As the only Scandinavian Studies concentrator at the College, Sarah B. Schauss '01 is used to setting off on her own. But when she moved off campus this year, she says she looked for other ways to get more involved in campus life.

After attending an activities meeting in Dunster House, Schauss realized that there were no existing clubs that captured her interest. Instead of giving up, she decided to form a group that would introduce students to a culture as warm as its climate is cold. Gathering supporters, she founded the Harvard-Radcliffe Scandinavian Folk and Culture Society.

Schauss, who is now president of the organization, pitched her idea to others in her Swedish B class and found two willing accomplices--Marcelline M. Block '01, who is also a Crimson editor, and Elizabeth A. Chiappa '01. The three sophomores had taken Swedish A together last year and were frequent participants at the Wednesday night Swedish table in Leverett House.

After soliciting friends and classmates, they compiled an e-mail list of more than 20 interested people. Though still waiting for confirmation of their status as an official student group, the Society began to hold events earlier this month.

Last Thursday night, undergraduate and graduate students gathered in the Leverett G-tower common room to view Pathfinder, an Academy-award nominated film about the ancient Sami legend of a young man who risks his life to save his people from the evil tribe that killed his own family. The Sami are an indigenous people from northern Finland.

As the film concluded, students milled about the room praising the movie and breaking into conversation in Swedish.

Amanda R. Whitman '01 said she liked the movie, but found it a bit graphic. "I'm really sensitive to killing so I had to close my eyes," she said.

Movie-goers also enjoyed traditional Icelandic pastries and cake donated by a local bakery. "The chef is Icelandic so he was willing to help us out," Chiappa says.

Members of the new group have also attended a night of Scandinavian folk dancing at a Lutheran Church in Brookline, a speech about Swedish genealogy and a trip to the Bayside International Expo in Boston.

Finding Their Roots

Aara E. Edwards '02 who found out about the group through her Swedish A class, went out on the town with the society last weekend for folk dancing.

"I'd never seen Scandinavian folk dancing before," she says. "All these old guys taught us all the dances."

"There was a lot of spinning," she adds.

Edwards says she was interested in the group because of her Swedish ancestry. Her family still celebrates some Swedish traditions.

Edwards says she was also interested in discovering the differences between Scandinavian-American culture and bona fide Scandinavian culture. "For instance, [Swedish-Americans] tend to eat lutefisk, which no self-respecting Swede would," she says.