My aim with this specific research project​ (funded by NSU and The Nordics) is to trace the spirit of NSU, to trace the study programs throughout the years and see how they changed. Some things have been written about this, most notably Kritik og Krise written by several NSU-ers and published in 2000 (which can be downloaded here). But the chapter in that book that talks about the study program is mostly anecdotal, and clearly not systematic.

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Although there are some things that are more known, like how feminist studies in Scandinavia started at NSU, I want to explore this question more systematically. In this project I want to know everything there is to know about the study program. (Ambitious, right?!) How did it develop over the years? What choices were made, based on what requirements? I want to find out how the conversation changed over the years.

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The Nordic Summer University is a voluntary organisation where researchers, artists and basically anybody can start a ‘study circle’: a topic that is discussed during individual circle meetings in the winter and at the summer session, where all circles meet for some days, a week or even longer. The topics of the study circle were apparently interesting and important enough for people to spend their time and energy on, and attracted other people who were interested to discuss these topics together at the Nordic Summer University. Tracing these conversations at NSU therefore means tracing the conversations of the Nordic countries, of what was considered important and fundamental to study together in an interdisciplinary and intellectually stimulating environment.

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The preliminary results of this project are first presented here on this website. First results include a timeline with pictures of the study groups, and some notes on the findings from the archive. Further analysis will be done, looking into specific cases, and regarding the organising of the study program within NSU. Also I will look more into the shifts in the study program as to the topics studied. In Summer 2021 there will be a book, which is to be presented at the Summer Session 2021.