The Institute of Scandinavian and Finnish Studies is honoured to invite you to the international academic conference Nordic Studies Scholars facing the Changes of the Modern World – 50th Anniversary of Nordic Studies in Gdańsk, which will take place on 20-21 November 2025. This event aims to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of Scandinavian Studies, a field of study offered at the University of Gdańsk since the academic year 1975/1976. 

We hope that this jubilee will provide an opportunity to meet and reflect together on the state of the world in light of the changes that have been occurring in the past two decades: climate change, mass migration, natural disasters, the war in Europe, and the development of artificial intelligence, which is a new challenge, particularly for academia and education. 

To balance this dark theme, we also invite discussions on iconic characters of Nordic children's literature, Pippi Longstocking and the Moomins, who will celebrate their 80th birthdays in 2025. What are the reasons for their continued popularity? What can they bring to the lives of children and adults in the third decade of the 21st century?