 |
Sverre Arestad Endowed Professor in Norwegian Studies; Ph.D. University of North Texas, 1978
RESEARCHTerje Leiren’s research focuses on Norwegian studies, primarily 19th and early-20th century Norwegian history and the cultural history of Norwegian-America. He is interested in questions of national identity, ethnicity, and cultural expression. Leiren has written extensively on the history of the Norwegian-Swedish Union (1814-1905), the establishment of the modern Norwegian monarchy, and the American career of Marcus Thrane, a Norwegian radical labor leader who immigrated to the United States in February, 1864, where he edited several newspapers, wrote and produced plays of the immigrant experience, and agitated for a more enlightened Scandinavian-American populace. A book of Thrane's plays, edited and translated by Professor Leiren from the original manuscripts, was published in 2007 by the Norwegian-American Historical Association. In addition, Leiren has contributed to, and appeared in, several television productions on the Vikings for the History Channel, the History Channel International, and the A&E Network. His current research examines various influences on the development of Norwegian national identity in the first half of the nineteenth century.TEACHING
Professor Leiren teaches Scandinavian history and culture for the Department. His teaching also includes third- and fourth-year language and culture courses in the Norwegian Studies program. Leiren has been a member of the UW faculty since 1977 and has served as Department Chair since 1995. Professor Leiren was appointed to be the Department's first Sverre Arestad Endowed Professor in Norwegian Studies in 2007. He also has an appointment in the Department of History as Adjunct Professor of History. Photo:
With David Endicott (right), President of the Department
Advisory Board, at the Norwegian Studies Gala, May, 2007.
NEW DIRECTIONS IN SCANDINAVIAN STUDIESTerje Leiren is co-general editor (with Christine Ingebritsen) of a new book series with the University of Washington Press -- New Directions in Scandinavian Studies,. The series seeks to publish books which offer interdisciplinary approaches to the Nordic region of Scandinavia and the Baltic States and their cultural connections in North America with a focus on the study of the culture, history, literature and poltics of the North. The first book in the series, Small States in International Relations, was published in 2006. Second in the series, Carol Gold, Danish Cookbooks: Domesticity and National Identity, 1616-1901, was published in 2007.
UW ALUMNI TOURS: During the last decade, Professor Leiren has participated as lecturer and host on several tours on behalf of the UW Alumni Association's Alumni Tours. Tours have covered the wide area of northern Europe from Greenland to Russia, the British Isles and the European continent. Photo: Sailing among Icebergs at Illulisat, Greenland.
Marcus Thrane: A Norwegian Radical in America Stage and Screen: Studies in Scandinavian Drama and
Film Selected Plays of Marcus Thrane
Selected Articles: "A Century of Norwegian Independence," Scandinavian Review, Special Issue: Norway at 100. Volume 92 (Spring 2005), 6-16. "Kong Carl eller 'Præsident' Konow: Norway's Form of Government and the Pamphlet Debate in 1905," in Philip Anderson, Dag Blanck and Byron Nordstrom (editors), Scandinavians in Old and New Lands: Essays in Honor of H. Arnold Barton (2004) “America as Symbol in the Plays of Marcus Thrane,” in Todd Nichol, ed., Interpreting the Promise of America: Essays in Honor of Odd Sverre Lovoll. Northfield, MN, 2002. “Pilgrimage and Propaganda: An American Newspapermen’s Tour of Norway, 1927,” Norwegian-American Studies (2000) “Catalysts to Disunion: Sigurd Ibsen and Ringeren,” Scandinavian Studies (1999) “The Land They Left Behind: Norway at the Time of Emigration,” in Kristine Leander, ed., Family Sagas: Stories of Scandinavian Immigrants (1997) Video Documentaries: 
Professor Leiren has participated in several video productions for the History Channel and the A&E Network, including “Vikings: Fury From the North” (2000) and “Ancient Mysteries: The Vikings in North America” (1995).
In 2005, he appeared in Crown Princess Märtha: The American Story, produced by Shybert Productions. It was broadcast on TV 2 in Norway and by several PBS stations around the USA.
|
|||
Professor Leiren also narrated a special video production by the late
Professor Marion Nelson, “Norwegian Folk Art: Migration of a
Tradition,” (1997),
produced in cooperation with the American Museum of Folk Art in New York;
the Norwegian Folk Museum in Oslo;
the Vesterheim Museum in Decorah, Iowa, and the Nordic Heritage Museum in
Seattle.318 raitt hall | box 353420 | seattle wa | 98195-3420
t: 206-543-0645 | f: 206-685-9173 | uwscand@u.washington.edu