Education

The Norwegian scientist Thor Heyerdahl was internationally renowned for leading expeditions across vast oceans in rudimentary vessels.

The scientific study of language form and meaning, including the specialised branch of runology, has been a prominent academic pursuit in the Nordics since the Middle Ages.

Folk high schools are institutions which provide general and vocational education for young people and adults. Based on the philosophy of Danish educator, pastor, and religious revivalist N.F.S. Grundtvig (1783-1872), the first school was founded in Denmark in 1844, but the concept spread to other Nordic countries in the following decades. There are about 400 of these schools in the Nordic countries today.

National museums in the Nordics retain an important role in the creation and maintenance of a particular view of a country, its people and often its place within the Nordics. This view is presented to both outsiders and the people themselves. In 1800s, Nordic thinkers and museums influenced the inception of national museums elsewhere at a time when ‘nationing’ narratives was at its height. Whilst perhaps no less important today, these narratives of particular nations are not static and are interpreted dynamically and in various ways and exhibitions. Importantly, museums generally have developed a greater emphasis on and engagement with minority groups, didactics and community outreach (the Nordics being pioneers of the open air folk museum), and issues relevant to a post-industrial society.

Courses ranging from evening classes and short, focussed courses to full-time university programmes reflect a broad interest in studying creative writing in the Nordic countries.

Because of the emphasis on social planning and the strong state prevalent in the Nordic region throughout the twentieth century, the social sciences have enjoyed a privileged position in the Nordics.

Anthropological studies contribute new knowledge on Nordic societies and simultaneously offer fresh perspectives on them.