Viking Magazine - September 2010 - 38

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C
olin Irvine, associate
professor of English
at Augsburg College
in Minneapolis, is bringing his
knowledge of American culture
to Norway. Earlier this year he
received a Fulbright Scholarship,
which are awarded to scholars
and professionals around the
world to encourage cultural
understanding. Irvine will spend
the 2010-2011 academic year
traveling across Norway, providing
opportunities for Norwegian
teenagers to learn about the
United States. Viking spoke with
Irvine about his teaching career
and his journey abroad.
K L]Vi ^che^gZY ndj id WZXdbZ
Vc :c\a^h] iZVX]Zg4
;I always wanted to teach,
but I struggled with whether I
wanted to teach English or history.
I had a teacher in college,
Professor Burgess, who was a
brilliant storyteller. I remember
thinking one day, " I want to do
what he is doing. " That was the
turning point for me, and I decided
I wanted to teach English.
K =dl Y^Y ndj WZXdbZ V
;jaWg^\]i hX]daVgh]^e gZX^e^Zci4
;About two-and-a-half years
ago I was going through the different
Fulbright Scholarship listings,
and I applied to be a Roving
Scholar for the upper secondary
schools, which I ended up getting.
This scholarship focuses on
American studies and secondary
education, and with my background
teaching both high school
and college courses in American
literature and American studies, it
was a good fi t.
K =dl Y^Y ndj gZVXi l]Zc ndj
]ZVgY i]Z cZlh4
;I had been calling my wife
every day for a month asking if
we had received any mail. When
I fi nally received the letter from
the people at Fulbright, I was
nervous because it was thin, and
I assumed that meant bad news.
When I fi nally opened it my wife
and I just screamed. My legs
were shaking, my hands were
shaking-I was just so excited
and relieved.
K L]n VgZ ndj iZVX]^c\ ^c
CdglVn4
;It was a combination of
factors-both academic and
personal-that led me to Norway.
This particular Fulbright
Scholarship is based out of
Norway. In addition, Norway
is intriguing to me, because my
wife and her family are of Norwegian
descent.
K L]Vi ide^Xh VgZ ndj ]^\]a^\]i "
^c\ ^c ndjg egZhZciVi^dch4
;I am focusing on a range of
American themes such as the
open road, the American West,
the environment and sports. I
hope to cultivate an understanding
associated with these topics.
I'll try to play upon the common
assumptions and expectations
about America and then help
Norwegian students understand
the complexities and ambiguities
within the culture.
K L]Vi VgZ hdbZ d[ i]Z
X]VaaZc\Zh d[ iZVX]^c\ ^c CdglVn4
;The biggest challenge is communicating
with the students.
For example, fi guring out where
the Norwegian students are
in the progression of learning
English and adjusting accordingly.
This is particularly
diffi cult for me, because one of
the strategies I use in my class is
humor. Humor requires a certain
amount of common ground, and
I don't know yet what Norwegian
students and myself have in
common culturally.
K L]Vi Yd ndj Yd [dg [jc ^c
ndjg heVgZ i^bZ4
;I hang out with my kids. My
son Cal is 9, and my daughter
Caroline is 5. I also hope to run
my 12th marathon in Oslo.
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Name: 8da^c >gk^cZ
Title: 6hhdX^ViZ
Egd[Zhhdg d[ :c\a^h] Vi
6j\hWjg\ 8daaZ\Z
Home Base:
Cdgi]È ZaY! B^cc#
Current City:
Dhad! CdglVn
Recent
Accomplishment:
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hX]ddah
up close
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Viking Magazine - September 2010

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Viking Magazine - September 2010
