’s probation and prison system, to learn about how Sweden handles crime and rehabilitation. In an informal question and answer session, as well as a formal presentation, we learned from Matias, who is in their international relations division. He explained the differences between the Swedish system and the United States, as well as much of the rest of the world—good and bad. In particular, we learned that incarceration in Sweden is on the rise, especially since the conservatives have taken control of the government. Where Sweden used to have an average of 60 people incarcerated per 100,000, they are now nearing the 100 mark, and they are projected to reach 250 at some point in the near future—a number surprisingly close to statistics in Washington State, USA, and significantly higher than average in the EU.

Among other things, Matias also discussed that all evidence is admissible in court, no matter how it was acquired, and the issues Sweden has faced when trying to ignore certain societal factors that may increase one’s risk of committing crimes. He also discussed that the criminal system in Sweden has for the last few decades focused on putting people anywhere but prison—rehabilitation, rather than punishment, seems to be the goal.

Post lecture, we walked back to our hostel, Zinkensdamm, and some of us stopped for food along the way. We got a variety of food, including burgers, hotdogs, tacos, and nuts, and we enjoyed bird watching. We also noticed a number of road signs, a note on the bridge, and quite a few plants along the way.

Hej! My name is Hadlie, and I am responsible for sharing about today’s study abroad activity!

We started the day with a recap of yesterday’s discussion and an introduction to today’s itinerary. Then, we took the Tunnelbana and a tram to Skansen- the museum, zoo, and park we would spend the remainder of the day exploring. We ate a delicious lunch at Koloni and then began a scavenger hunt around the area, where we took pictures at different locations and activities. We saw various Nordic animals (like horses, brown bears, and arctic foxes), walked through original 1700s buildings, and talked with shop owners about their traditional crafts. 

One of our recommended readings for Week 01 was by Johan Hegardt; he discussed the history of Skansen and its founder, Arthur Hazelius, whose goal was to preserve Swedish folk culture. This was very interesting to read before visiting Skansen because we could approach the open-air museum with a greater understanding of its purpose and significance. 

My favorite activity so far has been the walking tour of Gamla Stan. I loved seeing the beautiful architecture, learning about the complex history, and interacting with the unique landscape. We had wonderful tour guides who shared so many interesting facts about Stockholm, such as that the island continues to rise each year, causing the buildings to visibly slant. I am looking forward to spending more time in Gamla Stan, where I can explore the cute gift shops and try some of the many restaurants we passed!

Hej! Jag heter Moa! I am in charge of today’s Sweden/Finland Study Abroad Instagram post! 😊

Today was a relatively significant day for activities! We started our morning with a nice walk to Långholmen, which was once a Swedish prison, but is now a beautiful hotel, restaurant, and even public beach! Shortly after arriving at Långholmen we did a short language study on some common Swedish words and phrases, and made some inferences on language landscapes that we’ve seen around Stockholm thus far. After that, we partook in some fika, hung out at the beach, then attended a lecture by Catrin Lundsteöm on migration, ethnicity, and society. We had just finished reading chapters 1-2 of her book, “White Melancholia”, so it was extremely interesting to see her speak in person. Although I really enjoyed seeing Långholmen, I’m anticipating Skansen (our activity for tomorrow) to be a lot of fun! I’m also really looking forward to our trip to Finland. It will be fascinating to compare and contrast the two Scandinavian countries in terms of equalitarianism, governance, and overall lifestyle after learning so much about these topics in Sweden. I was impacted and impressed by my peers’ comments and questions today during our discussion with Catrin, and I look forward to our forthcoming conversations on equity and sociology as we continue traveling.
Something that I’ve learned about myself while I’ve been on this program is that I am really inspired by nature. Especially water! It has been so beneficial to have so much nature around us during our excursions around the city. And it has been so nice to take breaks between homework by jumping in the water that is so conveniently close by.

NEW PODCAST EPISODE! Crossing North 28: Repatriation is in the Air.

How did so many Indigenous Sámi artifacts end up in private collections and museums outside of Sápmi? And why were collectors only interested in certain types of objects? American non-fiction writer, journalist, editor, and translator Barbara Sjoholm discusses the history of ethnographic collections and the future of cultural repatriation in her latest book, From Lapland to Sápmi: Collecting and Returning Sámi Craft and Culture. Our own PhD student Amy Swanson King leads the interview.

Crossing North is available wherever podcasts are.

https://scandinavian.washington.edu/crossing-north-28-repatriation-air

Books and bindings and bean bags, oh my! This spring quarter, Associate Teaching Professor Lauren Poyer brought her Old Norse-Icelandic class to the Reading Room to view a selection of medieval manuscripts in UW Special Collections as part of their unit on paleography, the study of ancient and medieval writing. Most of the individual pages on display were part of the estate of a Washington State Supreme Court justice in the 1930s and 1940s, Walter Beals, who fancied himself a scrapbooker supreme. Students and faculty alike were awed by the range of manuscript sizes, medieval scripts, and illuminated initials. Check out the gold leaf on these animals from our facsimile edition of the Book of Kells! And thank you to Sandra Kroupa, UW Libraries’ Book Arts and Rare Books Curator, for the excellent tour of the collection!

1. A medieval RPG? A Rocket-Propelled-Goose?
2. A facsimile edition of the early 9th-century Book of Kells
3. Sandra addresses the class as they peruse the collections
4. Parchment is not paper! Sandra explains where parchment comes from. Spoilers, it’s cow
5. Sandra demonstrates the technical use of Beanie Babies when opening a manuscript (they are also cute and fun)
6. See? Like this! That way the weight of the pages is supported and the spine does not break
7. Lauren guides a student in opening a manuscript with Beanie Babies
8. Lauren explains the symbolism of illuminations in the Book of Kells
9. Lauren and students study some VERY SMALL manuscript pages
10. Look at the colors! This is from an early 15th cen Latin Breviary from Italy: UW MS 86 recto, Box 3.

