Spring ’27

Students continue developing proficiency in spoken and written Norwegian, increasing their vocabulary, improving grammatical accuracy, and gaining experience reading and listening to authentic materials. Offered annually in the spring semester.
Prerequisite: NORW 111 or equivalent.

Students improve proficiency in listening, speaking, reading, and writing, with an emphasis on communication as well as improved grammatical accuracy. Reading and discussion of authentic literary and cultural texts allow students to expand their vocabulary and knowledge of the Norwegian way of life. Offered annually in the fall semester.

This is the third course in the “fast track” option.
NORW 111 in the fall, NORW 112 in interim, NORW 231 in the spring.

Prerequisite: NORW 112 or equivalent

Norsk 232 er et kurs i norsk på mellomnivå, og dette semesteret tar vi opp emner som norsk identitet, historie, Norge i verden og litteratur og medier.  Vi studerer Norges moderne kultur ved å diskutere et variert utvalg av norske artikler, filmer og en TV-serie. 

Course Description: This course examines the representation of nature from creation narratives of Norse myth, 19th century nation-building, and up to present concerns about climate change and environmental destruction in the Nordic region. Students examine central works and contested notions of nature. Alongside these, they will be introduced to ecocriticism as a method of textual analysis. This provides an entryway into the environmental humanities, and an opportunity to explore what makes Nordic literature and culture unique. Offered periodically. Counts towards Nordic Studies and Norwegian majors as well as Nordic Studies concentration.

One unique aspect of our program is that we offer a yearly topics course in Norwegian for students who have completed the fifth semester of Norwegian (NOR 253).  This allows those students who have some previous Norwegian learning experience prior to coming to St. Olaf the opportunity to take this multiple times (we have had two students take 4 iterations of the course!). Each year we focus on different content areas and different skill sets (writing vs. speaking for example) to offer a wide variety of experiences each year.  Recent topic descriptions:

2021-22: Okkupasjon, flukt og krig (NORW 373)
This advanced Norwegian course investigates media portrayals of occupation, exodus, and war throughout Norwegian history. Each portrayal will be paired with an article or literary excerpt that further contextualizes the historical event. With Nordic noir as our starting point, we will first examine a futuristic political TV drama before transitioning to historic period dramas. We will then investigate accounts of individuals who fled their home countries due to persecution, war or violence. Through these we will examine the degree to which filmmakers have artistic freedom in the retelling of national history. Students will also hear the stories of new refugees who have sought refuge in Norway. Students develop a topic of their choosing which they will use as a base for a final presentation. The course will end with a discussion of when wars end, and investigate the systematic discrimination from communities and government alike.