FIN225 — Nordic Society, Politics, and Culture (Winter 2026)

Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures

Course Description:

In the global imagination, Scandinavia has become synonymous with technological progress, modern design, gender equalitarianism, social welfare, solidarity, and wellness, or simply “happiness.” This utopianism associated with the Nordic region is often presented as model for other countries to follow, as testified by the Nordic lifestyle. exports, such as hygge, lagom, sauna, and sisu, gaining popularity in North America and beyond. In this class, we will examine how the core values and cultural features of the Nordic society emerged historically from the 18^th century to the present and how they were shaped by and reflected in literature, drama, film, folklore and other kinds of cultural objects. In particular, we will examine the Nordic model/the welfare state, gender egalitarianism, environmental sustainability, and ideas about family and childhood, and situate these ideas within the broader historical, political, philosophical, and social contexts.

Learning goals:

After a semester of active participation, students will have…

· Gained a basic overview of Nordic culture and history, including the key characteristics that the Nordic countries share and how they differ.

· Rehearsed their interpretative skills in analyzing cultural objects against their historical, cultural, political, and aesthetic backgrounds.

· Developed their ability to analyze key concepts, mindsets, and values in the Nordic region.

Organization:

· This class meets in person.

· The course will have a flipped classroom and will consist of both short lectures and discussions. Students are asked to complete all the readings before the class for which they are due and come to class prepared to participate actively.

· All works will be read in English translation, but if you have command of any of the Scandinavian languages, you are welcome to read some works in the original.

· You will have to use Quercus to access assignments, readings and receive notifications,

· Classes may not be recorded without the instructor’s permission.

· My primary method of communicating with you is via Quercus messages, but if you prefer to communicate via email, let me know.

· You are welcome to my drop-in office hours without prior communication. If you want to see me outside of those times, email me.

Required readings:

· Most readings will be made available on Quercus as PDFs or as electronic resources of the university library. A few items you will have to purchase on your own.

· You are expected to make notes of the readings in preparation of class discussion. For this reason, please do not listen to the works as audiobooks or read them as Kindle editions even when available, but rather read as a paper copy (and less ideally from your screen as a markable PDF). Studies show that reading on paper versus on screen is more conducive to “deep reading.”

· When buying paper copies, please use the editions listed above. We often discuss a specific passage, and it is important that we all read the same translation and can locate the same page/passage quickly.

· All of the items you have to buy are available on Amazon and the University bookstore, but you can also check your local independent booksellers.

· Some weeks are heavier than others regarding the works load, so plan ahead and start reading the novels ahead of schedule.

Items students need to purchase for this class:

· Nella Larsen, Quicksand. London: Penguin Classics, 2002 (1928). ISBN 9780141181271.

· Tove Jansson, The Summer Book. Translated by Thomas Teal. New York: New York Revie of Books, 2008 (1972). ISBN  9781590172681.

· Henrik Ibsen, Hedda Gabler and Other Plays. London: Penguin Classics, 2020. ISBN 978-0141194578.

Course work and grading:

NB: The course instructor reserves the right to make periodic adjustments to the schedule as a means of addressing the changing needs sometimes required to meet the course objectives.

Winter 2026

Course Policies:

Class Etiquette:

Let us respect each other’s time by coming to class ready support one another’s learning. This includes:

· Coming to class on time and being engaged.

· Listening to other attentively and expressing our view with respect, even when amid intellectual disagreements.

· Not using electronic devices for other purposes than accessing readings and other course content. Make sure your phone is on silent and stored away.

· Please note that the lectures may not be recorded or photos may not be taken of the lecture slides.

As your instructor, I am committed to…

· helping you meet the goals you have set for yourself.

· providing you written and oral feedback and being available for all questions and concerns.

· recognizing that you have other classes and responsibilities beyond this class and respecting your need for a manageable workload.

· returning assignments in a timely manner.

· listening to student feedback and continuously reflecting on my teaching.

· answering emails within 48 hours.

Assignment submission:

All discussion posts and the Final Paper will be submitted through Quercus. The short quizzes will be administered in class.

Grading Criteria and Rubric:

The University’s grading policies can be found here.

Attendance (10 %)

Regular attendance is a basic requirement of this class, as a lot of the learning happens in the class discussions. You will be awarded 2 points for each attended class (all or nothing). The exit tickets collected at the end of the class will be used as proof of attendance. All students can miss one class without an absence declaration, with no penalty (i.e. you will still receive 2 points for the class). You do not need to tell me the reason, although it is helpful for me to know ahead of time that you are not coming to class. After this one pass, you will either need to provide documentation of your absence, or you will lose your attendance score for the missed class.

