Scandinavian Studies at the University of Amsterdam

Scandinavian Studies in a nutshell

Scandinavian studies at the UvA is the only study program in the Benelux that offers a full bachelor’s degree in the three largest Scandinavian languages: Danish, Norwegian and Swedish. You choose one of the three languages as your main language, and learn to read and understand all three. You will also learn all about the history of Scandinavia and the Vikings, but also the language of contemporary new media and digital culture.

Scandinavian Studies at the UvA is a small-scale program that offers plenty of room for interaction between students and lecturers.

In this video Tanja Bouwman, our teacher Norwegian, and student Floris about Scandinavian Studies and their experiences (Note that this video is in Dutch).

For international students

As Scandinavian Studies is taught primarily in Dutch, you will need to be able to speak, read and write Dutch at an academic level to be able to study the full 3-year, 180EC bachelor programme.

However, select courses are taught in English and open to international students. Please ask your exchange coordinator or study advisor for more information.

Language acquisition

If you want to learn Danish, Norwegian or Swedish and do not speak Dutch, you can look into the 24EC course Scandinavian. Upon completion of the course you can understand spoken and written Danish, Norwegian and Swedish at a higher level (B2), and you can speak and write Norwegian at a basic level. You can find more information on the UvA website.

Exchange students from Scandinavia

If you already speak Danish, Norwegian or Swedish there are some more options, as some advanced courses have “Scandinavian” as their main language of instruction.

This means that if you speak one of the three Scandinavian languages and can understand the other two, it might be possible to follow one of these courses. It is however advisiory to have at least some understanding of Dutch as well, as some course-critical information might only be available in Dutch.
Secondly, there are courses in Danish, Norwegian and Swedish literature (all are 6 EC), taught in their respective languages.

The majority of these courses are taught during the autumn term.

If you want to follow one of the courses in the bachelor’s Scandinavian Studies, please ask your exchange coordinator or study advisor for more information.