Students Found New Group Devoted to Scandinavian Culture, History

As the only Scandinavian Studies concentrator at the College, Sarah B. Schauss '01 is used to setting off on her own. But when she moved off campus this year, she says she looked for other ways to get more involved in campus life.

After attending an activities meeting in Dunster House, Schauss realized that there were no existing clubs that captured her interest. Instead of giving up, she decided to form a group that would introduce students to a culture as warm as its climate is cold. Gathering supporters, she founded the Harvard-Radcliffe Scandinavian Folk and Culture Society.

Schauss, who is now president of the organization, pitched her idea to others in her Swedish B class and found two willing accomplices--Marcelline M. Block '01, who is also a Crimson editor, and Elizabeth A. Chiappa '01. The three sophomores had taken Swedish A together last year and were frequent participants at the Wednesday night Swedish table in Leverett House.

After soliciting friends and classmates, they compiled an e-mail list of more than 20 interested people. Though still waiting for confirmation of their status as an official student group, the Society began to hold events earlier this month.

Last Thursday night, undergraduate and graduate students gathered in the Leverett G-tower common room to view Pathfinder, an Academy-award nominated film about the ancient Sami legend of a young man who risks his life to save his people from the evil tribe that killed his own family. The Sami are an indigenous people from northern Finland.

As the film concluded, students milled about the room praising the movie and breaking into conversation in Swedish.

Amanda R. Whitman '01 said she liked the movie, but found it a bit graphic. "I'm really sensitive to killing so I had to close my eyes," she said.

Movie-goers also enjoyed traditional Icelandic pastries and cake donated by a local bakery. "The chef is Icelandic so he was willing to help us out," Chiappa says.

Members of the new group have also attended a night of Scandinavian folk dancing at a Lutheran Church in Brookline, a speech about Swedish genealogy and a trip to the Bayside International Expo in Boston.

Finding Their Roots

Aara E. Edwards '02 who found out about the group through her Swedish A class, went out on the town with the society last weekend for folk dancing.

"I'd never seen Scandinavian folk dancing before," she says. "All these old guys taught us all the dances."

"There was a lot of spinning," she adds.

Edwards says she was interested in the group because of her Swedish ancestry. Her family still celebrates some Swedish traditions.

Edwards says she was also interested in discovering the differences between Scandinavian-American culture and bona fide Scandinavian culture. "For instance, [Swedish-Americans] tend to eat lutefisk, which no self-respecting Swede would," she says.

Jennifer K. Westhagen '01, the society's treasurer and social attache, cites similar reasons for joining the group. Her family lives in a large Scandinavian community in Seattle.

"There you can walk down the street and hear people speaking Scandinavian languages," Westhagen says.

Westhagen studied Scandinavian dance as a child and says her father watches Norwegian television on an international channel at home.

But Schauss stresses that the club is not just for people of Scandinavian descent.

"Our events are open to anyone who's interested, whether or not they want to join [the Society]," she says. "I don't think most of the people in the club are Scandinavian."

Schauss notes that Block and Chiappa, the club's vice president and secretary, are not of Scandinavian ancestry.

The club has one member from Finland and one member from Iceland, along with several members who "were born in America, but [Scandinavia] is still part of their heritage," Block says.

Group leaders say even though members are not necessarily Scandinavian themselves, their club is an ethnic one.

"The whole point [of an ethnic organization] is to raise awareness of the culture and spark people's interest if we can," Schauss says.

"That should be the point of all cultural clubs," Block adds.

Carving a Niche

Group members cite a variety of topics they wish to address through the group.

Several of the club's members expressed disappointment that Swedish is the only Scandinavian language taught at the College, even though Scandinavia includes Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.

Westhagen says she is concerned with breaking down the conception held by the general public that the Scandinavians were supporters of Hitler. She says Scandinavian literature was influenced by the Nazis, but in actuality the king of Denmark at the time, and in fact many Scandinavians, were vocally opposed to anti-Semitism.

Chiappa says she hopes to explore the strong family bonds she observed in Sweden. While visiting some Swedish friends from high school, she says she noticed a "deep respect and love" among the people.

She says she was also struck by the closeness of extended families, who often live near each other. "I found that was really nice because my family is kind of scattered all over the country and the world," she says.

Schauss says she hopes to hold events at least twice a month.

The group meets Thursdays at 7 p.m., although it will not meet every week.

The group plans to hold celebrations of Scandinavian holidays including the Swedish St. Lucia celebration which occurs near Christmas, Finnish independence day in December, and Morten Gos, a Swedish holiday in November "where they eat roast goose," Schauss says.

Groups leaders also look forward to more movie nights, with films from such directors as the Swede Ingmar Bergman and Jorn Donner, a Finn.