Cultural Studies in a Changing World. “kulturvitenskap” in Bergen in Its Social and Intellectual Contexts

The article traces the transformations of Folkloristics and Ethnology as university disciplines in Bergen, Norway, since the 1960s. The changes in basic assumptions and fields of interest are seen in the context of the development of the educational system, especially the social role of the social sciences and the humanities at large. INTRODUCTION The humanistic disciplines concerned with the study of culture have undergone considerable change in Norway during recent years. Various reorganization processes, of which the Bologna reforms make up an important part, are changing the conditions for research and education in this field. At the University of Bergen, Ethnology in 2003 merged with other disciplines and is today part of what we call kulturvitenskap or, in the official English version, cultural studies. Its three elements are Folkloristics, Ethnology and Cultural Heritage Studies. In Oslo, there has been a similar merger under the label of cultural history. Structural changes in university degrees as a result of the Bologna process and the accompanying new curricula were in both cases implemented in the establishment of the new disciplines.