Try to say 'Scandinavian academia' ten times fast.

October 4, 2007 1:01 PM

Are there different expectations for academic job applications in Norway vs. the United States?

I'm in the United States, and I'm applying for an ethnomusicology teaching position at the University of Oslo. Do any academics out there have experience in both the U.S. and Norway? I have a feeling that I should alter my application materials (CV, cover letter, teaching dossier and writing samples) to conform to their conventions, but I'm not sure exactly how.

posted by umbú to education (4 comments total)

You could put them on ISO paper, for one thing.
posted by Reggie Digest at 1:26 PM on October 4, 2007

I applied for and eventually accepted an academic job in Denmark, which despite just being across the water, has its own conventions different from Norway when it comes to academic work. That being said, I just applied as I would for a US position (CV, cover letter, writing samples, etc.) and it was fine. There wasn't a huge difference and they understood that there were differences in the American context. If you're really concerned, I would imagine you could drop an e-mail to the chair of the hiring committee and ask for any specifics not spelled out in the job posting.
posted by ga$money at 2:18 PM on October 4, 2007

This is an interesting blog by an American working as an academic in Scandanavia She doesn't say what country, and she's in science, not ethnomusicology, but it still might be a place to get some insights. She frequently talks about differences in bureaucracy and funding between her current country (and the EU as a whole) and the US.
posted by hydropsyche at 11:58 AM on October 5, 2007

Just in case it helps: I ran this question by a friend with a Ph.D. from the University of Oslo, and he said he had nothing much to add to the answers above.
posted by RogerB at 7:12 AM on October 18, 2007