Digital Culture
Norway
Number of recipients
In addition to being a prestigious academic exchange program, the Fulbright Program is designed to expand and strengthen relationships between the people of the United States and citizens of other nations and to promote international understanding and cooperation. To support this mission, Fulbright Scholars may be asked to give public talks, mentor students, and otherwise engage with the host community, in addition to their primary activities.
The scholar will take part in the teaching and research activities of the Digital Culture program and the Digital Culture and Electronic Literature research groups in the Department of Linguistic, Literary and Aesthetic Studies at the University of Bergen. The scholar will also be affiliated with the Center for Digital Narrative, a Norwegian Center of Research Excellence. The scholar will teach 2 courses in digital culture and digital media aesthetics over the course of the year, evaluate student work, and advise some BA thesis projects. Courses will run 10 teaching weeks, with two two-hour meetings per week for undergraduate courses or one three-hour meeting per week for graduate courses. Courses will be lecture and seminar. The scholar will also develop a research or artistic research project of their choosing related to Digital Culture.
Depending on needs and expertise, courses the scholar might teach courses such as:
DIKULT103: Digital Genres: Digital Art, Electronic Literature and Computer Games
DIKULT105: Web Design
DIKULT104: Information Technology: History, Theory and Practice
DIKULT251: Critical Perspectives on Information Technologies and Society
DIKULT303: Digital Media Aesthetics
DIKULT304: Graduate Seminar: Topics in Digital Culture
Students purchase books and compendia. Lecture classrooms are equipped with appropriate technology (computer and projector or display) and a computer lab is available when appropriate to course content.
The scholar may teach both undergraduate and MA-level courses and may provide some thesis advising to graduate students. The scholar will also participate in and contribute to weekly meetings of the Digital Culture research group and give one public lecture on a central topic of his/her research.
University of Bergen Digital Culture program and the Center for Digital Narrative, Bergen
Five or ten months, with a preference for ten months.
Award must begin in August 2025.
Digital culture, electronic literature, digital media aesthetics and critical approaches to technology.
UiB will facilitate lecture visits to other European institutions via the Fulbright inter-country lecturer program.
All U.S. awardees to Norway have two opportunities to gather as a group. The first is an orientation program held in Oslo in August. The second is a seminar in February during which awardees present on their projects followed by a weekend at a ski resort near Lillehammer. Domestic travel and lodging expenses for these gatherings are covered by the Fulbright Foundation. In addition, these expenses are covered for dependent family members of awardees for the seminar/ski weekend, which is a highlight of the Fulbright year.
All applicants must meet the Program eligibility requirements (click to review the requirements).
All teaching will be in English.
For research award activity, language fluency sufficient to complete the research project is required. Feasibility of conducting research must be demonstrated in both the project statement and, for research that is not in English, the language self-evaluation form of the Fulbright application.
University-level teaching experience required.
Please note that dual U.S.-Norway citizens are not eligible for a Fulbright grant to Norway. Applications will not be considered if the applicant is currently residing in Norway or will be residing in Norway during the year preceding the grant period.
All letters of recommendation should be submitted by the application deadline.
30,000 Norwegian kroner (NOK) (approximately $3,300) per month for stays of 5-10 months for teaching, research, and teaching/research scholars.
Please note, USD amounts are subject to change due to currency fluctuations.
International travel for scholar only. Small allowance for excess baggage.
An additional monthly allowance of 2,000 NOK (approximately $250) per accompanying dependent per month is provided for up to three accompanying dependents. If two people in the same family receive Fulbright grants to Norway, no dependent allowance will be provided for additional family members.
The monthly stipend is sufficient to cover basic living costs in Norway for the grantee and up to three accompanying dependents.
Public primary and secondary schools are free in Norway for dependents. For more information about edcuation in Norway, click here.
Dependents must accompany the grantee for at least 80% of the period abroad and a minimum of one semester in order to qualify for additional dependent benefits. Dependent benefits are not provided to Flex grantees.
Housing costs can vary considerably depending on the type of place scholars rent, including whether or not they get access to researcher housing at their host university. For other costs of living, please see Consumption Research Norway’s reference budget for ordinary consumer expenditures. (https://www.oslomet.no/en/about/sifo/reference-budget)
One-time grants of up to 2,000 NOK (approximately $250) are available for scholars to use for award-related travel in Norway or Europe.
Scholars are also eligible to participate in the Fulbright Intercountry Lecturing Program. The program provides opportunities for professional enrichment and cultural experience outside of Norway through short visits to give presentations in other participating European countries. Intercountry Lecturing travel is covered by the Fulbright commission and host institution in the country the scholar travels to
Final grant amounts will be determined prior to the start of the academic year and are subject to the availability of funds. The United States Department of State and the Fulbright Commission in the host country reserve the right to alter, without notice, participating countries, number of awards and allowances.
Norway
Norway is an excellent place to live, teach, and conduct research. With a strong public emphasis on knowledge and learning, Norway's generously funded and publicly accessible system of higher education and research is the backbone of Norwegian intellectual development, creativity, and innovation. A good introduction to Norway can be found here. In addition, Statistics Norway has a wealth of information in English on many topics.
The vast majority of higher education institutions in Norway are public. There is a single national admissions process for undergraduate study at public colleges and universities as well as some private institutions. In accordance with European standards, the years of study for a bachelor’s, master’s and Ph.D. degree are three, two and three respectively. In-depth information about higher education in Norway can be found here.
Norwegian institutions of higher education and research offer many opportunities for international scholars to conduct research and teach. English is used almost as a second language in Norway, and the international environment in most research and higher education institutions means that competence in Norwegian is not a requirement for a successful short-term research or teaching visit.
In addition, The Research Council of Norway has designated a number of Centers of Excellence and Centers for Research-Based Innovation in various fields. The centers are affiliated with Norway's top universities and premier independent research institutes and may be of particular interest for Fulbright scholars. Scholars especially interested in efforts to strengthen quality in higher education may want to consider one of the Norwegian Centres for Excellence in Education.
The academic year runs from mid-August to mid-December and mid-January to mid-June.
Early career applicants who are currently working on a PhD must have a doctorate in hand by February 2025 to be eligible.
Please note that dual U.S.-Norway citizens are not eligible for Fulbright grants to Norway.
The US-Norway Fulbright Foundation is proud to have welcomed scholars in a variety of disciplines from the creative and performing arts to education to mathematics and natural sciences. Every scholar and every host situation is different, and we cannot guarantee an exact match, but we will be happy to try and connect potential applicants with relevant recent alumni. For a complete list of current and past scholars, please see the Fulbright Scholar Directory.
Visit our Scholar Directory to view and search all Fulbright alumni. You can also learn more about Fulbright Alumni Ambassadors.
Academic Calendar of University of Bergen:
Fall: August-December, Spring: January-May
Contact at host institution for applicants’ questions about this award:
Scott Rettberg, Professor of Digital Culture
University of Bergen Dept of Linguistic, Literary, and Aesthetic Studies
PO Box 7805
5020 Bergen, Norway
Telephone: +47 55 58 22 64
Fax: +47 55 58 96 60
Email: scott.rettberg@uib.no
Applicants are encouraged to secure recommendation letters from individuals with different institutional affiliations.