Iceland and Images of the North

Iceland and images of the North

Meeting in Akureyri, March 7th – 9th 2008

The lectures and presentations are open to staff and students in the University of Akureyri

March 7th Friday

10.30: Arrival at Borgir, v/Norðurslóð, Háskólinn á Akureyri

10.30: Coffee and welcome: Sumarliði R. Ísleifsson and Edward H. Huijbens

11.00: Northern study institutes introduction (20 minutes each at their place of operations).

·  Icelandic Tourism Research Centre (Edward H. Huijbens)

·  Stefansson Arctic Institute (Níels Einarsson)

·  University of the Arctic – socio-economic studies at UA (Jón Haukur Ingimundarsson)

·  Northern Research Forum (Guðrún Rósa Þórsteinsdóttir)

·  Arctic legal studies (Ágúst Þór Árnason)

13.00: Lunch at Borgir, rectors greetings

14.00: Guest lecturer: Professor Lutz Rühling, Kiel Universität. The Imaginatio Borealis Research Project

15.00: Coffee

15.30: Presentations from members of INOR (15 minutes each, presentation and discussion):

Sverrir Jakobsson, The creation of Norðurlönd: A pre-structural analysis of Medieval Images

Sumarliði R. Ísleifsson, Images of Greenland and Iceland from 1500-1800

Clarence E. Glad, Greco-Roman heritage in Iceland and image construction in the North

Gylfi Gunnlaugsson, The image of Northern Antiquity in mid-eighteenth century Europe and its influence on the identity construction of Icelanders

Julia Zernach, Old Norse mythology, the media, and German culture in the years around 1900

Astrid Ogilvie, From the irrational to the empirical: Environmental images of Iceland in local and foreign writings A.D. 1700-1900

17.00: Break

19.00: Dinner, Restaurant Friðrik V.

March 8th, Saturday

8.00-9.00: Breakfast

9.30: Presentations from members of INOR (15 minutes each, presentation and discussion):

Marion Lerner, The image of „the North“, and national self-image in connection with the Icelandic Touring Association during the first half of the 20th century

Júlíana Gottskálksdóttir, Icelandic artists 1900-1945: creators of a national image (or images) in their own country and/or representatives of a distant nation and ancient culture in the outside world?

Daisy Neijmann, The image of post-medieval Iceland in post-war Scandinavian, British, German and Dutch fiction

Break

Guðrún Þóra Gunnarsdóttir, Images of the North: a selling point or not?

Heiða Jóhannsdóttir, Filling the vacuum, an examination of media representation of Icelandic ‘nationness’ in relation to the 1986 Reykjavik summit.

Hildigunnur Ólafsdóttir, Drinking in the construction of the North.

Þorgerður H. Þorvaldsdóttir, The gender, equal North and Icelandic images of masculinity and femininity in the late 20th and early 21st century.

12.00: Lunch

13.00: Guest lecturer. Professor Heidi Hansson, Umeå Universitet. The Foreign North Research Project

14.30: Presentations from members of INOR (15 minutes each, presentation and discussion):

Daniel Chartier, Cultural studies and creative work: Cross-disciplinary influences and cross-cultural work on images of the North

Edward H. Huijbens, Nation branding – a critical evaluation

Guðrún Helgadóttir, Crafts traditions of the North in the contemporary context of tourism

Break

Hallfríður Þórarinsdóttir, The use of English in Icelandic companies; business convenience or cultural threat?

Katla Kjartansdóttir, The new Viking wave

Kristinn Schram, Performing the North: Exoticism in contemporary expressive and visual culture

Ólöf Gerður Sigfúsdóttir, Art and the touristic encounter: Inventing an Icelandic commodity.

16.30 Guided Tour in Akureyri (Edward Huijbens)

19.30: Dinner

March 9th, Sunday

8.30-9.30: Breakfast

10.00: Program for the next year:

Courses

Publications

Themes within the project

Next meeting

Further projects

Comments on the meeting

12.00: Lunch

13.00-17.00: Guided Tour in Eyjafjörður