St. Olaf faculty member receives prestigious Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award
St. Olaf College Assistant Professor of Norwegian Jenna Coughlin has been named a Fulbright U.S. Scholar for the 2025–26 academic year.
The U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board select the recipients of the prestigious award each year. Fulbright U.S. Scholars are faculty, researchers, administrators, and established professionals teaching or conducting research in affiliation with institutions abroad.
Coughlin will use her award to examine how literary and audiovisual representations of hydroelectric power convey the meanings and values that different social groups have ascribed to water over time. By examining why certain groups have embraced or rejected hydropower, she aims to enhance understanding of the social and cultural impacts of energy transitions. This research ties into the work she has done within the Norwegian Department at St. Olaf, where she specializes in Norwegian literature, environmental humanities, poetry and poetics, and life writing.
“Norway is known as a place of great natural beauty, but people are less familiar with how Norway has put its nature to use,” Coughlin says. “Spending extended time in Norway will allow me to see hydropower infrastructure up close and better understand how it transformed landscapes. I hope to help readers and students recognize the value of examining environmental problems within another cultural context, in order to better address our own challenges at home.”
“Spending extended time in Norway will allow me to see hydropower infrastructure up close and better understand how it transformed landscapes. I hope to help readers and students recognize the value of examining environmental problems within another cultural context, in order to better address our own challenges at home.”
— Assistant Professor of Norwegian Jenna Coughlin
During her time in Norway, Coughlin will be affiliated with the Department of Linguistics and Scandinavian Studies at the University of Oslo, where she will collaborate with scholars working in the environmental humanities. She also plans to put her skills as a Norwegian language instructor to use by volunteering as a language conversation leader with recently arrived immigrants.
“Professor Coughlin and the Norwegian Department are superb bridge builders. They educate students in the language and culture of Norway and provide them with opportunities to study and pursue research and internships there,” says St. Olaf Provost and Dean of the College Marci Sortor. “Professor Coughlin is a leading scholar in the field of Norwegian literature and the environment. Thanks to the Fulbright Foundation, she will be able to work closely with others in this field and strengthen the connections that are so valuable to St. Olaf students.”
Since 1946, the Fulbright Program has provided more than 400,000 talented and accomplished students, scholars, teachers, artists, and professionals with the opportunity to study, teach, and conduct research abroad. Fulbrighters exchange ideas, build people-to-people connections, and work to address complex global challenges. Notable Fulbrighters from St. Olaf College include Howard Hong, who produced the first comprehensive English translations of the famed philosopher Søren Kierkegaard’s work, and Paul Niemisto, who is known for directing a Finish brass ensemble and subsequently starting the Vintage Band Festival in Northfield.
Through the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program, more than 800 individuals nationally teach or conduct research abroad annually. In addition, more than 2,000 Fulbright U.S. Student Program participants — recent college graduates, graduate students, and early career professionals — participate in study/research exchanges or as English teaching assistants in local schools abroad each year.
Fulbright is a program of the U.S. Department of State, with funding provided by the U.S. Government. Participating governments and host institutions, corporations, and foundations around the world also provide direct and indirect support to the program, which operates in over 160 countries worldwide.