ReseaRch Quality assuRance foR the futuRe a ... - Lund University

Panel 3 – arts
system. This is obviously an important aspect of literary studies, yet
research in literature and broader cultural issues should no less contribute
to knowledge about foreign areas and questions that go across nations and
areas. The discipline was conceived with a view of similar questions, and
the urgency of cultural exchanges across the borders is no less obvious
today than in the time of the pioneers.
The relevance of area studies is exactly to provide insight in the world
beyond the borders of the nation, as well as to contribute to international
research. In both of the area studies in Lund as well as in Spanish studies
this is done very well. Foreign literatures are crucial for an understanding
of foreign cultures and contexts for political and social issues, as well as for
insight in general aspects of human life. One would stress, though, that
there is a historical dimension to this and that research in periods earlier
than 1800 is scarcely represented.
With a view of the central cultural role of movies during next to a century
and the prominent status of Swedish film, research in this area is of obvious
importance, and the section has contributed to research in Swedish
film as well as in international film not only for a national, but also for an
international public.
Vitality: The research output as well as the lively participation in national,
regional and international conferences, bears witness to a productive and
committed research milieu. Yet in this respect too, there are differences:
Schoenhals, Enkvist and Törnquist-Plewa stand out as particularly active
participants in the international scholarly community.
Internally at the section regular seminars bring scholars from the former
individual departments together in an effort to develop common intellectual
frames and potential projects. There are all reasons to believe that the
interaction between research communities with different traditions will be
productive.
The research quality of Comparative Literature is good; the research quality
of Film Studies is very good; the research quality of Foreign Literatures
and Area Studies is excellent.
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