Left: Professor Vuokko Hirvonen and Rector Gunvor Guttorm present the PhD programme in Sami language and literature. Photo: Gunnlaug Ballovare. Right: The MA in indigenous journalism has attracted students from countries such as Brazil, the Netherlands, the US, Finland, Kenya and Norway. Photo: Mattias Sikku Valio
A place to discover your identity “In addition to promoting our own culture, history and language, we hope to inspire other ethnic groups to do the same in their community,” says rector Gunvor Guttorm. By Stian Sangvig
The Sami University of Applied Sciences (SUAS) is a university college based in Kautokeino in the north-eastern Norwegian county of Finnmark. It is the only education institute in the world where almost everything is taught and communicated in the Sami language. Established in 1989, it has 188 students and five PhD students, this autumn mainly from Sami communities in Norway, Sweden and Finland, in addition to 52 faculty, technical and administrative staff. “The idea of setting up the university was to educate teachers in Sami in order to encourage Sami youngsters to appreciate their language and roots, as the Norwegian language was becoming increasingly dominant even in Sami families,” Guttorm explains. Most aspects of the Sami culture can be studied at SUAS. Study programmes, some of which go to PhD level, range from Sami language and Sami literature to Sami arts and crafts and reindeer husbandry. Sami language and Sami literature can be studied at PhD level for the 82 | Issue 94 | November 2016
first time in Sami from the autumn of 2016. Anyone interested in the Sami culture and language is welcome to apply. As most programmes are taught in Sami, students need to understand and be able to express themselves in the language, but Sami language courses at beginner level are available. International experiences are available to teaching students, who can spend part of the teacher practice periods at a primary and secondary school in the Sami part of Finland or Sweden. Thus, they can compare teaching methods and local attitudes to the Sami community between different countries. For the second time, however, a programme will next year be taught in English. “From spring 2017 students can take a master’s degree in Sami journalism from an indigenous perspective,” Guttorm explains. The course is open to international applicants with the goal of inspiring other indigenous communities to promote their culture and language in their own country, as well as learning about the Sami approach to journalism.
At SUAS, they believe that their mission is becoming more important than ever. “In a globalised world where indigenous languages are disappearing, we believe our job is more important than ever to save our own community and encourage others to do the same,” Guttorm concludes.
Students and teachers prepare food of reindeer meat and blood including sausages and boiled meat. Photo: Mattias Sikku Valio.
Bachelor students of reindeer husbandry learn to smoke reindeer meat. Photo: Mattias Sikku Valio
For more information, please visit: www.samiskhs.no