ÐÒÔË´óתÅÌ

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.

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)

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.

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.