Södertörn University ( sv, Södertörns

högskola A university college (Swedish: ''högskola''; Norwegian: ''høyskole'', ''høgskole'' or ''høgskule''; Danish: ''professionshøjskole''; literally meaning "high school" and "professional high school") in Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland is an in ...

, abbreviated as SH) is a public

university college In a number of countries, a university college is a college institution that provides tertiary education but does not have full or independent university status. A university college is often part of a larger university. The precise usage varies ...

( sv, högskola) located in Flemingsberg in Huddinge Municipality, and the larger area called

Södertörn Södertörn is a roughly triangular peninsula and artificial island in eastern Södermanland, Sweden, which is bordered by: *Lake Mälaren and the inlet of Saltsjön (a part of the Baltic Sea) to the north, *The Baltic Sea (the Stockholm Arc ...

, in

Stockholm County Stockholm County ( sv, Stockholms län, link=no ) is a county or ''län'' (in Swedish) on the Baltic Sea coast of Sweden. It borders Uppsala County and Södermanland County. It also borders Mälaren and the Baltic Sea. The city of Stockho ...

, Sweden. In 2013, it had about 13,000 full-time and part-time students. The campus area in Flemingsberg hosts the main campus of SH, several departments of the

Karolinska Institutet The Karolinska Institute (KI; sv, Karolinska Institutet; sometimes known as the (Royal) Caroline Institute in English) is a research-led medical university in Solna within the Stockholm urban area of Sweden. The Karolinska Institute is consist ...

, and the School of Technology and health of the

Royal Institute of Technology The KTH Royal Institute of Technology ( sv, Kungliga Tekniska högskolan, lit=Royal Institute of Technology), abbreviated KTH, is a public research university in Stockholm, Sweden. KTH conducts research and education in engineering and technolog ...

(KTH). The Karolinska University Hospital, Huddinge (formerly Huddinge Hospital), is also located there. The university is unique in the sense that it is the only higher educational institution in Sweden that teaches and researches philosophical schools such as

German idealism German idealism was a philosophical movement that emerged in Germany in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It developed out of the work of Immanuel Kant in the 1780s and 1790s, and was closely linked both with Romanticism and the revolutiona ...

existentialism Existentialism ( ) is a form of philosophical inquiry that explores the problem of human existence and centers on human thinking, feeling, and acting. Existentialist thinkers frequently explore issues related to the meaning, purpose, and val ...

deconstruction The term deconstruction refers to approaches to understanding the relationship between text and meaning. It was introduced by the philosopher Jacques Derrida, who defined it as a turn away from Platonism's ideas of "true" forms and essen ...

as well as

critical theory A critical theory is any approach to social philosophy that focuses on society and culture to reveal, critique and challenge power structures. With roots in sociology and literary criticism, it argues that social problems stem more from s ...

and other views which are excluded from the traditional Anglo-Saxon

analytical philosophy Analytic philosophy is a branch and tradition of philosophy using analysis, popular in the Western world and particularly the Anglosphere, which began around the turn of the 20th century in the contemporary era in the United Kingdom, United Sta ...

History

Södertörn University was established as a university college in 1996 following a parliamentary decision in 1995. The expansion of higher education in the southern parts of Stockholm had then been investigated for a long time. The background was that the transition to higher education was low in the southern parts of Stockholm, unemployment was high and segregation problems tended to be large.

Stockholm University Stockholm University ( sv, Stockholms universitet) is a public research university in Stockholm, Sweden, founded as a college in 1878, with university status since 1960. With over 33,000 students at four different faculties: law, humanities, ...

did not consider it appropriate to increase the number of students of Stockholm University and a university in Södertörn should be independent and not part of the

University of Stockholm Stockholm University ( sv, Stockholms universitet) is a public research university in Stockholm, Sweden, founded as a college in 1878, with university status since 1960. With over 33,000 students at four different faculties: law, humanities, soci ...

had already relocated their dental education to Flemingsberg. KTH and Stockholm University had facilities in Flemingsberg and Novum Research Park was under construction. At the university's inception in 1996, there were around 1,000 students. SH had facilities in

Södertälje Södertälje ( , ) is a city in Södermanland and Stockholm County, Sweden and seat of Södertälje Municipality. As of 2017, it has 72,704 inhabitants. Södertälje is located at Mälarens confluence in to the Baltic Sea through the lock in the ...

, Flemingsberg and

Haninge Haninge Municipality (''Haninge kommun'') is a municipality in Stockholm County in east central Sweden. Its seat is located in Handen, a part of the Stockholm urban area. Haninge Municipality was formed in 1971 when ''Västerhaninge'' and ''Öst ...

. Initially the pro-vice chancellor of Stockholm University was also vice-chancellor of Södertörn University, but on 1 January 1997, Per Thullberg was appointed vice-chancellor and SH also attained the right to award their own degrees. In 2002 the main building ''Moas båge'' ( Moa's crescent) was inaugurated in Flemingsberg. The building also received the Concrete Products Outdoor Environment Prize in 2003. With the new facilities the teacher education program was moved from Södertälje to Flemingsberg. In spring 2006, the university's board operations decided to move from campus Haninge to campus Flemingsberg by autumn 2008 and phase out the Södertälje campus where teaching had already been discontinued. Södertörn University applied to the government to become a university in 2002. The application has not yet been processed. In 2004 Södertörn University applied together with Karolinska Institutet and KTH for approval to create a

university network A campus network, campus area network, corporate area network or CAN is a computer network made up of an interconnection of local area networks (LANs) within a limited geographical area. The networking equipments ( switches, routers) and transm ...

at Södertörn University based on the same model as the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

in the United Kingdom. In May 2006, an updated version of the university application was submitted to the government, including changes implemented since 2002. On 1 July 2010, the Swedish Higher Education Authority granted Södertörn University the right to award doctoral degrees in the areas of Historical Studies, Critical and Cultural Theory, Environmental Studies and Politics, Economy and the Organisation of Society. At the end of 2013 Södertörn University was awarded the task of providing the basic training programme for the police. It will run as contract education and will cover five semesters of full-time studies, including a six-month traineeship at a police authority. The first 180 police cadets started their education at Södertörn University in January 2015. In 2013 Södertörn University had 12,578 students, of whom 6,984 were full-time students.

