SCAN 240

Fall 2015 All Classes

All Classes

Arctic Narratives

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Credit: 3 hours.

Study of the Arctic, its peoples and cultures, as imagined in literature, art, history, media and film. This course makes cross-cultural comparisons with accounts by indigenous people and Scandinavian, American, and European visitors to or settlers in to the Arctic. This course includes emphasis on environmental, colonial, and social aspects from theoretical and historical perspectives.

Same as CWL 282, EURO 240. See SCAN 240.

This course satisfies the General Education Criteria in Fall 2022 for:

Humanities – Lit & Arts

Cultural Studies - Western

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SCAN 240 class schedule data for fall 2015
	CRN	Type	Section	Time	Day	Location	Instructor	Section Details
	62858	Lecture	A	2:00PM -3:20PM	TR	G20 Foreign Languages Building	Safstrom, M	Part of Term: 1 Date Range: 08/24/15-12/09/15 Degree Notes: Literature and the Arts, and Western Compartv Cult course. Section Info: We're off to the Farthest North! In this course we will study the various narratives produced by residents of and visitors to the Arctic and Antarctic regions throughout history. Our texts will include examples of how people have imagined these spaces through oral tradition, mythology, and literary works, and will range from "non-fiction" accounts of explorers like Nansen and Amundsen, to novels and films, to tourist information and journalism. The Arctic has been narrated as a "home", an object of territorial expansion, a space for spiritual retreat and shaping of individual identity and heroism, and as a stage for technological development. From ancient times to the present, the diverse societies of the Nordic region have encountered the Arctic environment in myriad ways. The modern states of Norway, Sweden and Finland all claim significant percentages of their territory above the Arctic Circle, and Denmark has also had historical colonial relationships with the Arctic through its governance of Norway and Greenland. The indigenous Sami and Inuit peoples transcend these political borders in all of these countries, and have faced the colonizing pressures and policies of the Nordic states for centuries. The interaction of these people groups with one another and with the Arctic environment has found form in the ways people have narrated the Arctic. Furthermore, since the last glaciation period, the environment in the region has undergone several changes, triggered by changes in the climate. Thus, while it is a "natural" environment, is has also been changed in many ways by the people who have lived and worked there. Students will be equipped to interpret themes related to the environmental and societal changes in the Arctic in a long-term, historical perspective, as well as be able to understand current cultural and political assumptions. This course will feature literature by authors from the Nordic region (all readings are in English translation). This course is based on the field research and UIUC summer study abroad course (Stockholm Summer Arctic Program) that Dr. Mark Safstrom has led in Svalbard, Norway and Stockholm, Sweden.