Classes & Seminars

Join us for an eight-week workshop focusing on Nordic crime films and novels. Tom Birnie, instructor in Scandinavian Studies at Portland State University, is back to lead this one-of-a-kind course, in which we will learn about, discuss and savor several films and books from the northernmost reaches of Europe. Nordic crime novels and films have attained an extraordinary international presence over the past three decades. Frequently addressing social issues, these allied genres investigate the troubling shadows lurking in what may at first glance be a perfect set of Scandinavian welfare states, where nothing can go wrong. Through examinations of corruption, exploitation, inequity and crooked politics, the reader/viewer is treated to superb studies of human character. About the Instructor: Thomas Birnie holds a Ph.D. in German…