CHRISTOPHER OSCARSON

Associate Dean Associate Professor Undergraduate Education College of Humanities 350 Maeser Building, Comparative Arts & Letters Brigham Young University 3033 Joseph F. Smith Building Provo, UT 84602 Brigham Young University Provo, UT 84602

Office: 801.422.9037 Email: [email protected]

Academic Degrees: PhD Scandinavian Languages and Literatures with a Designated Emphasis in Film, University of California, Berkeley, 2006 MA Comparative Literature, Brigham Young University, 2000 BA History, Brigham Young University, magna cum laude, 1996

Work Experience: Associate Dean of Undergraduate Education, General Education (2020–present) Associate Professor, Brigham Young University (2013–present) Co-Director International Cinema Program, Brigham Young University (2017–2020) Director of the Scandinavian Studies Program, Brigham Young University (2005– 2015) Assistant Professor, Brigham Young University (2006–2013) Graduate Student Instructor, University of California, Berkeley (2000–2004) Visiting Instructor, Brigham Young University (Summer 2001) Student Instructor, Brigham Young University (Winter 1997–Winter 1999)

Articles: Academic Journals: “Cinematic Landscapes of the Anthropocene: Scandinavian Documentary Film at the Turn of the Twenty-First Century,” Journal of Scandinavian Cinema, 7.3 (Fall 2017): 1-7. “Terje Vigen, Naturbilder, and the Natural History of Film in Sweden,” Journal of Scandinavian Cinema 3.1 (Spring 2013): 69-86. “Where the Ground Answers the Foot: Kerstin Ekman, Ecology, and the Sense of Place in a Globalized World.” Ecozona: European Journal of Literature, Culture, and Environment, 1.2 (2010): 8-21. “Nils Holgersson, Empty Maps, and the Entangled Bird’s-Eye View of Sweden.” Edda, 96.2 (2009): 99-117.

January 2021 1 “Linnaeus 1907: Oscar Levertin and the Re-invention of Carl Linnaeus as Ecological Subject” Scandinavian Studies. 79.4 (Winter 2007): 405–26. “Literary Castlings in Bernard Foys tredje rockad,” Scandinavian Studies 72.3 (Fall 2000): 301–30.

Book Chapters: “Toxic Places: Chernobyl and a Sense of Place in Nordic Literature” in Nordic Literature: A Comparative History. Vol 1. Editors Dan Ringgaard and Tom DuBois. Amsterdam: Benjamins. 2017. 366-80. “Museums, Nature, and Nation: Finding Place Between the Local and the Global” in Sense of Place: Transatlantic Perspectives. Alcalá De Henares: Universidad de Alcalá De Henares, 2016. 198-214. “Ingmarssönernas and Cinema’s Thick Materiality” in Re-Mapping Lagerlöf: Performance, Intermediality, and European Transmission. Lund: Nordic Academic Press, May 2014. “From the Fairgrounds to the Salon: Cinema and the Rise of Mass Visual Culture in Nordic Literary History” in Nordic Literature: A Comparative History. Vol 3. Editors. Timothy Tangherlini and John Lindow. Amsterdam: Benjamins. Forthcoming 2019.

Editorial Work: Co-editor: Special Focus issue of Journal of Scandinavian Cinema, “Environmental Approaches to Scandinavian Cinema and Media.” 8.2 (Summer 2018). Co-editors Linda Rugg and Salma Monani.

Works in Progress: Forthcoming: Managing Co-Editor: Nordic Literature: A Comparative History. Vol 2. Figurative Nodes. Co-editor Nate Kramer. General Editors Mark Sandberg and Steven Sondrup. Volume editors Linda Rugg and Karin Sanders. Amsterdam: Benjamins. To be submitted Spring 2021. Managing Co-Editor: Nordic Literature: A Comparative History. Vol 3. Temporal Nodes. Co-editor Nate Kramer. General Editors Mark Sandberg and Steven Sondrup. Volume editors John Lindow and Tim Tangherlini. Amsterdam: Benjamins. To be submitted Summer 2022.

Reference Works: Comprehensive Electronic Index for Scandinavian Studies 1911-2011. Christopher Oscarson, managing editor url: http://index.scandinavianstudy.org (released May 2011).