Armed with little more than a pair of scissors and a pile of fabric, stalwart students Makenzie and Kalinn bravely "descended into Letter Hell" late on the eve of the 17. Mai holiday this year to create a banner for the annual Ballard parade, which celebrates Norway's Constitution Day. At 2:06 am PST, they emerged triumphantly after harrowing a combined 78 letters. The result? Perfection. Pomp. Parade.

Happy holiday, Norway! Gratulerer med dagen!

1. Preparing their final words, should they not be successful, to be hot glued on their tomb stones
2. From such humble beginnings...
3. Kalinn cuts out the 78th letter
4. Makenzie tackles the two most Norwegian letters: Uff Da!
5. Is this a word scramble? Should I be looking for a hidden message?
6. Triumph.
7. Left to Right: Makenzie, Erik, Beowulf, Kalinn, Helen, and Elizabeth in the Ballard parade!

Last weekend our department hosted colleagues from around the globe at the annual meeting for the Society for the Advancement of Scandinavian Studies (SASS). It’s always an energizing and enlightening conference when you get to share ideas with the best and brightest in the field! One of the highlights was the opening keynote address by Professor Ethelene Whitmire from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who shared stories from her latest book, /Searching for Utopia: African Americans in 20th Century Denmark/. If you missed her keynote address, don’t fret! Dr. Whitmire collaborated with the National Nordic Museum on a special exhibit, “Nordic Utopia?” which is open until July 21.

https://nordicmuseum.org/exhibitions/nordic-utopia

Or you could listen to our interview with Dr. Whitmire on episode 12 of Crossing North, all about Dr. Whitmire’s current book project. Crossing North is available wherever podcasts are, or on our website:

https://scandinavian.washington.edu/crossing-north-12-searching-utopia

It's the northern lights, right now! 1:39am Saturday morning in Seattle.

NEW PODCAST EPISODE! Crossing North 27: "She is Pretty, She is Powerful." Lithuanian actresses Marija Žemaitytė and Rugilė Latvėnaitė share songs from their performance “Graži ir ta galinga” (The Pretty and the Powerful One), and together with Professor Emeritus Violeta Kelertas, they discuss the legacy of Žemaitė, Lithuania's most famous female literary figure.

Crossing North is available wherever podcasts are.

https://scandinavian.washington.edu/crossing-north-27-she-pretty-she-powerful

You may have heard of Walpugisnacht in Germany—It’s also celebrated in Sweden as Valborgsmässoafton, or Valborg for short. What’s Valborg about? A big bonfire, bonding with friends and family, and celebrating the fact that spring is here—and that it is warm enough to have gatherings outdoors! The story goes that the bonfire scares away evil spirits (though the bonfire may be secondary to all the good vibes going around— we all know friendship is the strongest magic). The bonfire is also a good excuse to do some spring cleaning—literally—and burn things you no longer need. This usually amounts to yard or garden waste, things like pruned branches, etc, that you have been saving up all winter for a very merry Valborg, because—why make a dump run, when instead you could throw a party? The current king of Sweden, King Carl XVI Gustaf, gets it—he celebrates his birthday on Valborg. (I wonder what he burns?) Valburg is the last night of April, and in Sweden, May 1st (International Workers’ Day) is a national holiday. Many Swedes spend May 1st at demonstrations for workers’ rights. How can you celebrate Valborg this year? Set something on fire! (...with a Fire Marshall present and a registered burn permit). Actually you’d better let the Fire Marshall be the one to build the bonfire and ignite it. (Following rules and regulations is actually very Swedish—we don’t recommend going it alone). Better yet, go to Vasa Park in Bellevue on April 28, where a Fire Marshall will light the fire for you! The Vasa Club of Lake Sammamish is hosting a Valborg celebration, free and welcome to all to join:

28 April 2024

Free entry
Gates open at 5pm
Bonfire and Choir at 7pm
(food for purchase)

Vasa Park 3560 W Lake
Sammamish Pkwy SE, Bellevue

vasaparkresport.org

Learn more about Valborg in Sweden:

https://studyinsweden.se/blogs/2022/04/27/what-the-heck-is-valborg/ #

1. Largest Valborg celebration in Sweden at Skansen in Stockholm

Guess what? We -- the UW Department of Scandinavian Studies -- are hosting this year's SASS (Society for the Advancement of Scandinavian Study) conference -- in TWO WEEKS!

If you haven't registered yet, there is still time -- registration for the full event is open through May 8th. Additional banquet tickets and tickets for add-ons if you have already registered but didn't add anything extra yet (the bus tour to one of Thomas Dambo's troll sculptures, in West Seattle, and a stop at the famous Fremont Bridge troll, finishing with an additional Dambo troll and the National Nordic Museum, and led by the very knowledgeable Line Liblik Larsen of the Scan Design Foundation; the lunch and talk by Dr. Jennifer Eastman Attebery at Seattle's Swedish Club) will be open until May 5th. And non-presenter one-day tickets (for the 10th or 11th), or tickets to just the music program (three sessions taking place at the Seattle Central Library, plus an evening concert at the conference hotel up the street) on the 10th will be available to purchase until the day of.

This is going to be a great conference, full of interesting papers and fun events -- if you have already registered but forgot to add the Troll Tour -- https://www.nwtrolls.org/ -- or the Swedish Club lunch and lecture, you can purchase them separately! And if you have been procrastinating your conference registration -- hurry and register before it's too late! You don't want to miss it!

https://app.glueup.com/event/sass-2024-seattle-84713/