University College London
London
Scandinavian Studies
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Original post by SleepingTheClockAround
I just spent my year abroad in Umeå and it was a really good mix. I was living in a corridor of 9 people of which 4 were international and 5 were Swedish and in many other corridors there were even less internationals. You also have to take courses taught in the language you're studying so I met Swedish people that way too. Umeå also had this 'buddy programme' thing with the international students, in which we were put into groups and had maybe 5 to 6 Swedish buddies per group. So although I mostly hung out with exchange students, there are lots of opportunities to befriend natives 
Oh that doesn't sound too bad, although things might be different in Oslo. Umeå is quite far north so I imagine it attracts less international students than the region's capitals.
Speaking of Umeå... did you do much traveling whilst you were there or were you restricted to northern Sweden? For me, I will obviously have to go to either Oslo or Tromsø and the possibilities for traveling from either city are pretty bleak (trains don't even go to Tromsø!).
University College London
London
Original post by Samual
Oh that doesn't sound too bad, although things might be different in Oslo. Umeå is quite far north so I imagine it attracts less international students than the region's capitals.
Speaking of Umeå... did you do much traveling whilst you were there or were you restricted to northern Sweden? For me, I will obviously have to go to either Oslo or Tromsø and the possibilities for traveling from either city are pretty bleak (trains don't even go to Tromsø!).
Speaking of Umeå... did you do much traveling whilst you were there or were you restricted to northern Sweden? For me, I will obviously have to go to either Oslo or Tromsø and the possibilities for traveling from either city are pretty bleak (trains don't even go to Tromsø!).
Didn't really travel too much while I was away. I did one big trip during the Easter break. A couple of Czech friends had their car with them in Umeå so we drove up to Kiruna to see the Ice Hotel, then on to Narvik and to the end of the Lofoten islands, then Tromsø and finally the North Cape. It was pretty amazing seeing all those but it really was waaaay too much driving so definitely next time I'd give myself a lot more time. And in April the roads were still pretty bad, we skidded off a couple of times.
Aside from that I just did some hiking trips around the municipality and explored a lot by bicycle.
A lot of the exchange students did trips to Stockholm and stuff as well but I'd been there quite a few times before so was happy enough to stay put in the north
Original post by tlunn223
Hey,
I have a huge interest in Scandinavia and the SS major at UCL looks awesome. [...] What are the possible job prospects after getting the degree?
Thanks!
I have a huge interest in Scandinavia and the SS major at UCL looks awesome. [...] What are the possible job prospects after getting the degree?
Thanks!
Hey there,
Generally, the job prospects are very similar to any humanities (and certain social sciences) graduate. So you will be looking at going into Banking, Marketing and Management etc.. Similarly, with extra qualifications you could go into law and accounting - though these are often competitive and law out of the city in the UK is increasingly underpaid. If you want to be a fat cat you've really got to be in the metropolis and/or resist having children!
The advantage you'll have with SS, like any other language subject, is that you have the broad humanities + a language. You should be more employable than a History graduate (of course depenging on your CV) because you will have studied History, Politics, Literary Theory etc. but with a linguistic backbone. Whilst the more traditional languages have benefits in being in more demand (I assume), the Nordic Languages do, I think, sell your personality and make you appear a more interesting candidate.
Then, of course, there's chasing academia. I suppose the good thing with SS is that you can move around a bit afterwards. I know someone who's gone into Anthropology. There's always fields in History, Literature, Politics, Linguistics if you did want to go more mainstream.
Lastly, there's actually using your language. I'm sure there must be some demand for translators. Aside from that, you might find that working with a company in Scandinavia may suit both you and the employer - you get to live in lovely Norden, and they get a lovely reliably fluent English speaker. Teaching English (or even Scandinavian Lit/Hist etc) might be appealing - though you'll have to do the necessary training. You could also start another degree in Scandinavia - it's free and working beforehand may cover the living expenses.
So, you're hardly going to be in a similar demand of a Hydrogeologist or Opthalmologist, but just because SS is an "alternative subject" doesn't mean it's a dead end. UCL and Edinburgh are both considered great institutions and if an employer considers your degree "basket weaving", then chances are you're not really going to be fond of them anyway! The best way to please an employer is fastly becoming less on what your degree is in but your experience. Internships, rightly or wrongly, are rapidly becoming the normal requirement before you even apply to a company.
Also, both UCL and Edinburgh combine their degrees well. Consider taking Icelandic with Management or Swedish and German or even Norwegian and History of Science. In Edinburgh (and to a lesser extent UCL) you could potentially study a course in, say, Biology and take electives in SS. In these ways you can make your degree even more bizarre or tone it down to suit job prospects.
Hope this helps
Original post by Samual
Oh... right. Do you find you can mix with natives well? I got the impression that Scandinavia was where all the Erasmus non-language students end up going because a lot of the courses are in English, so there are a lot of Anglophones around. I don't fancy the idea of living in international halls and only hanging out with other exchange students.
Speaking of Denmark and I think any Nordic country you need to make an effort to mix with the natives but it's not so difficult if you want to make it. Of course its much easier to stay in the English speaking community but its definitely worth it to try to mix with the natives.
Had to elect our UCAS choices in college atm. Will be applying for Viking Studies at UCL and SS and History at Edinburgh
Original post by placebo24
Had to elect our UCAS choices in college atm. Will be applying for Viking Studies at UCL and SS and History at Edinburgh
What is the difference between Viking Studies and Scandinavian Studies? They look pretty much the same to me except some history/Old Norse courses are mandatory instead of being optional.
