Lögberg-Heimskringla - 13.05.1994, Side 3

By Dr. Kirsten Wolf
Ishould like to begin by thanking
the Icelandic National League for
giving me this opportunity to speak
about the Department of Icelandic at
the University of Manitoba.
During this past year, we have been
offering courses in Modem Icelandic
language, Old Icelandic language and
literature, and Icelandic-Canadian liter-
ature. After a drop in enrolment a cou-
ple of years ago, which has been inter-
preted as being, at least in part, a result
of my non-replacement during a sab-
batical leave, we have this year seen an
increase in the number of students.
Nonetheless, we are still far away from
the numbers we had four years ago,
and the somewhat limited number of
students in the modem language cours-
es, Introductory Icelandic and
Intermediate Icelandic, is a concem. I
am hoping that the teaching of
Icelandic for credit in high school will
help to alter this picture. In addition, a
few initiatives within the Department
have been taken with an eye to tiying
to increase the enrolment. I shall briefly
mention these.
One initiative was to propose to the
Continuing Education Division at the
University of Manitoba that the
Introductoiy Icelandic language course
be taught in one of the Icelandic com-
munities in Manitoba. I am happy to
inform the League that Continuing
Education showed a keen interest in
the idea, and from September 1994 to
April 1995 Introductoiy Icelandic will
be offered as a university course in
Arborg. If the course has sufficient
enrolment and turns out to be a suc-
cess, I envision that we may in future
years offer some of the more special-
ized courses, such as courses on
Icélandic-Canadian literature, Icelandic
sagas, and the writings of Stephan G.
Stephansson, in Arborg, Gimli, Lundar,
Selkirk, or Riverton. We may also
Sun., May 15
Alberta
Sun., May 15
B.C.
Sun., May 29
Interlake
Season Opening - of the Historic Markerville Creamery, Marker-
ville, Alberta -10 am - 5:30 pm. Opening of Stephansson House -
10 am - 6pm.
□ □ □
ICC ofBC Aftemoon of Art & Music - Art work displayed by Ice-
Iandic Canadian artists. Entertainment. Contact Naomi for further
information 942-9594.
□ □ □•
A Service of Dedication ■: 3 p.m. at Vestfold Cemetery
Thurs., June 2
Winnipeg
Fri., June 17
B.C.
□ □ □
Sod Tuming Ceremony - 10:30am at Betelstaður on Erin Street for
the new Betel Care Home.
□ □ • □
ICC ofBC - Come celebrate Iceland's 50thyear oflndependence in a
special way. Join us at Iceland House 8 pm. Watch for further
notices.
June 18 & 19
Alberta
Sat., June 18
Saskatchewan
□ □ □
Icelandic Picnic and Camp Out - at MarkerviIIe, Alberta - Historíc
Markerville Creamery — Stephan G. Stephansson Icelandic Society
□ □ □
Icelandic Picnic - at Fishing Lake
- Vatnabyggð Icelandic Club
□ □ □
Sun., June 19
Winnipeg
June 25 & 26
Alberta
Fri., July 1
Alberta
Fri. to Sun.
July 1, 2, 3
Spedal Program commemorating 50th Anniversary of Iceland's
Independence - Sponsored by Icelandic Cdn. Frón & Jón Sigurðsson
Chapter IODE. Wreath laying 2pm at the Jón Sigurðsson statue on the
Man. Legislative Bldg. grounds. Reception to follow at the Scandinavian
Centre, 764 Erin St. Guest speaker will be Kristján Karlsson from
Iceland. Please join us for this momentous occasion.
□ □ □
Pioneer Days - at Markerville, Alberta - Displays and Children's
Games at Historic Markerville Creamery. By the Stephan G.
Stephansson Icelandic Sodety
□ □ □
Free Coffee - at the Historic Markerville Creamery, MarkerviIIe,
Everyone welcome!
□ □ □'
Intemational Conference in Iceland - focussing on ÞJóðræknismál
held in Reykjavík & at Laugarvatn.
