Lund University

The course provides a survey of Swedish literary tradition, from the Middle Ages until today. It is centred on canonised and internationally well-known authors such as Carl Michael Bellman, Carl von Linné, Selma Lagerlöf, August Strindberg, and Gunnar Ekelöf. Additionally, more popular fiction, for example Astrid Lindgren’s children’s books and Henning Mankell’s crime novels, will be examined. The course also addresses the unique Swedish tradition of proletarian literature, and special attention will be devoted to women’s literature and literary tradition. All texts will be read in English translation. The main focus will be on literary history as well as on analysis and interpretation of literary texts, but also fundamental concepts of literary theory will be presented.

The course offers students an introduction to modern Swedish society from an anthropological perspective. It is based on issues of politics, social norms, and social change in Sweden and on a number of ethnographical research studies. Anthropology is often based on an empirical understanding of people's experiences and can therefore provide insights into the everyday life of people and organizations. The course enables students to investigate and analyze case studies of social and political changes in Swedish society. Examples of this include the views of political governance, work and education, and focusing on the way they affect the people concerned. 

Training in microbiological practice and laboratory skills is an essential and important part of the course. This includes both regular practicals and a project that runs throughout the course. The project is independently planned and carried out by groups of 2-3 students and gives training in many aspects of microbiology, as well as in general laboratory practice and project planning. The theoretical parts are treated both in lectures and in problem-solving seminars. The first part of the course deals with physiology and diversity of microbes. It gives a modern view of the microbial world and its phylogeny. The structure and function of the prokaryotic cell is discussed in detail. Growth of microorganisms is analyzed from several aspects. Metabolic diversity of microbes.