PRESS RELEASE
University
of Groningen closes gateway to the North
The
Department of Scandinavian Languages and Cultures at the University of
Groningen, where the languages Danish, Norwegian and Swedish are taught, is
regarded as a centre of expertise by ministries, cultural institutes
and colleagues in the Scandinavian countries. The department has a major
international reputation and in the northern region of the Netherlands it plays
the role of ‘gateway to the North’. At the Netherlands Organisation for
Scientific Research (NWO) the department has an excellent reputation. Various
research projects are financed by the NWO, and staff members are regularly
asked to sit on assessment committees and write expert rapports. With limited
resources (1.4 FTE earmarked for research) the department has produced five
doctorates since 2010, and another nine will follow in the next three years.
The department is ‘a golden goose that generates a huge output with very limited
resources’, as one foreign colleague put it.
Nevertheless,
the University of Groningen has chosen to drop Norwegian and Danish from its
teaching programme, a decision that could have severe consequences for the
field of Scandinavian studies, robbing
coming generations of their future. The decision, when it comes into effect,
will also affect the job market. The department has produced excellent
translators – in the northern region of the Netherlands many translation
agencies employ former students. A big publishing house like De Geus publishes
translations of works by Scandinavian authors, which are almost exclusively translated
by Groningen graduates.
Other strong
points, which have given the department its excellent reputation, are: the inter-Scandinavian
perspective in research and teaching (the department was the first to introduce
into the MA programme an inter-Scandinavian profile, which was subsequently
adopted in the Scandinavian countries); ERASMUS students who, thanks to their
excellent language skills, are held in high regard in Scandinavia; and the many
symposia organised with partners from within and outside the university,
including the Groninger Museum and the Scandinavian embassies. The department
has received many grants for the promotion of Scandinavian culture in the
Netherlands from Scandinavian companies and organisations, such as the Nordic
Council. And of course staff members are regularly approached by the press for
information about Scandinavia.
What is
being gained from these cuts? Very little. The faculty will save 0.4 FTE in teaching
staff establishment – slightly less than half a full-time job, but will lose a
centre of expertise of high standing with a huge output. As of September 2012
that expertise was incorporated in the new BA programme European Languages and
Cultures. Danish and Norwegian, alongside Swedish, are a vital part of this
programme and indispensable for the Scandinavian perspective: the historical
Groningen gateway to the North.
On behalf
of the Department of Scandinavian Languages and Cultures, University of
Groningen,
Hinka Alkema,
Petra Broomans, Charlotte Gooskens, Janke Klok and Muriel Norde
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