I thought it was about time I wrote something about the school. And when writing about NSC - The Norwegian Study Centre, I also had to include something about the Subjects I'm taking. There is so much to write, about the topics, classes, teachers, students, location, surroundings etc, so I think I'll just stick with the basics for now.
What is the NSC?
The Norwegian Study Centre (NSC) is a part of the University of York, one of Britain's top ten universities. It offers different courses for Norwegians to improve their English and their knowledge about the English-speaking world.
We are a permanent study centre for Norwegians based at the University of York in Northern England. Primarily we cater for students from Norwegian Universities and Colleges, but we also offer in-service courses for practising teachers of English as well as courses for various groups from the public and private sector. (From the NSC website)
I study something called Fordypning Course, which is equivalent to the old Norwegian "mellomfag". It basically consists of courses on a 200-level, giving me enough credits to enable me to apply for English Master Studies in Norway. The course goes from September 1st to December 18th, so it's quite intensive. But what the heck, it's only 3-4 months, and then I'll be going back home for Christmas dinner. And best of all, there are NO EXAMS! All we have to do is hand in six essays in total, and we get tutoring and feedback on all of them. Sounds like a piece of cake, to me. And not a bad-tasting one either!
What subjects do I study?
Linguistics - Discourse Analysis, Dr Lalita Murty. Discourse Analysis is very difficult to explain, so I leave that to wikipedia; Discourse analysis (DA), or discourse studies, is a general term for a number of approaches to analyzing written, spoken or signed language use. (Wikipedia) Not the easiest subject, but, hey, who ever said learning was easy. Kind of reminds me of Pedagogy, with a bunch of theories that overlap and co-exist, either though neither of them are proven to be true. Luckily, Dr Murty goes through everything in the classroom to help us explain, and that helps a lot.
Literature - The 1900s, Jonathan Brockbank. I guess everyone knows what literature is, and as you can see we focus on the 20th century. We are reading books and different poetry. I guess it's easier for all of us if I just copy our novel reading list, that will explain a lot.
Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot
Kazuo Ishiguro, The Remains of the Day
William Golding, Lord of the Flies
George Orwell, Coming up for Air
Rebecca West, The Return of the Soldier
Virginia Woolf, To the Lighthouse.
James Joyce, The Dead.
And in addition we have to read a lot of poems, and we can read other books as well, if we want to write about books outside the curriculum. Don't think I will be reading more than what is recommended though, I don't have that much spare time.
Politics - The Special Relationship, UK vs US, Tim Vicary. This might be my favourite subject. We are studying the relationship between two of the biggest superpowers in history, comparing their views and actions in different areas. It looks like we are covering different wars and conflicts, and what they meant to the rest of the world and its history. Very interesting, in my opinion, even though handouts consist of 60-70 pages every week and we spend a lot of time reading.
In general, I can't say I regret going here. At least not yet. Who knows what I'll say when November and December comes, and essays are due, but I'll try to hang in there. Studying in York is not bad either, and maybe I'll write something about the city next time. Until then, Au Revoir!
The NSC building. Small, but cozy. Classroom (in)activity.
