KULT 2207 & 2208

Gender & Norwegian Culture

Spring 2023

Norway and the Nordic countries in general are considered models of gender equality. In Norway, gender
equality is a central political value, and both images and expectations relating to gender equality shape the
framework of many everyday negotiations. This course scratches below the surface of Norway's self-image
as gender equal and asks how such an image is produced in society, and the extent to which this image has
been challenged, and/or is changing. We explore questions such as: How is gender equality done in
today's Norway? How is it constructed and negotiated in Norwegian institutions, in everyday life and in
popular culture? What power structures and dynamics are involved in these negotiations? What paradoxes
do they produce? Throughout this course, we will investigate this passion for equality associated with
Norwegian culture and politics, but also the challenges which these egalitarian ideals bring to play. This
interdisciplinary course will cover a wide range of topics, including but not limited to: family,
reproduction, sexuality, education and working life. The topics will be explored with reference to gender
studies theories, empirical texts, and items of popular culture. The course is open to both international
exchange students and Norwegian students. The lectures are in English.

Course coordinator: Lecturers:

Sofia Moratti, associate professor Sofia Moratti, associate professor
Kontor: 11-565 (bygg 11) Jennifer Branlat, associate professor
E-post: sofia.moratti@ntnu.no Elisabeth Stubberud, associate professor

Helpful contacts:
Jan Grande, study program advisor Lotte Johanne Sæther, student advisor
jan.grande@ntnu.no lotte.saether@ntnu.no

Teaching schedule:
 Time: Mondays, 12.15 – 15.00.
 Exceptionally, the lectures on 13 February and 20 March will be at 13.15 – 16.00.
 Place: Room DI-41, Idrettsenteret
 The date and time of the oral presentations on week 16 will be announced at the beginning of the
semester.

Exams:
In both KULT 2207 & KULT 2208 there is a home exam to be handed in on Inspera.
For exam dates, please consult the course webpages as dates are different for 2207 and 2208 (click on course
name to access the relevant webpage).
Exams are graded on an A to F scale.

Compulsory assignments:
KULT 2207 one essay (1500 words not counting references) due Sunday, 19 February at 22:00.
KULT 2208 one essay (1500 words not counting references) due Sunday, 12 March at 22:00 and one five-
minute oral presentation (Scandinavian language or English) on a media text linked explicitly to one of the
themes covered by the course. A sign-up sheet will be posted on Blackboard. The dates will be announced
at the beginning of the semester.

Grading for the assignment is pass/fail. You need to pass all these assignments to be allowed to sit the
exam. Extensions on compulsory assignments will only be given on the basis of a doctor’s note.

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Additional course information:
Language: This course is open to international students and therefore lectures are in English. For
coursework and exams, you may use Norwegian.
Course readings (= pensum texts): to download the papers if you are not physically on campus, install the
Cisco VPN. If you run into technical issues with installing or using the Cisco VPN or downloading the
papers, contact the NTNU Orakel service. Some readings are not available online and have been uploaded
on Blackboard under “Course readings”.
Course slides: will be uploaded on Blackboard after each lecture.
Reference group: Your class representatives will be announced on Blackboard. You can contact them at any
point in the course to give them your feedback.

Course Schedule and Readings (Pensum texts)

1 Understanding gender
Week 3 (Jennifer) / 16 January, 12:15-15:00
Richardson, D. (2015). Conceptualising Gender. In D. Richardson & V. Robinson (Eds.), Introducing gender
and women’s studies, 2nd ed (pp. 3–19). New York, NY: Palgrave-Macmillan. (Available on
Blackboard under “Course readings”).
Hines, S. (2015). Feminist Theories. In D. Richardson & V. Robinson (Eds.), Introducing gender and women’s
studies, 2nd ed (20-33). New York, NY: Palgrave-Macmillan. (Available on Blackboard under
“Course readings”).

