Örvar Odds Saga and Dilemmas of Context - Tom DuBois, University of Wisconsin - Madison March 6, 2012

1210 Heller Hall. Reception to follow open to faculty, graduate students and Friends of the Center for Medieval Studies

Tom DuBois is a professor of Scandinavian Studies at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. His research focuses on folklore (especially folk belief) and identity in the Nordic region, particularly in connection with Finnish, Sámi, and Swedish cultures. He also has strong interests in the Baltic region and the broader cultural context of Northern Europe. His books include: Finnish Folk Poetry and the Kalevala, Nordic Religions in the Viking Age, Finnish Folklore (co-edited with Leea Virtanen), Lyric, Meaning and Audience in the Oral Tradition of Northern Europe, and An Introduction to Shamanism. He has also edited or co-edited two volumes: Sanctity in the North: Saints, Lives, and Cults in Medieval Scandinavia, and The Nordic Storyteller: Essays in Honour of Niels Ingwersen (co-edited with Susan Brantly). Together with Jim Leary, he is currently co-editor of the Journal of American Folklore.Tom's teaching includes elementary and continuing Finnish, as well as courses on Kalevala, Sámi culture, Celtic-Scandinavian cultural relations, and shamanism.

Official Website: http://www.cmedst.umn.edu