Asian studies in the Nordic region: Status, relevance, prospects
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21638/spbu13.2018.308Abstract
This article surveys the history, present status, and prospects of Asian Studies in the Nordic region. Taking its points of departure from the recent closure of several small language disciplines at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, the article discusses Asian Studies in Sweden, Norway, Finland and Iceland with reference to university funding, student preferences, and cooperation with Asian governments. Further, the relevance of Asian Studies is illustrated by three illustrative “vignettes” dealing with the educational role of museums in Denmark and Russia and with vulnerable societies of the far North; the varied motivations for the 18th century Royal Danish Arabia Expedition; and the usefulness of extensive pan-Eurasia knowledge of the kind that birdwatchers cultivate. The article posits that by cultivating finegrained and extensive knowledge about the past and the present, Asian Studies may counteract the thinning out, and distortion of, knowledge while also legitimately serving economic and political interests.
Keywords:
Asian Studies, Area Studies, Language Studies, Nordic Region, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Russia, Siberia, university funding, museums, resilience
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Published
2018-09-20
How to Cite
Madsen, S. T. (2018). Asian studies in the Nordic region: Status, relevance, prospects. Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. Asian and African Studies, 10(3), 392–404. https://doi.org/10.21638/spbu13.2018.308
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History of Asian and African studies
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Articles of "Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. Asian and African Studies" are open access distributed under the terms of the License Agreement with Saint Petersburg State University, which permits to the authors unrestricted distribution and self-archiving free of charge.