Departments

Södertörn University has four academic schools: * Department of Historical and Contemporary Studies * Department of Culture and Education * Department of Natural Sciences, Technology and Environmental Studies * School of Social Sciences

Subjects

Subjects at the university:

Science

Södertörn University carries out research in the humanities, social sciences, science, environment, technology and educational science.

Institutes and research centres

The primary purpose of the research centres is to bring academic added value by focusing on scientifically interesting fields that lie at the intersections of traditional disciplines. This way the university wishes to create a creative meeting place for staff and students. * Centre for Baltic and East European Studies (CBEES) * The Academy of Public Administration * Centre for Studies in Practical Knowledge * ENTER forum for research on entrepreneurship * The Institute of Contemporary History (SHI) * The Stockholm Centre on Health of Societies in Transition (SHOHOST) * Maritime Archaeological Research Institute at Södertörn University

Södertörn University Library

The Södertörn University Library building was designed by Christer Malmström Arkitektkontor AB, and has received one of Sweden's most prestigious prizes for architecture, the

Kasper Salin Prize The Kasper Salin Prize ( sv, Kasper Salin-priset) is a prize awarded annually by Architects Sweden () to a Swedish building or building project "of high architectural quality". It is considered the most prestigious architectural prize in the countr ...

. The 11,000 square metre building contains the library's collection, examination rooms, study areas and has 700 study spaces. The library was opened in 2004.

Vice-chancellors

* 1 January 1997 – 31 December 2002: Per Thullberg * 2003 – 30 June 2010: Ingela Josefson * 1 July 2010 – 30 June 2016:

Moira von Wright Moira Johanna von Wright (born 23 December 1957 in Helsinki''Finlands ridderskaps och adels kalender 1965'', p. 559.) is a Finnish and Swedish academic, who has been the rector of first Södertörn University 2010-2016 and Åbo Akademi Universit ...

* 1 July 2016–: Gustav Amberg

Notable people

Faculty

Sara Danius Sara Maria Danius (5 April 1962 – 12 October 2019) was a Swedish literary critic and philosopher, and a scholar of literature and aesthetics. Danius was professor of aesthetics at Södertörn University, docent of literature at Uppsala Univers ...

, Professor of Aesthetics, former Member (2013–2019) and Permanent Secretary (2015–2018) of the

Swedish Academy The Swedish Academy ( sv, Svenska Akademien), founded in 1786 by King Gustav III, is one of the Royal Academies of Sweden. Its 18 members, who are elected for life, comprise the highest Swedish language authority. Outside Scandinavia, it is bes ...

. *

Aris Fioretos Aris Fioretos (born 6 February 1960 in Gothenburg) is a Swedish writer of Greek and Austrian extraction. Biography Aris Fioretos was born in Gothenburg. His Greek father was a professor of medicine, his Austrian mother ran a gallery. At hom ...

, Professor of Aesthetics. *

Yvonne Hirdman Yvonne Hirdman (born 18 January 1943) is a Swedish historian and gender researcher. She has received many awards for her work including the August Prize. Early years and education Yvonne Hirdman is the daughter of the language teacher Einar Hird ...

, Professor of Contemporary History. *

Ebba Witt-Brattström Ebba Witt-Brattström (; born 1 June 1953) is a Swedish scholar in comparative literature. She is Professor of Literature and head of department at Södertörn University outside Stockholm, and a well-known feminist. Witt-Brattström completed ...

, Professor of Literature. * Mark Bassin, Professor in historical and contemporary studies.

Alumni

Kodjo Akolor Kodjo Akolor (born 15 June 1981) is a Swedish TV/radio personality and comedian. Career He started as a comedian in 2005 and after two years became a regular on contemporary R&B themed radio station ''The Voice''. In 2008 Akolor became a rep ...

, TV and radio personality. *

Esabelle Dingizian Esabelle Dingizian ( hy, Իզապէլ Տինկիզեան; 16 September 1962) is a Swedish Green Party politician. She has been a member of the Riksdag since 2006. She served as Third Deputy Speaker of the Riksdag from 2014 to 2018. Early life D ...

, politician,

Third Deputy Speaker of the Riksdag The speaker of the Riksdag is assisted by three deputy speakers who are also elected by a vote in the chamber. Traditionally, the second, third and fourth largest parties gets to name of one of their members for these offices. There is some disag ...

(2014–2018). * Kristian Gidlund, musician and author. * Jytte Guteland, politician, *

Anna-Karin Hatt Anna-Karin Hatt (born 7 December 1972) is a Swedish corporate leader and former politician. Since 2015, she is the CEO of Almega, the employers’ organisation for the Swedish service sector. She is also a member of the board at Alecta, Ratio Ins ...

, corporate leader and politician, Minister for IT and Regional Affairs (2009–2011) and Minister for IT and Energy (2011–2014) of Sweden. * Mohamed Said, actor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sodertorn University College University colleges in Sweden Higher education in Stockholm Educational institutions established in 1996 1996 establishments in Sweden