2 Gender in motion in Norway: Historical timeline

Week 4 (Sofia) / 23 January, 12:15-15:00
[Read pages 209 to 213] Borchorst, A., & Siim, B. (2008). Woman-friendly policies and state feminism:
Theorizing Scandinavian gender equality. Feminist Theory, 9(2), 207–224.
[Read pages 71 to 94] Lorenzen, J. (2013). Excerpt from The history of fatherhood in Norway, 1850-2012. New
York: Palgrave Macmillan. (Available on Blackboard under “Course readings”).
Melby, K. (1989). The housewife ideology in Norway between the two World Wars. Scandinavian Journal of
History, 14, 181–193. (Available on Blackboard under “Course readings”).

3 Gender equality & diversity in working life

Week 5 (Sofia) / 30 January, 12:15-15:00
Foss-Heggem, G., & Kvande, E. (2017). Nordic work-family regulations exported to a liberal context. Pp.
156–171 in B. Brandth, S. Halrynjo & E. Kvande (eds.), Work-family dynamics: Competing logics of
regulation, economy and morals. New York, NY: Routledge. (Available on Blackboard under “Course
readings”).
Seierstad, C. (2015). Having it all? Women in high commitment careers and work-life balance in Norway.
Gender Work and Organization, 22(4), 390–404.
Brandth, B., & Kvande, E. (2017). Fathers integrating work and childcare. Pp. 70-85 in B. Brandth, S.
Halrynjo & E. Kvande (Eds.), Work-family dynamics: Competing logics of regulation, economy and morals.
New York, NY: Routledge. (Available on Blackboard under “Course readings”).

4 Norway’s gendered borders

Week 6 (Sofia) / 6 February, 12:15-15:00
Muhleisen, W., Rothing, A., & Svendsen, S. H. B. (2012). Norwegian sexualities: Assimilation and exclusion
in Norwegian immigration policy. Sexualities, 15(2), 139–155.
Eggebø, H. (2013). A real marriage? Applying for marriage migration to Norway.  Journal of Ethnic and
Migration Studies 39 (5), 773-789.

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Muller Myrdahl, E. (2010). Legislating love: Norwegian family reunification law as a racial project. Social &
Cultural Geography, 11(2), 103–116.

5 Norwegian sexual politics

Week 7 (Elisabeth) / 13 February, 13:15-16:00 (one hour later than usual)
Mandatory reading: 
Liinason, M., & O. Sasunkevich (2022). Exploring transnational LGBT+ solidarities across the Norwegian-
Russian border: The case of Barents Pride. Sexualities (online first).
Svendsen, S. H. B. (2016). The cultural politics of sex education in the Nordics. Pp. 137-155 in L. Allen and
M. L. Rasmussen (eds)., The Palgrave Handbook of Sexuality Education. Camden: Palgrave.
Optional reading: 
Evang, J.A.M. (2022). ‘Nordic homonationalism in post-cinematic times: The ‘good ethnic’ and sexual
exceptionalism in SKAM’. Journal of Scandinavian Cinema 12(1): 37-45.
Stubberud, E., Akin, D., & S. H. B. Svendsen (2019). ´A wager for life: Queer children seeking asylum in
Norway’. Nordic Journal of Migration Research 9(4): 445-460.
Svendsen, S. H. B., Stubberud, E. & Djupedal, E.F. (2018). ‘Becoming queer after homotolerance: Youth
affective worlds’. Pp. 255-278 in S. Talburt (ed.), Youth sexualities: Public feelings and contemporary
cultural politics. London: Bloomsbury.

**KULT 2207 short essay due on Sunday, 19 February at 22:00**

6 Reproduction (last lecture for KULT2207)

Week 8 (Sofia) / 20 February, 12:15-15:00
Melhuus, M. (2017). Bringing it all back home: Cross- border procreative practices. Examples from Norway.
Pp 68-73 in M. Lie & N. Lykke (Eds.), Assisted reproduction across borders. Feminist perspectives on
normalisations, disruptions and transmissions. London: Routledge.
Deomampo, D. (2015). Defining Parents, Making Citizens: Nationality and Citizenship in Transnational
Surrogacy. Medical Anthropology, 34(3): 210-225.
Malmquist, A. (2022). Transgender Men Forming Two-Father Families with Their Cisgender Male Partners:
Negotiating Gendered Expectations and Self-Perceptions. LGBTQ+ Family: An Interdisciplinary
Journal, 18(5), 369-385.

