The Society for the Advancement of Scandinavian Study and the Association for the Advancement of Baltic Studies will be held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Seattle from April 22nd through April 24th, 2010. Registration will open in January 2010. More details can be found at the SASS/AABS Website.

From May 3rd through May 8th, Princess Madeleine of Sweden will be visiting as part of Sweden Week. Continue to check the Department homepage for upcoming details.

University of Washington Professor Emeritus and former member of the Department Advisory Board, Paul Dietrichson, has died. Paul passed away on January 6, 2010, at the age of 88 after a long illness. He is survived by his wife of 62 years, Mary Louise, their three children, Deirdre, Tor, Eliza, and three grandsons.

Paul was born in Bergen, Norway, in 1921. During World War II, Paul was active in the Norwegian resistance and committed numerous acts of bravery in helping Jews escape persecution. Years later this heroism was recognized by the Seattle Scandinavian community, and he was made Grand Marshal of the Norwegian Day parade. Before attending Yale and earning a Ph.D. in philosophy he attended the University of Georgia. From Yale, he came to the University of Washington where he was an active member of the philosophy faculty for the next 36 years. He taught courses in Kierkegaard, Kant, and Existentialism. His courses reflected a passionate, sincere, deeply thoughtful approach to his topics, and were extremely well received by his students. Much of his teaching centered on the theme of moral commitment, and no one in our time has been more morally committed than Paul. His presence will be deeply missed.

A celebration of the life of Paul Dietrichson will be held on:
Saturday, February 13, 2010
1:00 PM in Kane Hall, Room 120
A reception will follow in the Walker Ames Room, Kane 225.

We are proud to announce the following Translation Prizes have been awarded to one of our graduate students and one of our Alumni.

Sean Hughes, one of our Danish Teaching Assistants, was awarded the American-Scandinavian Foundation’s Leif and Inger Sjöberg Award for his translation of “Cars and Animals: Short Stories (Biler og dyr)”.

Our Ph.D. alumna, Tara Chace, has won the American-Scandinavian Foundation Translation Prize for her translation of three short stories by Nicolai Houm. The short stories “Love” and “The Girls on Seestrasse” will be published in the Dirty Goat and “You and Me” will be published in the Arch Literary Journal.

We are delighted to share the news that one of our Affiliate Faculty, Tiina Nunnally has received a special prize from the Swedish Academy for “the introduction of swedish culture abroad.” More information can be found at the Swedish Academy’s website.

The Swedish Club performed wonderfully at the annual Lucia Celebration hosted by the Swedish Cultural Center on Sunday, December 13th. The event sold out! To learn more about the Swedish Club, please visit their website: http://uwswedishclub.weebly.com

Two of our graduates, Lori Ann Reinhall and James Nelson, have formed a group called Duo Scandinavica. The group performed masterfully at the Centennial Gala last September.

Helsinki University has published a profile of Andrew Nestingen, Associate Professor of Finnish in the Department.

Laconic humor, melodrama and the language of silence: What happens when A Clockwork Orange meets Hamlet? An American researcher encourages people to acquaint themselves with Finland’s number one film director.