Original post by Samual
What is the difference between Viking Studies and Scandinavian Studies? They look pretty much the same to me except some history/Old Norse courses are mandatory instead of being optional.
Pretty much that. There used to be Runology, but UCL did away with that. There should also be a couple of modules on the sources of the Viking Age, which would be mandatory for Viking Studies.
Original post by Samual
What is the difference between Viking Studies and Scandinavian Studies? They look pretty much the same to me except some history/Old Norse courses are mandatory instead of being optional.
Original post by Hylean
Pretty much that. There used to be Runology, but UCL did away with that. There should also be a couple of modules on the sources of the Viking Age, which would be mandatory for Viking Studies.
Man, Runology sounds badass. Why did they do away with it?
Also they seem less arsy about having a language at AS ;D Plus will suit my personal statement and career aspirations better (well if the title fools them).
Michael Barnes retired and though they paid him to teach courses, in the end there wasn't enough money and they've never bothered looking for another person to teach Runology for similar reasons, I'd assume.
I was the last year that got to study Runology, but it's one that's been in constant demand from students since then.
I was the last year that got to study Runology, but it's one that's been in constant demand from students since then.
Original post by Hylean
Michael Barnes retired and though they paid him to teach courses, in the end there wasn't enough money and they've never bothered looking for another person to teach Runology for similar reasons, I'd assume.
I was the last year that got to study Runology, but it's one that's been in constant demand from students since then.
I was the last year that got to study Runology, but it's one that's been in constant demand from students since then.
Take it that there looks like little chance of it coming back any time soon?
Original post by placebo24
Take it that there looks like little chance of it coming back any time soon?
Probably not, but I haven't been in the department for three years now, so things might've changed since I was there.
Seems a little weird that there's a Viking Studies degree but not separate Danish, Swedish and Norwegian degree programmes.
I emailed Claire Thomson recently to ask about Runology and she said there are no plans to bring it back.
Original post by placebo24
Take it that there looks like little chance of it coming back any time soon?
I emailed Claire Thomson recently to ask about Runology and she said there are no plans to bring it back.
During your year abroad would it make a lot more sense to go where you aspire to a do a post-grad? Just asking because I'd quite like to do post-grad in Oslo, but would fancy spending a year in Tromso...
Original post by placebo24
During your year abroad would it make a lot more sense to go where you aspire to a do a post-grad? Just asking because I'd quite like to do post-grad in Oslo, but would fancy spending a year in Tromso...
It would, because you would make contacts and get to know the people in the department.
However, there's nothing stopping you from going to a different place. It won't hamper your application to Oslo if you haven't gone there for your year abroad.
Original post by Hylean
It would, because you would make contacts and get to know the people in the department.
However, there's nothing stopping you from going to a different place. It won't hamper your application to Oslo if you haven't gone there for your year abroad.
However, there's nothing stopping you from going to a different place. It won't hamper your application to Oslo if you haven't gone there for your year abroad.
Thought so, damn networking
Hi!
Guess this has been asked before, but I don't want to read all the pages to find it
I am currently in my first year of an engineering course, but I realise that maybe I don't want do sciences all my life.
I've always loved languages and I can speak fluently 3 languages (French, Portuguese, English) and I was thinking that I could speak another one, Swedish, by taking the Scandinavian studies course at Edinburgh (as an EU student, I don't have to pay any tuition fees there).
Are there any exciting careers prospects after graduating in this course? Something that could convince me to drop my current course?
Thanks
Guess this has been asked before, but I don't want to read all the pages to find it
I am currently in my first year of an engineering course, but I realise that maybe I don't want do sciences all my life.
I've always loved languages and I can speak fluently 3 languages (French, Portuguese, English) and I was thinking that I could speak another one, Swedish, by taking the Scandinavian studies course at Edinburgh (as an EU student, I don't have to pay any tuition fees there).
Are there any exciting careers prospects after graduating in this course? Something that could convince me to drop my current course?
Thanks
(edited 11 years ago)
Could any UCL peeps please be able to give me a rough timeframe of when the offers come out? Thanks
Apparently I have been "recommended" for an offer. So excited!
Hi all,
Vaguely considering BA Icelandic at UCL for 2014 entry. From anyone else who applied for this - or any other courses which are quite unique and not offered anywhere else - what did you put down for your other choices? Was it more broad Scandinavian Studies, so you could still keep your PS relevant?
Thank you!
Vaguely considering BA Icelandic at UCL for 2014 entry. From anyone else who applied for this - or any other courses which are quite unique and not offered anywhere else - what did you put down for your other choices? Was it more broad Scandinavian Studies, so you could still keep your PS relevant?
Thank you!
Original post by Paramore<3
Hi all,
Vaguely considering BA Icelandic at UCL for 2014 entry. From anyone else who applied for this - or any other courses which are quite unique and not offered anywhere else - what did you put down for your other choices? Was it more broad Scandinavian Studies, so you could still keep your PS relevant?
Thank you!
Vaguely considering BA Icelandic at UCL for 2014 entry. From anyone else who applied for this - or any other courses which are quite unique and not offered anywhere else - what did you put down for your other choices? Was it more broad Scandinavian Studies, so you could still keep your PS relevant?
Thank you!
I applied to BA Icelandic for 2005 entry. I applied for English Lit and Language at Liverpool; Celtic Studies at Glasgow; Japanese at Edinburgh; Spanish at Cardiff; English Lit at Queen's Belfast.
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