Spring 2027

In Translation: Kalevala and Finnish Folk-lore

Examines the Kalevala, the Finnish creation myth and national epic, and its effect on Finnish national identity and independence from Russia.

no offering record for this termCredits unavailable
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 No instructors listed

Summary

1 / 6

Past student reviews · Thomas Dubois

The course was rated as very easy by the student.

What you’ll be able to do

  • Construct an understanding of methods and productions folklorists employ in their work by looking at the pioneering work of the early folklorist Elias Lonnrot and by examining the work and products of contemporary folklorists working on topics of Finnish and Finnish-American folklore.

  • Analyze the connections between expressive performances and the wider workings of culture, as illustrated by the lively interplay between folklore, literature, and popular culture in Finland.

  • Explain how this Finnish "case study" fits in the global context of folklore and its relation to personal, communal and national identities.

  • Explore reflections of the pre-modern and medieval culture of Finland in contemporary popular culture.

Source: UW Guide 1 UW Guide 2

Grade history

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average GPA
letter grades
A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F

All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

Junior standing

  • Junior standing
FOLKLORE/LITTRANS 347

This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.

Prerequisite text tree
  • Junior standing

Professors

Spring 2027

No instructors recorded for this selection.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

THOMAS A DUBOIS is recorded teaching in Fall 2007, Fall 2010, Spring 2013, Spring 2016, Spring 2022. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Calendar & sections

Spring 2027

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist

Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections.

Meeting source records

No records available.

Student experience

the class

Past student reviews · Thomas Dubois

Thomas Dubois taught this course with extreme friendliness, successfully sparking interest in Finnish culture and the Kalevala for students who knew nothing about the subject.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2010: 3.81 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=16 letter grades); Spring 2013: 3.64 GPA, 85.7% A/AB (n=7 letter grades); Spring 2022: 3.60 GPA, 90.0% A/AB (n=10 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Past student reviews · Thomas Dubois

The course was rated as very easy by the student.

Past student reviews · Thomas Dubois

The student found the instructor a joy to chat with and noted that he graded more than fairly.

Topics

  • The Kalevala as Finnish creation myth and national epic.
  • Finnish national identity and independence from Russia.
  • Methods and productions of folklorists, including Elias Lonnrot and contemporary Finnish and Finnish-American folklore.
  • Interplay between folklore, literature, and popular culture in Finland.
  • Reflections of pre-modern and medieval Finnish culture in contemporary popular culture.

Skills

  • Understand folklorist methods and productions through Elias Lonnrot and contemporary work on Finnish and Finnish-American folklore.
  • Analyze connections between expressive performances and culture via the interplay of folklore, literature, and popular culture in Finland.
  • Explain the Finnish case study within the global context of folklore and its relation to personal, communal, and national identities.
  • Explore reflections of pre-modern and medieval Finnish culture in contemporary popular culture.

Grades

Latest available · Spring 2022— not enough history to project Spring 2027.

average GPA
A / AB grades
letter grades
Instructor

Grade distribution · % of letter grades

A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F

Grades over time

Through Spring 2022

More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data

Not enough comparable courses for Spring 2027 in UW–Madison.

Sources & history

UW–Madison

Catalog & offerings

Descriptions, prerequisites, and recorded course offerings.

Catalog observation history

Observations at scan time; dates do not imply when a catalog change took effect.

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Selected offering source records

No offering records for the selected term.

Raw records 
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Student reviews

Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.

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Madgrades

Grade history

Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.

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Dataset & model

Recorded 2026-10-14

View the dataset on Hugging Face
Model outputs & technical records
Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B
LLM outputs across runs
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Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

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Model & dataset provenance 
{
  "model": "Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B",
  "model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
  "task_version": "17",
  "output_id": "312fe6b83cd8bbaa337d69683b6b8016fc102f1608870a3d26d34685cba85183",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}