SINAS Research Seminar: "From SIAS to SINAS: Funding and resistance in the establishment of an American Institute in Sweden"

Rolf Lundén (emeritus professor of American literature, Uppsala University) and Christin Mays (historian and sociologist of education, independent researcher) will present the history of the Swedish Institute for North American Studies. The seminar will be held at the English Park campus and on Zoom.

Abstract

While the United States has been an object of considerable interest in Sweden since at least the Revolutionary War, more sustained efforts to institutionalize the study of the United States at Swedish universities began after World War II. This presentation traces the development of American Studies at Uppsala University, from the creation of the first American Institute (later referred to as SIAS) in the 1940s to the establishment of the Swedish Institute for North American Studies (SINAS) in 1985.

The first part examines the field's winding path to institutionalization, made possible by the largely uncoordinated financial investments of private foundations, learned societies, universities, and governments in both Sweden and the United States, which culminated in the establishment of the first permanent chair of American literature at Uppsala University in 1968.

The second part focuses on the transformation of SIAS, an informal institute centered on the study of American literature and culture, into SINAS, a formal interdisciplinary research institute. It emphasizes the personal experiences and active involvement of those who helped shape the process, including negotiations with university committees, discussions with prominent professors, and exploratory trips to the United States to gain firsthand experience in the field of American Studies. The presentation highlights the practical outcomes of these efforts, visits from American and Canadian authors, donations from American associations, support from Uppsala scholars, and responses from interested newsletters, while also addressing the resistance that complicated the development of the institute over time.