Norwegian society, education and culture

Is Norway a wealthy country because of its oil? Why have Ibsen and Hamsun become world famous authors? What are the basic Norwegian values? Is Norway a country based on egalitarian values? Why do we have two official written Norwegian languages in a country with only 4.6 million people? How are minorities treated? Is Christianity on the wane in Norway? What is it like to grow up in Norwegian kindergartens and schools? What are the challenges facing the Norwegian welfare state?

These and other questions will be discussed during the one-semester NORSEC programme. NORSEC is a 30 ECTS credit programme which is offered every autumn to international foreign students, primarily for teacher education students.

The language of instruction is English.

NORwegian Society, Education and Culture, NORSEC, is a comparative study programme. Its starting point is Norwegian society, the Norwegian school system and Norwegian culture. The students will, however, be invited to make comparisons with their home countries during the semester.

Two three-day excursions are part of the programme - one of the excursions takes place already during the first week - so students must bring a sleeping bag and good shoes/boots. The excursions are subsidised, but students must pay for accommodation/food, approximately 65 euro altogether.

The University of Agder has offered NORSEC for groups of 25 foreign students every autumn since 1994. The student evaluations have been very positive.

Published by Siren Vegusdal <siren.vegusdalSPAMFILTER@uia.no> 05/12/2011