Spotlight On: Thea Strand
Strand Published Book, Awarded Grant
The linguistic and cultural anthropologist's scholarly work centers around rural Valdres, Norway.
Thea Strand, PhD, a senior lecturer in the Department of Anthropology in Loyola University Chicago’s College of Arts and Sciences, will have her book, A Winning Dialect: Reinventing Linguistic Tradition in Rural Norway, published in May 2024, before heading to Valdres, Norway, to conduct six weeks of ethnographic fieldwork as part of the Wenner-Gren Foundation Post PhD Research Grant she was awarded last September.
“Dr. Strand is a rising star in the field of linguistic and cultural anthropology,” said Peter J. Schraeder, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. “Her recent accomplishments, including the publication of a truly insightful book that is based on impressive field research as well as receiving a prestigious external grant, serve as examples of how faculty within the College create impact and influence in the classroom and beyond.”
A Winning Dialect, published by University of Toronto Press, tells a story of linguistic and cultural transformation in the rural district of Valdres, Norway. It shows how lifelong residents have adapted to changing social, economic, and political circumstances – particularly the shift from family farming to tourism development – and how they have used local linguistic and cultural resources to craft a viable future for themselves and the places their ancestors have called home for centuries.
“I hope that readers take away an increased appreciation for the power of language in people’s everyday lives and identities,” Strand said. “It focuses on the distinctive rural dialect of Valdres, Norway, and how language is central to what the place means for people who live there, which is true in many communities globally.”
Once stigmatized as poor and uneducated, the distinctive dialect of Valdres now holds a special place as a valuable part of Norwegian national heritage, as well as a marker of local belonging.
“The book, which is based on two decades of research and fieldwork, shows how ‘small’ and out-of-the-way places, like Valdres, are affected by large-scale social and economic forces, and how people there are doing all they can to adapt in ways that preserve a sense of community and tradition, including when it comes to language.”
Strand received a Post PhD Research Grant from the Wenner-Gren Foundation in September 2023 for a new project entitled, “Language, Environment, and Transhumant Livelihoods in Mountain Norway.” She and her co-PI, Michael Wroblewski, will conduct six weeks of ethnographic fieldwork in rural Valdres, Norway, this summer. The pair will observe and interview farmers who have moved their herds of cattle and sheep from their low-valley home farms to summer mountain farms for seasonal open grazing.
“This is a traditional practice that is currently in decline, due largely to the economic pressures of globalization, but residents, tourism developers, and cultural advocates are working hard to see it continue, which is a strong parallel to what’s happening with dialect shift and revalorization and discussed in A Winning Dialect,” Strand explained. “In our research, we expect to document how farmers and their herds interact and communicate with one another, with the unique landscape of the summer mountain farming zone, and with tourists, who love seeing farm animals wandering around near hiking and mountain biking trails and other outdoor attractions.”
Learn more about A Winning Dialect and Strand’s grant from the Wenner-Gren Foundation.
About the College of Arts and Sciences
The College of Arts and Sciences is the oldest of Loyola University Chicago’s 15 schools, colleges, and institutes. More than 150 years since its founding, the College is home to 20 academic departments and 37 interdisciplinary programs and centers, more than 450 full-time faculty, and nearly 8,000 students. The 2,000+ classes that we offer each semester span an array of intellectual pursuits, ranging from the natural sciences and computational sciences to the humanities, the social sciences, and the fine and performing arts. Our students and faculty are engaged internationally at our campus in Rome, Italy, as well as at dozens of University-sponsored study abroad and research sites around the world. Home to the departments that anchor the University’s Core Curriculum, the College seeks to prepare all of Loyola’s students to think critically, to engage the world of the 21st century at ever deepening levels, and to become caring and compassionate individuals. Our faculty, staff, and students view service to others not just as one option among many, but as a constitutive dimension of their very being. In the truest sense of the Jesuit ideal, our graduates strive to be “individuals for others.”
Thea Strand, PhD, a senior lecturer in the Department of Anthropology in Loyola University Chicago’s College of Arts and Sciences, will have her book, A Winning Dialect: Reinventing Linguistic Tradition in Rural Norway, published in May 2024, before heading to Valdres, Norway, to conduct six weeks of ethnographic fieldwork as part of the Wenner-Gren Foundation Post PhD Research Grant she was awarded last September.
“Dr. Strand is a rising star in the field of linguistic and cultural anthropology,” said Peter J. Schraeder, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. “Her recent accomplishments, including the publication of a truly insightful book that is based on impressive field research as well as receiving a prestigious external grant, serve as examples of how faculty within the College create impact and influence in the classroom and beyond.”
A Winning Dialect, published by University of Toronto Press, tells a story of linguistic and cultural transformation in the rural district of Valdres, Norway. It shows how lifelong residents have adapted to changing social, economic, and political circumstances – particularly the shift from family farming to tourism development – and how they have used local linguistic and cultural resources to craft a viable future for themselves and the places their ancestors have called home for centuries.
“I hope that readers take away an increased appreciation for the power of language in people’s everyday lives and identities,” Strand said. “It focuses on the distinctive rural dialect of Valdres, Norway, and how language is central to what the place means for people who live there, which is true in many communities globally.”
Once stigmatized as poor and uneducated, the distinctive dialect of Valdres now holds a special place as a valuable part of Norwegian national heritage, as well as a marker of local belonging.
“The book, which is based on two decades of research and fieldwork, shows how ‘small’ and out-of-the-way places, like Valdres, are affected by large-scale social and economic forces, and how people there are doing all they can to adapt in ways that preserve a sense of community and tradition, including when it comes to language.”
Strand received a Post PhD Research Grant from the Wenner-Gren Foundation in September 2023 for a new project entitled, “Language, Environment, and Transhumant Livelihoods in Mountain Norway.” She and her co-PI, Michael Wroblewski, will conduct six weeks of ethnographic fieldwork in rural Valdres, Norway, this summer. The pair will observe and interview farmers who have moved their herds of cattle and sheep from their low-valley home farms to summer mountain farms for seasonal open grazing.
“This is a traditional practice that is currently in decline, due largely to the economic pressures of globalization, but residents, tourism developers, and cultural advocates are working hard to see it continue, which is a strong parallel to what’s happening with dialect shift and revalorization and discussed in A Winning Dialect,” Strand explained. “In our research, we expect to document how farmers and their herds interact and communicate with one another, with the unique landscape of the summer mountain farming zone, and with tourists, who love seeing farm animals wandering around near hiking and mountain biking trails and other outdoor attractions.”
Learn more about A Winning Dialect and Strand’s grant from the Wenner-Gren Foundation.
About the College of Arts and Sciences
The College of Arts and Sciences is the oldest of Loyola University Chicago’s 15 schools, colleges, and institutes. More than 150 years since its founding, the College is home to 20 academic departments and 37 interdisciplinary programs and centers, more than 450 full-time faculty, and nearly 8,000 students. The 2,000+ classes that we offer each semester span an array of intellectual pursuits, ranging from the natural sciences and computational sciences to the humanities, the social sciences, and the fine and performing arts. Our students and faculty are engaged internationally at our campus in Rome, Italy, as well as at dozens of University-sponsored study abroad and research sites around the world. Home to the departments that anchor the University’s Core Curriculum, the College seeks to prepare all of Loyola’s students to think critically, to engage the world of the 21st century at ever deepening levels, and to become caring and compassionate individuals. Our faculty, staff, and students view service to others not just as one option among many, but as a constitutive dimension of their very being. In the truest sense of the Jesuit ideal, our graduates strive to be “individuals for others.”