Compact seminar in Oslo

At the end of September, the 5^th cycle was on a seminar in Norway’s capital, Oslo. Heikki sent me some pictures of the seminar, which I – shamefully – only manage to post now. (Sssh, don’t tell him.) From what I have heard, they have had a great time, visiting a synagogue service, a Friday prayer in a mosque and a short Christian service. They also had a Shabbat dinner at home of teacher Gunnar Haaland –is this becoming a tradition?

Heikki, thanks for the Pictures!

 

 

 

 

/PD

 

Everyone's gone - Rome and Oslo

What a week it is for RRE! The fifth cycle is currently in Oslo, studying for the Contemporary course. If that means what it meant last year, they will visit several religious congregations and possibly also be offered a great shabbat-meal at the home of one of our teachers! We hope for a report with pictures by next week.

The sixth cycle has left around this weekend to Rome for the traditional twee-week opening excursion of the program. Something not so traditional is that they will be the first students to study in the new 'The Study of Ancient Religion'-course, which has replaced the previous courses Method & Theory and Religion and Society. We are curious to hear about their experiences!
For the rest, I don't think the Rome trip will have changed too much, which means that I dare to link to an older blogpost: Must Dos in Rome. In general, the sixth cycle has made the better choice for a travel destination, as the weather forecast predicts 24 degrees for Rome. (And only 13 for Oslo. Well, one should after all be reminded of the Scandinavian program...)

Btw, wondering what the fourth cycle is doing? Well, those lazy ones that aren't done yet (including the undersigned) are at home, working on their theses... ;-)

/PD

Looking back on Oslo

Happy new year and a sincere apology from the writer of this blog - it's almost two months since the last update. The only apologiy that I can bring in is a Thesis Colloquium that had to be written and some travelling all over Europe. Oh yeah, and Christmas, maybe. Stupid apologies. Hereby I give the New Year Intention to write at least two blogs every month. (Some help of other students would be much appreciated in this, hinthint.)

So, what to start with? It turned out that my camera still had quite some pictures left from the time in Oslo, the last days of November. After our visit to Minhaj Ul Qumran our week was far from over.

Thursday we were 'off' - except from 6 hours of classes. Eric and me made a little tour through Oslo.

Oslo Harbour. Time: 15.05 CET.

Friday afternoon brought a visit to another mosque: the Bosnian mosque. We were present at the the Friday prayer. Here 5 of the 7 women in the 4th cycle prior to the prayer. Photo: Zejian Zeng.

After the prayer we talked with Imam Faruk Terzic. We felt very welcome and learned a lot! 

From Islam to Judaism - Friday night we were invited at the house of our teacher Gunnar and his family for a sabbath meal! A very special experience to witness 'theoretical knowledge' in practice, a chance to pick up the Hebrew that I had all forgotton and, not in the least, a night with great food and good conversations. 

On Saturday morning, we also visited a synagogue, but we couldn't make pictures there. Instead a few from the trip that Eric, me and Rasuole made in the afternoon. We took the the subway up for 20 minutes and suddenly we had left Oslo behind and were in the middle of nature. A great end to a great seminar.

/PD

Hello from Oslo - part 1

 We - at least most of us - made it to the Norwegian capital and today (well, actually 'yesterday') we had our first lectures in the Contemporary course. Among others our professor for Judaism showed a small part of the Hanukkah ritual, as today is the start of the Jewish feast - never a dull moment in RRE classes!

The evening brought a visit to Minhaj Ul Quran, an Islamic center here in Oslo. Our very own student Nasir gave us a tour through the center and we were treated to a yummy (and spicy) dinner. A great night! Now the light is going out in the girls' hostel room - tomorrow we'll study Christianity and (more) Islam. Good night! 

A modern proverb on the wall.

Our guide Nasir

The Imam of the center at the lovely dinner.

RRE students in dialogue with the Imam

Nasir presenting a book by the founder of the Minhaj Ul Quran - a fatwa condemning suicide bombings and terrorism

/PD

Heia Oslo!

As I’m for the moment the only writer for the blog, this blog’s focus will be on the fourth RRE cycle, as that’s my study year. (Fifth cycle, do something about this! Let me know if you want to write for the blog, even if it’s just four times a year or so.)