Be sure to send your notices in early to Lögberg-Heímskringla. We all want to
know what’s happening in your area. We would also like to hear from you after
they're over... just send us a few lines telling everyone how they tumed out.' All
photos will be retumed if requested. Please send to:
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Lögberg-Heimskringla • Föstudagur 13. maí 1994 • 3
decide to be adventurous and teach via
satellite, in which case the Department
could reach farther out in the province.
A second initiative was to get the
Department of Icelandic involved in
the University of Manitoba’s Canadian
Studies Program. The Program, which
has been in existence for some time,
has lain dormant, but this year the
Dean of Arts decided to revitalize it and
appointed a committee to restructure
and strengthen the program. A propos-
al has been made to get three of our
courses within the field of Icelandic-
Canadian cross-listed with the
Canadian Studies Program and thus to
strengthen the Department’s part in
this interdisciplinaiy degree program.
The third initiative was, in fact,
taken over a year ago. It involves set-
ting up a joint Ethnic Studies Program
between the University of Manitoba
and the University of Winnipeg. The
Director of the Ukrainian-Canadian
Studies Program at the University of
Manitoba and I have together with a
faculty member from Native Studies
and the Mennonite Chair at the
University of Winnipeg, been going
through the course offerings at both
universities and devised an under-
graduate degree program in Ethnic
Studies. An integral part of such a
program would again be our courses
in Icelandíc-Canadian Studies and,
provided Administration approves of
the proposal, such a program could
draw more students into Icelandic.
Obviously, these initiatives are to a
very large extent also political. They
serve to anchor the Department of
Icelandic in other programs and there-
fore to provide a more solid foundation
for the Department in the Faculty of
Arts.
Admittedly, the Canadian Studies
Program and the proposed Ethnic
Studies Program would serve to draw
students primarily into our courses
within the field of Icelandic Canadian
Studies, not necessarily into the mod-
ern Icelandic language courses. It is
somewhat difficult to see what mea-
sures should be taken to increase the
enrolment in these courses. Over the
last couple of years, brochures about
the Department and letters have been
sent to all high schools in Winnipeg
and the Interlake areas asking that the
respective principal or advisor bring the
Department to the attention of poten-
tially interested students.
As far as staffing is concemed, I am
pleased to announce that in December
1993, the Dean of Arts gave the
Department of Icelandic permission to
advertise a 2-3 year term position in
Icelandic-Canadian Studies at the rank
of lecturer or assistant professor. The
position, which is funded partly by our
endowment, partly by the $300,000.00
grant from Secretary of State (Depart-
ment óf Multiculturalism), and partly
by funds from the Faculty of Arts, was
subject to budgetary approval. An
international search was conducted,
and the search committee has complet-
ed its work and made its recommenda-
tion to the Dean. Because of the $1
million cut in Arts, however, the Dean
wanted to decrease the Faculty’s con-
tribution to the position while I and
my advisory committee were reluctant
to give up what was felt to be the
Department’s claim to Arts funds.
These negotiations have been quite
time-consuming; with a cut of $1 mil-
lion, tiying to get funding for a position
is like drawing water from a stone.
Nonetheless, the Department did get
budgetary approval for the position
and an offer has been made. We have
not received an answer yet, so I am
unable to release the name of the suc-
cessful applicant. It is clear that the
teaching, outreach, and research activi-
ties of the Department can be best con-
ducted with two full-time faculty mem-
bers. It is equally clear that neither of
these positions would have come into
existence without the support of the
Icelandic communities in North
America. The gratitude is felt on an
everyday basis.
While my survey of the Depart-
ment’s activities is brief, I hope I have
given an indication of the various
avenues we are exploring and of the
types of interest and support we have
received. We are involved in an inter-
esting period of expanding the study of
Icelandic along new lines. Should
these new possibilities be brought to
fruition, we can remain assured of the
continued health of Icelandic studies.
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