7 Ibsen
Week 9 (Jennifer) / 27 February, 12:15-15:00
Ibsen, H. (1879). A doll’s house. (Accessible online via the Gutenberg Project).
Moi, T. (2006). ‘First and foremost a human being’: Idealism, Theater, and Gender in A Doll’s House´.
Modern Drama 49(3): 256-284.
Langås, U. (2004). What did Nora do? Thinking gender with A Doll’s House. Ibsen Studies 5(2): 148-171.

8 Nordic noir, violence against women and the hidden face of the welfare state
Week 10 (Jennifer) / 6 March, 12:15-15:00
Excerpt from The Snowman (Jo Nesbø, 2019) (Will be uploaded on Blackboard under “Course readings”,
please be patient).
Jones, K. From murderous love to worldly love? In García-Andrade, A., Gunnarsson, L., & A.
Jónasdóttir. (2018). Feminism and the power of love: Interdisciplinary interventions. London:
Routledge. (Will be uploaded on Blackboard under “Course readings”, please be patient).
Oliver, B. (2011). ‘When writers are confronted by a national trauma…‘ The Guardian. 31 July 2011.
Åström B. (2013) Over Her Dismembered Body: The Crime Fiction of Mo Hayder and Jo Nesbø. In:
Åström B., Gregersdotter K., Horeck T. (eds) Rape in Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy and
Beyond. Palgrave Macmillan, London. (Available on Blackboard under “Course readings”).
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 **KULT 2208 short essay due on Sunday, 12 March at 22:00**

9 Gender & technology: algorithmic inequality

Week 11 (Sofia) / 13 March, 12.15-15.00
Zou, J. and Schiebinger, L. AI Can Be Sexist and Racist –– it’s Time to Make it Fair. Nature 559, 324-326
(2018).
Chapter 7, “Algorithmic Inequity”, in Watcher-Boettcher, S. Technically Wrong: Sexist Apps, Biased Algorithms,
and Other Threats of Toxic Tech. NY/London: Norton & Co, 2017. (Available on Blackboard under
“Course readings”).
Tannenbaum, C., Ellis, R. P., Eyssel, F., Zou, J., & Schiebinger, L. (2019). Sex and gender analysis improves
science and engineering. Nature, 575(7781), 137-146.
Bulut, E. (2018). Interview with Safiya Noble: Algorithms of Oppression, Gender and Race. Moment Dergi,
5(2), 294-301.

10 Diverse configurations of equality

Week 12 (Elisabeth) / 20 March, 13:15-16:00 (one hour later than usual)
Mandatory reading:
Gullestad, M. (2006) ‘Invisible Fences: reinventing Sameness and Difference’. Pp 168-192 in Plausible
prejudice. Everyday experiences and social images of nation, culture and race. Oslo: Universitetsforslaget.
Stubberud, E. (2015). ´It´s not much: Affective (Boundary) Work in the Au Pair Scheme.’ Pp 121-135 in R.
Cox (Ed.) Au Pairs' Lives in Global Context. Sisters or Servants? Palgrave Macmillan (14 p.) (Available on
Blackboard under “course readings”).
Optional reading:
Svendsen, S. H. (2014). Learning racism in the absence of race. EJWS, 21(1), 9–24.

11 Gender and religion

Week 13 (Jennifer) / 27 March, 12.15-15.00
Predelli, L. N. (2004). Interpreting Gender in Islam: A Case Study of Immigrant Muslim Women in Oslo,
Norway. Gender and Society, 18 (4), 47- 493.
Valkonen, S. and Wallenius-Korkalo, S. (2016). Practising Postcolonial Intersectionality: Gender, religion
and indigeinity in Sami social work. International Social Work 59 (5): 614-626.
Furseth, I. (2005). From “Everything Has A Meaning” to “I Want to Believe in Something”: religious
Change Between Two Generations of Women in Norway. Social Compass, 52(2): 157-168.

**Weeks 14 and 15 = April 3 to April 10 included = Easter break. No lectures.**

Consider that lecturers and administration may be out of office and not answer your emails

12 Oral presentations
Week 16 (Jennifer) / TBA
A sign-up sheet will be posted on Blackboard at the beginning of the semester.