So, what’s up with the fourth cycle? Well, most of us are preparing for a trip towards Norway’s capital, Oslo. From Wednesday to Saturday, we will have lectures in our compulsory course ‘The Three Religions in Contemporary Perspective’. Apart from work in the classroom, we will also visit a mosque and a synagogue – that is verily a contemporary perspective! 

It will also be our last official compact seminar, which could be a good moment for nostalgic reflections on how time has the awful tendency to fly…but let’s leave that for another blog. Sigh.

Instead, hereby a few ‘did-you-know-that’s’ about our destination and the RRE seminar for the coming week. Thanks be to Wikipedia.

Did you know that…

-          Oslo was founded around 1000 CE? (Alas, too late to be a study subject for RRE.)

-          Oslo was known by the beautiful name of Kristiania from the 17^th century until 1925?

-          Everybody has been telling me that Norway is so extremely expensive that I have already bought instant noodles to take with me?

-          You can see ‘The Scream’ by Edvard Munch in Oslo’s Munch Museum?

-          Norway’s capital has about 620.000 inhabitants?

-          There is one (brave) student in the 4^th cycle in Oslo?

-          Norwegian and Swedish are so similar that it works to send a mail to the hostel where we will stay in Swedish?  

-          You might then actually have to read the mail three times to understand it?

-          Oslo yearly gives away large Christmas trees to several big cities in the world? A fun tradition, I think!

-          Oslo houses the National Theater, which is Norway’s largest theater?

-          The weather might bring anything from -2 to 7 Celsius during our stay? (http://www.weather-forecast.com/locations/Oslo/forecasts/latest)

  /PD

five questions to the professor

This week we moved ourselves to Oslo. In Oslo there is currently two students in the third cycle, and unfortunatly no students in the second cycle.  We hope they will have many applicants for semesterstart 2012. Look at the pictures below and see how nice Oslo is :)

Interview:

1. Please state your name,age, university and connection to the
RREprogram:

Stig Frøyshov, 50, University of Oslo, RRE coordinator and teacher


2. What is your area of expertise? and which courses do you teach in
the RREprogram?

My area of expertise is Christian liturgy and ritual, especially in Palestinian, Byzantine and other Eastern traditions. I work with sources in Greek, Georgian, Slavonic and to some degree Syriac and Armenian. In my doctoral thesis I edited, translated and commented upon the oldest Horologion (Book of daily offices, originated at the Resurrection cathedral in Jerusalem), preserved in Georgian only and for its content datable to about 600 CE.


3. How do you find the this way of teaching, which is not regular
university courses but also not distance learning?

I think it is the best we can do within the program model that have we. Regular university classes are not always totally relevant and useful, either. It seems to me that the hardest part is on the students, because the contact with the teacher is not immediate and there is more individual and independent study. All in all, the student learning in RRE is not inferior to that of "regular" students. If there is a vital student group locally this weighs up for a lot. Finally, the method of frequent papers and task is beneficial for student learning and helps keeping focused.


4. What do you expect from your students?

I expect serious and regular study, to the best of each student's ability.


5. If you could have any superhuman power, what would it be and why?

I very much would have liked to go back in history and actually be present at the liturgies I study! Then all my questions as to how and what and perhaps why would be answered...





Some pics from Second cycles compact seminar in Oslo, April 2011

 while some people were studying hard...

 ....others enjoyed the sunshine outside the faculty :)

 we went to a nice restaurant to eat....            (Clement, Stig and Jakob)

.... and was even invited home to Professor Halvor Moxnes

...and of course we went out in town :)                 (Magnus and Saara)

All Pictures: Tanya Mylova.

The RREstudents proudly presents....a video!

This video was made by Hala during our compact seminar in Århus in November. If you want to know why YOU should chose RRE as your master, watch it!

Copenhagen info

Thursday the 9.of February (tommorow) at 12:15 in room 243 at the theological faculty in Copenhagen, there will take place an infomeeting for students curious about studying RRE. if you yourself are interested, or you know somebody who might be, this is an important date to remember.

we will try to post info here at the blog about stuff happening related to RRE in the different universities, and if you would like to email or meet with one of us students, please write an email to: religiousroots@gmail.com and we will be happy to help you :)