The Icelandic Canadian - 01.06.2000, Page 14

Vol. 55 #4
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
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taken mainly to support the delivery of that instruction. But all this was changing rapidly: leading
universities were developing post-graduate studies leading to masters' and doctoral degrees and stu-
dents at all levels were becoming more and more involved in research and scholarly work; students
rapidly changed from being receivers of the accumulated knowledge and wisdom of the past as
expounded by the professoriate to becoming junior partners in learning; and there was a concomi-
tant rise in the expectations of performance of academic staff, especially in the pursuit of research
and scholarly activities. Subsequently, the realization that much knowledge, and enquiries into some
aspect of it, involved more than one discipline led to the emergence of new disciplines (e.g.
Geography, Linguistics) and later to many multi-, inter- and cross-disciplinary studies.
As a result the meaning of the phrase "promoting studies and research in the field of Icelandic
Asmundur P. Johannson
A.H.S. Gillson
H.H. Saunderson
Language and Literature," now has a far broader meaning than when it was written and attested to
in 1949. In the Department of Icelandic, the change is evident from an almost exclusively language-
oriented syllabus evident in the c. 1902 listings to the broader emphasis on literature and now to
include the study of Icelandic works in English and of "Western-Icelandic" writings. The change is
clearly demonstrated in Dr. Kirsten Wolfs article (See end note 9, especially Tables 1 through 4
and the curriculum as it appeared in the 1992-93 Calendar).
So too have the changes affected the nature and use of the Icelandic Collection. While fifty
years ago, like the rest of the Library, its’ principal function was to support instruction in, and give
Finnbogi Gudniundsson Haraldur Uessason Kirsten Wolf
support to the faculty and students from the Department of Icelandic. It now provides support for
instruction and research by many others. As reported recently by Sigrid Johnson, Head of the
Icelandic Collection, users now come from English, German, Medieval and Renaissance Studies,