Take a course with The Department of Central, Eastern and Northern European Studies (CENES) in 2025-2026!
Still shopping around for courses? Check out some of CENES’ most anticipated courses! CENES is excited to welcome students back to our classrooms this fall, and we have a variety of course topics where there is something for everyone, whether you are a fan of political thought, topics relevant to today’s current geo-political environment, film, literature, music, culture, history, and more. We will also be offering various courses that can fulfil requirements for a BA in Arts (i.e., literature), or a major/minor in German, Modern European and Nordic Studies, and Slavic and Eastern European Studies.
Questions about CENES courses? Email our Undergraduate Program Assistant, Ashley Samsone, at cenes.undergrad@ubc.ca
CENES Recommendations for 2025-2026
DANI_V 100 101: Elementary Danish I
2025W, Term 1, M/W/F, 11:00am-12:00pm, In-person
Instructor: Ann-Kathrine Havemose
Did you know that UBC is the only university in Canada that teaches Danish as a language? This course is an introduction to the Danish language and culture at a beginner’s level, where students can get to know Danish in a low-stress environment, while developing language skills step by step. The focus is on spoken language, practical use and conversation through dialog practices, short presentations and in-class exercises. Cultural topics include: Areas in Denmark, Hygge, the Danes’ odd relationship with their flag, the Danish monarchy and holidays.
GMST_V 341 201: Germanophone Literature before 1900: Nineteenth-Century Social Media (in English)
2025W, Term 2, Tues/Thurs 9:30am – 11:00am, In-Person
Instructor: Ilinca Iurascu
How did nineteenth-century publics engage with the German-language periodical press? What topics and contents did newspapers, journals and magazines offer, who read them and how? How did scandals and fake news participate in the making of the German public sphere alongside scientific and philosophical debates? This course explores the theme of nineteenth-century social media and periodical literature against the background of the cultural and political developments of the period. We will read literary texts and journalistic materials in translation, examine archival documents and talk about the production and consumption of news in German-speaking Europe and North America. Lectures and materials in English.
GMST_V 445 101: Words and Music and German Literature
Design for The Magic Flute: The Hall of Stars in the Palace of the Queen of the Night, Act 1, Scene 6. The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1954. Met Museum.
2025W T1 Tues/Thurs 3:30pm–5:00pm, In-person
Instructor: Florian Gassner
This course examines the relationship between words and music in German and Austrian works from the nineteenth and early twentieth century. This is the period in which German and Austrian composers became an unparalleled driving force in the evolution of the Western musical canon. It is the period of Mozart’s monumental operas, Beethoven’s groundbreaking symphonies, Wagner’s revolutionary Gesamtkunstwerk and finally Brecht’s deconstruction of the entire tradition. This wave of musical innovation precipitated a response from the world of literature and philosophy: Many of the era’s key writers critically and productively engaged with the compositions of their contemporaries, among them the radical thinker Friedrich Nietzsche and Thomas Mann, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature.
NORD_V 332A 101: Post-migrant Perspectives: Identity and Belonging in the Nordic Countries
Photo by Pierre Châtel-Innocenti on Unsplash
2025W T1 M/W/F 2:00pm – 3:00pm, In-Person
Instructor: Karin Filipsson
This course investigates the construction of post-migrant and transcultural identities through themes of race, gender, and belonging within Nordic societies by exploring multiple areas of cultural production, such as texts, film, art, and literature against the backdrop of current social and political developments in the North.
NORD_V 334 201: Anxiety and Death in Contemporary Nordic Fiction
2025W T1 Mon/Wed/Fri 10:00am – 11:00am, In-person
Instructor: Ann-Kathrine Havemose
The Nordic societies today are best known for their rankings on the global happiness scale, but what makes them so happy? Is it the constant state of anxiety they endure? Is it their not-so-healthy relationship with death? Could it be their insistence on exposing their children to scary and taboo subjects? In this course we scour the strange and unsettling world of Nordic fiction through themes like death and anxiety to find the key to what true Nordic happiness looks like.
NORD_V 337 201: Nordic Cinema
2025W T2 Mon & Wed 2:00pm – 3:30pm, In-person
Instructor: Karin Filipsson
In this course you will be watching and analyzing contemporary Nordic film and will discover the multifaceted aspects of Nordic cinematic cultures. This region is often considered to rely on a very realistic (or even hyper-realistic) approach to filmmaking and storytelling, but it will become clear that there are some very unique directorial approaches which will broaden our expectations of what Nordic cinematography has to offer. Recognizable themes as social structures, gender equity, and environmental concerns will be highlighted.
NORD_V 414 201: Issues and conflicts in Danish and Nordic Societies
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
2025W T2 Mon/Wed/Fri 10:00pm -11:00am, In-Person
Instructor: Ann-Kathrine Havemose
NORD 414 explores how the Nordic welfare model has affected policies and legislation concerning children and childhood, gender equality and parenthood, and immigration in Denmark and the Nordic countries. This course will also examine the Danish colonization of Greenland, and reflect on how it is connected to the most current political developments in relation to the country on a local and global scale. We will examine these topics as they are represented in contemporary literature, social media, rap music, and other media forms, to understand how different art forms engage with geo-political conflict.
SLAV_V 241 101/SLAV_V 340A 101: Nineteenth-Century Russophone Literature (In English)
By Vasily Perov – Google Arts & Culture. Wikimedia Commons.
2025W T1 Mon/Wed/Fri 2:00pm -3:00pm, In-Person
Instructor: Dariya McEwen
(SLAV 241 is cross-listed with SLAV 323A)
“Yes, man is broad, too broad, indeed. I’d have him narrower”, said famously one of Dostoyevsky’s characters. Giant writers as Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, Gogol, Lermontov and Pushkin are renowned for probing the depth of the human soul. In this course, we will witness the rise of the novel and read several salient literary works of the 19th century, which is the period traditionally called the “Golden Age of Russian literature”. Classes will use a combination of lecture and discussion formats. No prerequisites are required. All course material is in English.
SWED_V 100 (all sections): Elementary Swedish I
2025W, Term 1 (both sections), M/W/F, In-person
SWED 100-101 is taught 10:00am – 11:00am
SWED 100 -102 is taught 11:00am – 12:00pm
Instructor: Karin Filipsson
UBC is one of two universities in Canada that teaches Swedish as a second language. In SWED 100, students get an introduction to Swedish language and culture at a beginners’ level. Assignments include cultural projects where you get to explore and share what you find interesting about Swedish culture, language, and film. Cultural topics include: Nature conservation and environmental protection (Allemansrätten), Greta Thunberg, social etiquettes, fika and lördagsgodis, letters, and dialects.
Learn more about Swedish courses at UBC in Why take Swedish, an article written by Nordic Minor alum Delaney Westby.
