Departmental Collections
and Activities
The department helps supervise the growth and quality of the extensive
Scandinavian collection at the University of Wisconsin Memorial
Library, which is generally acknowledged to be one of the three
best such collections in the country (along with those at Harvard
and Minnesota). In addition, the department maintains on its own
premises a Reading Room, which contains a representative collection
of books on Scandinavia, including standard reference tools and
current newspapers and periodicals. Associated with this reading
room is
a growing collection of audio-visual materials (chiefly slides
and videos/films) and facilities for utilizing them.
As many of you know, Dick Ringler has long been working on an edition
of the works by Jónas Hallgrímsson. A selection from
that work has been put on the net. Please check it out at Jónas
Hallgrímsson.
Susan Brantly, Niels Ingweresen and Scott Mellor have worked on
several interactive, web based courses to make the best of our
departmental resourses to aid our majors and graduate students
in their studies.
A student Ombud is elected
annually to serve as liaison person among all levels of the department,
and students regularly serve on key department committees. A joint student-faculty
committee administers the Scandinavian Colloquium which sponsors regular
presentations on such subjects as student/faculty research-in-progress,
current literary and social problems, and other Scandinavian concerns.
The Scandinavian-American Club is active in both campus and community
programs, sponsoring folk-dance evenings, picnics, film showings, and
the annual gala Christmas party. Department faculty and students also
take an active role in the programs of the Madison Lodge of The Sons
of Norway, The Finnish-American Society, and Yggdrasil (a
well-known Norwegian-American Literary Society).
Department faculty traditionally take a very active role in outreach
programs, often giving lectures and other presentations in the local
community. They also frequently lecture before audiences throughout the
state, usually under the auspices of University of Wisconsin--Extension.
The department's relations with Extension have always been close, and
this has generated a number of programs and courses both locally and
statewide, including a highly successful series of seminars and courses
at Rock Island State Park in Lake Michigan.
Department faculty have made lecture appearances and tours nationwide,
too, often under the auspices of the American-Scandinavian Foundation.
They have always contributed very actively to the administration, publications,
and programs of the Society for the Advancement of Scandinavian Study.
Dr. Faith Ingwersen and Professor Niels Ingwersen were the editors of
the Society's journal Scandinavian Studies from
1985-1990.
Since 1980 the department has published two pamphlet series, both entitled WITS (Wisconsin
Introductions to Scandinavia). WITS 1 contains essays on all aspects
of Scandinavian life and civilization, and WITS 2 Scandinavian literary
texts in English translation.
The department has also been working with the Nordic
Cultural Curriculum Project to develop a series of booklets
for educational purposes. | 