Other Scholarly Work: “Dominion in the Anthropocene,” Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought. 52.4

January 2021 2 (Winter 2019): 1-15. Review: Ola Larsmo. Swede Hollow: A Novel. Swedish American Genealogist 2019.3 (Fall 2019): 78-79. “World Cinema is Our Campus,” co-authored with Daryl Lee. BYU Humanities College Magazine (Spring 2018): 10-13. Managing Editor: Nordic Digital Humanities Website (nordicdh.org). Encyclopedia Article: “Environmentalism” in Encyclopedia of Contemporary Nordic Culture. Helena Forsås-Scott, ed. London: Hurst Publishers (Forthcoming). Review: Jennifer Eastman Attebery. Pole Raising and Speech Making: Modalities of Swedish American Summer Celebration. The Bridge 40.2 (2017): 94-96. Review: Andrew Brown. Fishing in Utopia: Sweden and the Future that Disappeared. Scandinavian Studies 82.4 (Spring 2010): 99-101. Review: Selma Lagerlöf. The Saga of Gösta Berling. Scandinavian Studies 81.4 (Winter 2009): 542-45. Review: Northern Constellations: New Readings in Nordic Cinema. Scandinavian Studies 79.2 (Summer 2007): 247–51. Program notes: “Northern Light in a New Light: Victor Sjöström,” Art and Film Notes. Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (January/February 2004). Program notes: “Out of the Cold: Mauritz Stiller,” Film Notes. Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (January/February 2002).

Invited Lectures: “Digital Lagerlöf” October 2017. Association of Swedish Teachers and Researchers in America (ASTRA) Annual Sweden Seminar. Swedish Embassy, Washington DC (October 2017). “Dominion and Global Stewardship in the Anthropocene.” Invited lecture as part of the Environmental Ethics Initiative/BYU Kennedy Center’s Environmental Stewardship series. Provo, UT (Winter 2017). “Chernobyl, Toxicity, and the Cultural Politics of the Anthropocene,” European Studies Symposium: Nuclear Energy and Proliferation in the Twentieth Century, Provo, UT (March 2016). “Swedish Nature Cultures.” Invited speaker at the Association for Swedish Teachers and Researchers in America (ASTRA) Sweden Seminar, Washington D.C. (October 2010). “Toxic Discourse and the Definition of Europe in Scandinavian Literature and Film.” Invited guest lecture as part of University of Illinois Scandinavian Program Series: Scandinavia and Europe, Champagne-Urbana, IL (Sept. 2010). “Rails, Trails, and the Map of Early Swedish Cinema,” Invited presentation for the symposium “Orient North: Mapping Nordic Literary History” (UCLA) (December 2009). “Recognizing Nature: Cinema and the Subject of Nature,” Invited guest lecture as part of UCLA Scandinavian Program Series: “New Currents in Sweden” (December 2009). “Northern Light in a New Light,” Invited speaker to introduce the Victor Sjöström

January 2021 3 Retrospective Series at Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, CA (Jan 2004).

Recent Presentations:

“Re-Imagining the Anthropocene North: Kerstin Ekman and Wilderness” Ecocritical Network for Scandinavian Studies (ENSCAN) Workshop, Tampere, Finland, November 2019. “Text Mining the Ecological Imaginary: Using Digital Techniques to Revisit the Green Literary Canon” Association for the Study of Literature and the Environment (ASLE) Conference, Davis, CA June 2019. “Dominion in the Anthropocene” Mormon Scholars in the Humanities, Cedar City, UT, May 2019. “Lagerlöf from a Bird’s Eye View” Society for the Advancement of Scandinavian Study (SASS) Annual Conference, Madison, WI, May 2019. “The Garden as Ecomedia, Ecomedia as Garden: Mikael Kristersson’s Documentary Films of Anthropocene,” European Association for the Study of Literature, Culture, and the Environment (EASLCE) Conference, Würtzburg, Germany (September 2018). “Wildness and Power in the Cultural Politics of the Atom: Nuclear Energy Debates in Sweden,” Society for the Advancement of Scandinavian Study (SASS) Annual Conference, Minneapolis, MN, May 2017. “Finding Place between the Local and the Global: Swedish Cinema in the Anthropocene,” Society for Cinema and Media Studies (SCMS) Annual Conference, Chicago, IL, March 2017. “Adaptations in Context: Networks of Early Cinema in Sweden,” special research conference “Networks, Nodes, and New Approaches to Adaptation Studies” at Brigham Young University, Provo, Feb. 2017. “Wildness and Power in the Cultural Politics of the Atom: Nuclear Energy Debates in Sweden,” EASLCE Conference, Brussels, Belgium (October 2016). “ACTFL Standards and Scandinavian Language Instruction in North American Universities,” Society for the Advancement of Scandinavian Study (SASS), New Orleans, LA (April 2016). “Toxicity and Wilderness in Nordic Film” Future of Environmental Humanities Conference, University of Utah Salt Lake City/BYU Provo (September 2015). “Toxicity and Wilderness in Arctic Film” SASS Conference, Columbus, OH (May 2015). “Uncovering the Discourses of Ecology: Topic Modeling Swedish Nature in the Early Twentieth Century” SASS Conference, New Haven, CT (March 2014). “Early Cinema, Ecology, and the Permeable Frame,” EASLCE Conference, Tartu, Estonia (April 2014). “Modernity’s Changing Nature: Development of an Ecological Aesthetic in turn of the Twentieth Century Scandinavia,” Association for the Study of Literature and the Environment (ASLE) Conference, Lawrence, KS (June 2013) “The Evolution of the Ecological Imaginary: Environmental Discourse in Scandinavia

