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autumn 2025
HIF-3620 Indigenous Revitalization - Languages, Literature and Arts - 10 ECTS

Type of course

Compulsory course for all students attending the Master Programme in Indigenous Studies. Optional for students attending Master Programmes in Literature.

Admission requirements

Bachelor's degree (180 ECTS), or equivalent qualification, or an equivalent qualification, with a minimum of 80 ECTS within social sciences, humanities, in education or in the social practice of law. An average grade equivalent to C or better in the Norwegian grading system is required.

Application code: 9371(Nordic applicants)


Course overlap

If you pass the examination in this course, you will get an reduction in credits (as stated below), if you previously have passed the following courses:

HIF-3620 Representations and self-representations 10 ects

Course content

This course examines the ways in which Indigenous languages, literatures and arts have impacted processes of reclamation, restitution and cultural revitalization in the 20th and 21st centuries. Responding to our location in Sápmi and the North, the course centers on Sámi cultural expressions, but draws connections to and comparisons with other Indigenous cultures.

The course examines Sámi and Indigenous oral and storytelling traditions and other prose through analyses and discussions of Indigenous creation stories, poetry, short stories and the Sámi luothi (yoik). The course further examines concepts, practices and worldviews relating to Sámi art, craft and aesthetics, and engages discussions of historic and recent works by Sámi and Indigenous artists in relation to histories of colonization and cultural resistance, restitution and revitalization. Additionally, the course examines processes of language reclamation, focusing on an ecological approach to language work in Sámi and other Indigenous language contexts.

The course invites reflections on the role of Indigenous methodologies when doing research on Indigenous cultural productions and performances. Students develop analytical skills through participation in class.


Objectives of the course

Knowledge

Students will

• Develop an understanding of linguistic and cultural expressions in the context of the recent analytical approaches to the study of Sámi and Indigenous cultures

• Gain insight in how language and cultural expressions have played an important role in the reclamation and revitalization processes of Sámi and Indigenous cultures that have taken place in the 20th and 21st centuries.

• Develop a better understanding of Indigenous methodology. This part of the course complements IND-3025 and IND-3026.

Skills

Students can

  • Consider cultural expressions specific to the Sámi from a global Indigenous perspective.
  • Develop skills in using theory and methods appropriate for analysing Indigenous literature, visual arts, craft and other media, and for analyses of compelling linguistic issues.
  • Demonstrate orally and in writing the ability to analyse a range of linguistic and cultural expressions.

Competence

Students can

  • Use the skills and knowledge they have acquired throughout the course to produce high quality academic work.

Language of instruction and examination

English

Teaching methods

Classes consist of lectures and seminars where students actively participate in groupwork and discussions. At the end of the semester, we summarize and reflect on the course in a round-table discussion.

This course is interdisciplinary and taught by lecturers specialized in one or more of the following areas: Sámi literature, art history, linguistics and cultural studies.


Information to incoming exchange students

This course is open for inbound exchange student who meets the admission requirements, including prerequisites. Please see the Admission requirements" section for more information.

Do you have questions about this course? Please check the following website to contact the course .


Schedule



Examination

Examination: Duration: Grade scale:
School exam 6 Hours A–E, fail F

Coursework requirements:

To take an examination, the student must have passed the following coursework requirements:

Participation in the round table discussion Approved – not approved
Essay Approved – not approved

More info about the coursework requirements

  • One essay (1200-1500 words) that focuses on one or more of the texts on the reading list.
  • Participation in the round table discussion held at the end of the course (scheduled for one double hour).

Re-sit examination

A resit exam is arranged for students who have not passed the last ordinary exam in this course.
  • About the course
  • Campus: Tromsø |
  • ECTS: 10
  • Course code: HIF-3620
  • Tidligere Ã¥r og semester for dette emnet