I was honored to receive a the Cassling Innovation Award in 2024 in recognition of my interdisciplinary teaching on “Writing as a Form of Civic Engagement.” I have been trying to integrate instruction in techniques for argumentative writing into courses in different subject areas, including advanced Norwegian language and Nordic environmental studies.
I have required students to write an op-ed on a significant social or political topic in Norway in NORW 253 for several years now, and I encourage students to submit their final pieces to a special youth opinion writing section in the Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten. One student, Nanna Gailiun, had her op-ed published: In it, she calls on Norway to end the practice of allowing mining companies to dump waste in fjords, in this case Repparfjorden, which is within traditional Sámi territory in northern Norway.
The award also recognized my teaching on the rhetoric used by Nordic youth environmental activists in several different courses. Students studied activists’ techniques and the responses they have received in media (mostly online newspapers) and wrote both analyses and their own opinion pieces on topics that matter to them.
This project began amidst the pandemic and was really meant to help students improve their knowledge and skills in argumentative writing, so that they feel more empowered to use their voice in the public sphere.