January 2021 4 at the Turn of the Century,” SASS Conference (May 2013). “Cinematic Nature’s Thick Materiality: Ecological Vision in Golden Age Swedish Silent Cinema,” European Association for the Study of Literature, Culture, and the Environment (EASLCE) Conference, Tenerife de la Santa Cruz, Spain (June 2012) “From Linnaeus to Climate Change: Art and Science in the Anthropocene” Nordic Network for Interdisciplinary Environmental Studies (NIES) Workshop, Sigtuna, Sweden (Oct. 2011). “Recognizing Nature: Film and the Animal Perspective.” Association for the Study of Literature and the Environment (ASLE) Conference, Bloomington, Indiana (June 2011). “Harry Martinson’s Aniara and the Nature of Apocalypse” Society for the Advancement of Scandinavian Study (SASS) Conference, Chicago, IL (May 2011). “Adaptation: Literature into Film, Film into Literature,” International Association for Scandinavian Studies (IASS) Conference, Lund, Sweden (August 2010). “Toxic Discourse and the Definition of Place.” SASS Conference, Seattle, WA (May 2010). “Ekman and Ecological Space,” Nordic Association for Comparative Literature (NorLit) Conference, Stockholm, Sweden (August 2009). “Film and the Question of Non-Human Subjectivities,” Association for the Study of Literature and the Environment (ASLE) Conference, Victoria, British Columbia (June 2009). “Reconsidering Nature from a Bird’s-Eye View: Nordic Ecocriticism and the Nature of Representation,” SASS Conference, Fairbanks, Alaska (March 2008). “Nature as Center and Periphery in the History of Nordic Literary Cultures,” Norlit Conference, Helsinki, Finland (August 2007). “Linnaeus 1907: Linnean Science and the Ecological Turn,” American Comparative Literature Conference, Puebla, Mexico (May 2007). “Ecology’s Invitation to Change the Subject: Landscapes, Boundaries, and the Ecological Self,” International Association for Scandinavian Study Congress, Turku, Finland (Aug. 2006). “Modernism and the Entangled-Bird’s Eye View: Nordic Literature and the Ecological Imaginary,” SASS Conference, Oxford, MS (May 2006).

Fellowships, Grants and Awards: Alcuin Fellowship (BYU), 2014-2016 Center for the Study of Europe Research Grant, Summer 2012 (BYU) Swedish Women’s Educational Association (SWEA) Research Scholarship (SWEA, San Francisco): A competitive award presented to one applicant annually, fall 2003. Fritz O. Fernström Traveling Fellowship (University of California, Berkeley) 2001 and 2003: Two separate awards for research in Sweden summer 2001 and fall 2003. SASS Aurora Borealis Prize for Outstanding Graduate Student Paper in Language & Literature (2001): Prize recognizing the best graduate student paper in literature delivered at the annual conference for the Society for the Advancement of Scandinavian Study (SASS).

January 2021 5 Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor Award (University of California, Berkeley) 2001–2002: Annual award given to one graduate student instructor in the Scandinavian Department to recognize exceptional teaching performance.

Service University: Faculty General Education Committee, Chair (2020–present) University Advanced Writing and Oral Communication Committee, Chair (2020– present) University Curriculum Council (2020–present) Study Abroad General Education Committee, Co-Chair (2020–present) International Study Program Advisory Committee, (2020–present) University Sustainability Committee (January 2021–present) Sweden Scholarship and Lecturer Committee, committee chair (2008–present) Responsibilities include coordinating work between the university and a scholarship committee based in Sweden for this full-tuition scholarship awarded annually to a native Swede to come and study at BYU for one full academic year. General Education Design Committee (May 2020–November 2020) Foreign Language and Area Studies Scholarship Committee, committee member August 2010-2014 Reviewed and made decisions concerning the allocation of Foreign Language and Area Studies scholarships administered through the BYU Center for the Study of Europe.

