Education
Department of Literature
Why Study Literature?
The subject of literature gives you a chance to understand people's experiences and thoughts throughout history through the stories that have remained tradition and become significant in our culture and our self-understanding. Today we are surrounded by stories, and you will learn how they work and how to analyze and critically examine them and other literary expressions in novels, poems, and plays. In our courses, you read classics as well as contemporary texts, both new and old literary genres, and you learn about literature's old as well as contemporary media conditions. The department has special expertise in the sociology of literature, that is, the study of literature's anchoring in society (as well as society's anchoring in literature), older literature, literary ecocriticism, as well as literature and gender.
Why Study Rhetoric?
Rhetoric is our culture's oldest educational subject and at the same time a subject that is constantly relevant. Our society is characterized by different forms of communication that influence us. Politicians want to convince us, advertising and modern media want to change our behavior - yes, we are constantly exposed to various forms of influence that shape our way of feeling and thinking. The subject of rhetoric wants to teach you to better understand how this communication works and how you yourself can consciously and competently take an active role in our democratic society. In our courses, you will learn about the tradition of rhetoric and ideas about persuasiveness and meaning-making from ancient times to today. You acquire tools for analyzing communication as well as practical training in giving speeches yourself, debating and critically and constructively reviewing other people's communication. The department has expertise in the history of rhetoric, especially ancient rhetorical theory and the development of rhetoric in the 18th–20th centuries, including the rise of propaganda in the last century. Furthermore, the department's teachers specialize in political rhetoric as well as rhetoric and philosophy.
Why Study Scandinavian Studies?
Do you want to deepen your knowledge of Nordic literature and Nordic languages through studies in Sweden? Then the master's program in Scandinavian Studies might be something for you. Scandinavian studies is a well-established subject in the world, and the master's program in Scandinavian studies gives you the opportunity to study Nordic languages, Nordic literature, history and culture. In the program you get to meet teachers with broad research expertise. You can delve into everything from runology and Icelandic to name-research and grammar; you can also choose to familiarize yourself with everything from Nordic poetry and 18th-century literature to literary sociology and political rhetoric.
A master's degree in Scandinavian Studies provides a good foundation for work with cultural mediation in both government administration and organizations and business. The program also prepares you for a postgraduate education.
The master's program is offered in collaboration between the Department of Literature and the Department of Nordic Languages at Uppsala University.
