University of Oslo

Runology is concerned with some 1300 years of the history of writing. Runes constituted the script used by many Germanic peoples from the second century A.D. Their use died out in Norway around 1400. This course spans the entire history of runes and gives an overview of both the secondary literature and the inscriptions themselves. For a relevant point of comparison, the course also includes a concise introduction to contemporary Roman Alphabet epigraphy in Scandinavia.

This course offers an introduction to Norwegian dialects, Norwegian language history, and New Norwegian both as cultural heritage and as a language of use. This course is an overview of the Norwegian language situation before and now. Upon completion of the course, the students must have knowledge of the main points in dialectology. They must work practically with target samples and be able to recognize the four main groups into which Norwegian dialects are divided. The students must have a good insight into Norwegian dialects and dialect variation and an overview of the historical and political background for the current situation. They must be able to transfer their knowledge of Norwegian colloquialisms to confidential situations. The students should also be familiar with some main features of Norwegian language history and have knowledge of Nynorsk's place in Norway today. They must be able to read and understand Nynorsk texts in various genres from blogs and newspapers to professional articles and shorter literary texts. The students gain insight into the Nynorsk vocabulary and basic grammatical features of the Nynorsk language and use this competence to write their own texts in Nynorsk. Students must have completed NORINT0130 – Norwegian for international students, level 3 or equivalent as a prerequisite.

Applied ethics deals with specific moral problems of fundamental importance for today’s individual and society. This branch of ethics covers areas such as animal rights, medical ethics, environmental ethics, and corporate ethics. This course discusses questions such as: Do humans and animals have a different moral status? Can eating meat be morally justified? Are there any moral reasons for allowing euthanasia?  How should one balance different values and demands in care work when it comes to the sharing of resources? Are we morally obliged to fight climate change? How should we as individuals deal with the environmental as well as the economic changes which the globalization makes us face? Can today’s economic system be justified? The content of the course may vary from one semester to another, something which means that often different topics will be discussed each time the course is given. Applied ethics also covers methodological questions regarding how to discuss and conclude as far as moral problems are concerned.