College: Environmental Ethics Initiative, committee member Aug. 2011–present Organizing and hosting guest lectures, symposium (Nov. 2012), and activities related to interdisciplinary environmental studies on campus. Kennedy Center International Study Programs Photo Contest Committee, committee member, October 2010–Present One of a panel of judges for the Kennedy Center/ISP Photo Contest. Humanities College Environmental Humanities Research Group, coordinator, Fall 2017–2019 Humanities College Film and Media Studies Research Group, coordinator, April 2010– 2018 Worked to put together a faculty film studies group in the College of Humanities. This has involved coordination with faculty from across the college and the dean's office to put together a proposal for this working research group, organizing regular meetings, inviting off-campus speakers, conference organizing, and hosting. Center for the Study of Europe, Steering Committee, Committee Member, May 2012– 2017 Center for the Study of Europe, Acting Associate Director, May 2012–June 2013 Responsibilities include chairing the FLAS scholarship committee, chairing the Faculty Research Grant committee, and coordinating work on occasional lectures, hosting guests, planning for the 10th Anniversary symposium (Sept. 2012), planning for RMESC Conference (Oct. 2012), and planning for “Celebrate Europe” week of lectures and activities to commemorate the center’s 10th anniversary.

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Department: Advisor for BYU Earth Stewardship Club, 2017–Present Responsibilities include coordinating and helping to plan student group activities Advisor for Media Arts Track of Interdisciplinary Studies Major, 2007–present Responsibilities include advising students interested in the Media Studies track of the Interdisciplinary Humanities Major Coordinator for International Cinema Studies minor, 2015–2020 Study Abroad, director, summer 2008, summer 2010, summer 2013, spring 2015, summer 2017, Fall 2019 Responsibilities included the planning, recruiting, and running of study abroad programs to Iceland, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, and France. Internship Director for Sweden and Finland 2013–2018 Bjarnason Scholarship and Lecture Committee, committee chair, 2005–2017 Responsibilities involve coordinating with committee members on decisions regarding the Bjarnason fund for the promotion of Scandinavian Studies at BYU, advertising and reviewing scholarship applications, maintaining budget, administrative work associated with scholarship distribution, inviting and hosting lecturers, etc. Advisor for Scandinavian Student Club, 2005–2016 Responsibilities include coordinating and helping to plan student group activities and film nights with the language instructors and students. Director of Scandinavian Studies Program, 2005–2015 Directed all administrative responsibilities connected with the planning, scheduling, and administration of Danish, Finnish, Icelandic, Norwegian, Scandinavian, and Swedish classes at BYU and the Scandinavian minor. Responsibilities included all budgets, hiring, training, advertising, re-certifying of courses, supervising 5-7 language student instructors and 1-2 adjunct faculty each semester. Also included were all aspects of training, observing, providing teaching feedback, selecting and developing teaching material, designing classes, and dealing with student concerns for all Scandinavian and Scandinavian language courses. Departmental Rank and Advancement Committee, Committee Member, June 2013– 2015

Professional: Association for Swedish Teachers and Researchers in America (ASTRA), Treasurer 2009–2020) Responsibilities include tracking membership, collecting dues, and allocating funds for authorized projects. As a new organization and as the first treasurer, I also helped write the by-laws and coordinated with lawyers to set up ASTRA as a professional non-profit organization. Conference Co-Organizer: “Networks, Nodes, and New Approaches to Adaptation Studies” held at Brigham Young University, Feb. 2017. Society for the Advancement of Scandinavian Study (SASS) Executive Committee, May 2013-2017. Four-year term on the steering committee for the Society with initial responsibilities including the Aurora Borealis Graduate Prize Committee. ACTFL OPI Workshop Organizer. Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, Fall 2014, Fall 2015, Fall 2016.

January 2021 7 Birgit Baldwin Fellowship Committee, 2013-2015 Reviewing applications and awarding the Baldwin Dissertation-Year Fellowship to one doctoral candidate annually to conduct archival research in Scandinavia. Conference Co-Organizer Annual Conference for the Society for the Advancement of Scandinavian Study, 2012, Salt Lake City, Utah. Association of Swedish Teachers and Researchers in America (ASTRA) Conference Organizing Committee, 2012 and 2010, conference committee member. Comparative History of Nordic Literary Cultures Symposium, Provo, UT 2009, symposium co-organizer.

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