Students can submit an Absence Declaration form. directly available to them on ACORN, anytime they are absent from academic work. No additional information or documentation is required. Students will self-declare their medical exemption and will be responsible for contacting instructors to request the academic consideration they are seeking. When you miss a class, make sure to catch up on any missed readings and slides through Quercus, acquiring notes from your fellow students first and then following up with me in office hours.

Discussion participation (15 %)

Your participation grade is calculated for the whole course based on your overall engagement in class discussions (which includes making significant contributions to discussions by sharing one’s analysis and interpretation and listening and responding to others’ statements). Apart from in class-participation, there are also other ways of participating, such as coming to office hours, forming student-lead study groups outside of the classroom, and emailing me about class contents and your learning. If you find speaking in class difficult, please come to see me in office hours so we can think of alternative ways.

For further information of active participation in class, see the rubric on Quercus.

Short responses (15 %)

As part of preparation for each class, starting the second week of the class, you are expected to submit a short response to the readings on Quercus and to read the responses of the other class participants. The responses are due each Thursday at noon before the class.

· Because the goal of short responses is to help us orientate towards class discussions, late submissions will not be accepted.

· The responses should specifically address the weekly assigned readings and amount to about 150–200 words. I will drop three of your lowest scoring responses.

· The responses should raise relevant issues and questions based on the weekly readings, expanding the discussions we have had in class. A good Quercus post might, for example, note recurring theme, pose a counterargument, or bring up a related, relevant topic or question. When discussing works of art such as literature and film, a good response will pay attention to the formal features and make at attempt to analyze in substantially. Good questions, comments, and responses will also draw links between topics and readings from different weeks of the course. Questions, comments, and responses will be evaluated based on their analysis, discussion, use of appropriate terminology, and the distinction between personal opinion and thoughtful criticism.

· For more information, see the rubric on Quercus.

In class quizzes (30 %)

There will be four (4) short in-class quizzes, each 30 minutes long. They might include multiple choice questions or short open essay questions that ask you to explain a concept that came up in the readings, situate a passage, or synthesize class readings and discussions. Each quiz will cover all the readings, discussions, and lectures up to the day of the quiz. There will be no questions on minor details or trick questions, but you will need some details to understand the big picture.

The quizzes are open notes quizzes, meaning that you can use all your notes that you have on paper. The use of any electronic devices is not permitted during the quizzes, so please put away your laptops, phones, and headphones. Any use of an electronic device during a quiz will result in 0%.

In case of a missed quiz, each student has one chance to do a makeup quiz in office hours the following week, Mon & Wed 3–4pm.

Final Paper (30 %)

You will write one paper for this class. The required length is 7–8 pages. In the paper, you will respond to one of the several prompts handed out ahead of time.

· The paper will be formatted with a standard font, 12 pt, and double-spaced and submitted via Quercus as PDFs or docx.

· If citing or using secondary sources, use a standard manual for citations, such as the MLA or Chicago.

· For further details on grading, see the rubric on Quercus.

Late Assignments:

· Late assignments will be subject to a 3% late penalty per day (including weekends), starting after the due date.

· Only 48-hour extension will be granted unless there are extenuating circumstances and documentation is provided.

· Day of extension requests will not be accepted.

· Assignments will not be accepted 7 days after the due date.

· If there are extenuating circumstances (illness, death in family) that prevent you from completing an assignment on-time you must email the instructor as soon as possible, preferably BEFORE the deadline and NO LATER than one week after the due date. In case of extenuating circumstances, the instructor and student will develop a plan for submitting assignments on time.

· I will email students who are late on their assignments once, after which no follow-up reminders will be sent.

· Students who have been absent from class for medical or other unavoidable reasons AND require an accommodation for missed or late term work must record their absence using the ROSI Absence Declaration.

· The inability to upload your assignment to Quercus does not constitute a legitimate excuse for late assignments. In such a case, email the assignment directly to the instructor.

Final Grade:

Letter grades for the Midterm Exam, the Final Paper, and the entire course will be assigned as follows:

Disputing a grade:

If you wish to dispute an individual assessment mark, you should return a copy of your paper to me along with a detailed argument explaining why you think you deserved a higher grade attached to the paper. It will then be at the instructor’s discretion to decide whether to take the matter further. The final course grades are final, so if you are concerned about your performance, please make sure you come and talk to me in my office hours well before the end of the semester.

Accessibility and Accommodations:

Students with diverse learning styles and needs are welcome in this course. In particular, if you have a health consideration that may require accommodations, please contact the Accessibility Services Office as soon as possible.

The Accessibility Services staff are available by appointment to assess specific needs, provide referrals and arrange appropriate accommodations. The sooner you let them and me know your needs, the quicker we can assist you in achieving your learning goals in this course. More info on registering with Accessibility Services: https://www.studentlife.utoronto.ca/as/new-registration