Report of the President of the Society for the Advancement of Scandinavian Study

The year 2015 has been a time of change, both in terms of technology and personnel. One of our most important accomplishments of the Society for the Advancement of Scandinavian Study in 2015 was the launching of the new SASS website (designed by Reify Media) (http://scandinavianstudy.org/), Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/scandinavianstudyorg), and logo. The logo, also designed by Reify Media, has not been as well received as the website. The Executive Council therefore passed a motion to have a new logo designed that will be voted on by the membership. Since the final cost of the website design was significantly below budget, the executive committee agreed to use the remaining funds from the generous grant we received from the Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation to hire a design firm for a new logo. At the same time, we will use this opportunity to redesign the journal. We are pleased to report that our new website has been declared to be mobile-friendly, which, according to Google’s new protocols, will cause our website to come in higher in search results.

One unfinished part of the website is a repository for syllabi. Mark Sandberg has volunteered to work with this project and will take initial responsibility for receiving, approving, and posting syllabi. Watch for future announcements.

Another notable accomplishment was the hiring of our new executive director. Clydette Wantland, with whom we have worked for the past year in her position at University of Illinois Press, has agreed to serve as our first paid executive director. She will help manage the year-to-year financial and organizational tasks of our Society, while vice presidents and presidents, in cooperation with the Executive Council, help provide leadership. Tremendous thanks are due to Richard Jensen, our last volunteer director; he has made the transition as smooth as possible for Clydette.

The transition from BYU to the University of Illinois is complete, and has led to efficiencies both with the publication of the journals and handling of memberships. Dues and subscriptions currently cover the publishing costs. It would, however, be desirable to ensure the health and survival of Scandinavian Studies into the future by creating an endowment to pay for publication. Immediate past president Tom DuBois has indicated that such fund-raising will continue to be a priority for him.

Thanks also to outgoing advisory committee members John Lindow (history and social sciences) and Julie Allen (language and literature), and welcome to new members Lizette Gradén (history and social sciences) and Jonas Wellendorf (language and literature). Warm thanks also go to Susan Brantly (UW-Madison) for her editorship of the Society’s journal Scandinavian Studies, to book reviews editor Andrew Nestingen (University of Washington-Seattle), and also to Louis Janus, newsletter editor. The Society’s work could not be carried out without the work of these dedicated volunteers.

This year’s annual meeting was held at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, May 6–9, 2015. The presidential theme was indigenous Discourses, Methodologies, and Histories. While papers on any topic were welcome, an effort was made to coordinate activities with this theme. An optional excursion was held on Thursday morning to the Newark Earthworks of Ohio. In addition, the keynote address, held the same evening, was given by Dr. Chadwick Allen, Professor of English and American Indian Studies, The Ohio State University. The title of his lecture was “The Global Futures—and Pasts—of Indigenous Studies.” On Friday evening, participants enjoyed a performance by Ulda, a Finnish-Sámi Yoik Band.

Academic sessions were held at the University Union while the concert and closing banquet took place at the Hilton Columbus Downtown with shuttle buses providing transportation back and forth. Of the 181 participants, there were 140 papers presented, and 122 people attended the banquet. The meeting ended up in the black financially, which is always welcome news. Special thanks to Julie Allen, Anna Westerståhl Stenport, and Merrill Kaplan for their hard work in planning the 2015 conference in Columbus, Ohio. We are also grateful...