As the relationship between Europe and the United States changes, it can be useful to be reminded of the Norwegian emigration to America, and how it created a strong connection that still exists.
USN's history students have been given this opportunity through the course “Norwegian migration to the United States from 1825 to the present” in collaboration with Minnesota State University and the Norwegian Emigration Museum.
The course has students from the campuses in Vestfold and Bø, and from two campuses at Minnesota State University (Mankato and Moorhead).
Most of the teaching takes place digitally, and due to the time difference it starts at 08:00 in the morning in Minnesota and 15:00 in Norway. There are also some classes at both the Vestfold and Bø campuses.
"For American students, it's important to be reminded that we are a country of immigrants, and that people have always come to this country to live, work and educate themselves. Some of the students have Norwegian ancestors, some don't, but they all come from somewhere else," says Professor Sean Taylor from Minnesota State University.
Great interest in emigration history
He traveled to Norway in mid-March 2025 to accompany the Norwegian students to the Norwegian Emigration Museum in Hamar. Taylor also gave lectures at USN, and took part in an event on the current situation in the USA under Donald Trump, at the Vestfold campus.
Sean Taylor believes it is important that Norwegian students understand how Americans think about the world around them.
"For Norwegians, coming to the United States was a very big decision, a decision that could not be made in the last minute. I think it's important for Norwegians to understand how much their ancestors had to think about this decision, and how difficult it was for them to actually leave Norway and start over in the United States."
Taylor says American students have a great interest in immigration history. Most of them have some sense that their ancestors came from somewhere else, but it's getting to be a long time ago now.
"That's why I think they seize the opportunity to learn more, and I think it's even more important that they do it together with Norwegian students, because then they get to see the whole picture. I think that makes it even more fun for them."
Relevant and current curriculum
History student Gunn Elisabeth Støkken says she has been surprised by how descendants of Norwegian emigrants still cling to Norwegian culture, 150 years after, and on a different continent.
"I'm thinking, for example, of how obsessed they are with lefser (traditional norwegian flat bread with different types of filling according to the region in which they`re made), and the ‘huff da’ expression that they still use. Also, the mixing of Norwegian and Protestantism over there to this day. I think that some of our curriculum could be good reading for children and young people growing up in Norway today. Because this dilemma is probably not unique, but human, perhaps independent of time and place and culture. It's been a wake-up call for me to see these similarities. "
"How did you experience your trip to the Emigration Museum in Hamar?"
"It was an inspiring day. It was exciting to see the buildings and how small the houses were. The library and archives were also fascinating. This is a very exciting story, and it's extreme to think that almost half of our population emigrated. I also remember museum director Terje Joranger's words that when Americans come here they say “I am Norwegian”, while we consistently call them Americans. That must be a bit hurtful."
Most from Telemark
Professor Jens Johan Hyvik is responsible for the course. He is also joined by Professor Emeritus James Godbolt and several other Norwegian and American colleagues.
Many emigrated from the region where USN has its campuses, but there were also differences.
"Vestfold had alternative opportunities such as whaling, which meant that the need to seek a better future in America was perhaps not as great as in Buskerud and Telemark. However, these two counties rank high in the overview of the number of emigrants", say Hyvik and Godbolt.
In volume two of the book “Telemarks Historie”, edited by USN professors Ellen Schrumpf and Nils Ivar Agøy, it emerges that Telemark has a special position in Norwegian emigration history.
There we can read that in the years 1836-1856, Telemark was actually the county from which most people emigrated. Of all emigrants from Norway in the decade 1836-1845, 45 percent came from Telemark (page 27).