Thanks to the cooperation between Fudan University and universities in the Nordic countries (through the Nordic Centre, Fudan) - many well known scholars and professors specialized in Nordic literature have visited Fudan University. Their lectures and discussions have resulted in an increasing interest for Nordic literature among our students. The newly launched Nordic Literature Research Institute will enable the faculty and students to expose themselves more to Nordic literature and the latest development in the research in this field.
Fudan University boasts itself as one of the first key universities in China to start Nordic literature teaching and research. Already in the 1930s, Ibsen's plays were taught and performed on campus. And ten years after the Cultural Revolution, Fudan was the first among the Chinese universities to offer an elective course on Ibsen. In recent years the faculty has initiated and taken part in many more courses, conferences and festivals - celebrating the great masters of Nordic literature like H.C.Andersen, Ibsen and Strindberg.
At the initial stage the institute, under the management of Professor Sun Jian, will work towards the following goals:
1. Developing courses both at undergraduate and graduate levels
a. Nordic Theatre
b. Scandinavian Literary Criticism
c. Nordic Film
d. Women in Nordic Literature
2. Organizing a conference on H.C. Andersen in 2007.
3. Establishing a professorship for Nordic scholars.
4. Setting up a fund for awarding the students.
5. Publishing an annual journal on issues of Nordic literature.