Skip to content

Topics: Humanities

 Jana Rüegg has submitted her doctoral thesis at the Department of Literature, Uppsala University. Photo: Ute Rüegg

Small publishers increasingly important for translated literature

Over the period 1970–2016, small publishing houses became increasingly important for the publication of literature in translation in Sweden. More than ever, Nobel laureates are being published by relatively small independent publishers. A specialisation in translations often stems from a publisher’s personal interest in a language or geographical area.

An eye tracker underneath the screen recorded where on the screen the infant looked at a moment-to-moment basis while they watched several images containing faces together with several other objects. Credit: Nature Human Behaviour

Genes influence whether infants prefer to look at faces or non-social objects

Whether infants at five months of age look mostly at faces or non-social objects such as cars or mobile phones is largely determined by genes. This has now been demonstrated by researchers at Uppsala University and Karolinska Institutet. The findings suggest that there is a biological basis for how infants create their unique visual experiences and which things they learn most about.

Excavationsat the Neolithic site of Tell Qarassa in modern-day Syria. Credit: Jonathan Santana

Bioarchaeological evidence of very early Islamic burials in the Levant

A new study combining archaeological, historical and bioarchaeological data provides new insights into the early Islamic period in modern-day Syria. The research team was planning to focus on a much older time period but came across what they believe to be remains of early Muslims in the Syrian countryside.

Jenny Björklund, associate professor of literature and senior lecturer in gender studies at the Centre for Gender Research at Uppsala University

​Why mothers in novels leave their families

Mothers leaving their families is not a new theme in Swedish fiction. But the reasons for leaving have changed. It is no longer about lack of gender equality, instead, they feel suffocated by the nuclear family, by the children or simply by society’s demands to have children. That is one of the conclusions in Jenny Björklund’s research on why mothers in 21st century books leave their families.

Conspiracy theories characterise views in and about Europe

Conspiratorial narratives of internal disintegration and external threats affect views in the European Union and Europe to an increasing extent. Our trust in society is put to the test in crises when various groups are singled out as the villains. In extreme cases, this can inspire acts of terror. Researchers from Uppsala University are among those demonstrating this in a new book.

Carved chess pieces on a board of ebony, mother-of-pearl and inlaid silver in Philipp Hainhofer’s Pomeranian Art Cabinet (Berlin). Photo: Greger Sundin.

Parlour games 400 years ago – almost like today

In a new thesis from Uppsala University, art historian Greger Sundin studied 16th and 17th century games that have been preserved in princely collections for example. Right at the end of his work on the thesis, he and a colleague were able to solve an over 300 year old riddle about a game in the Augsburg Art Cabinet.

Swedish workers among Europe’s best-paid in late 1800s

In 19th-century Sweden, workers’ wages rose faster than in other European countries. By 1900, they were among the highest in Europe, and the steepest rise of all had been for those who earned least. This is shown by new research at Uppsala University: a study published in The Journal of Economic History.

Annika Windahl Pontén standing in front of a portrait of Carl Linnaeus.

Carl Linnaeus’s household laid the foundation for his scientific work

Without a wife and a well-functioning household, Carl Linnaeus would have had difficulty becoming the prominent scientist that he was. Mastering social codes, like clothing and hosting guests for dinners, was crucial for having a career in the 18th century. These are the conclusions of a recently defended thesis at Uppsala University.

Aristocratic family trees became scientific model

Before the French Revolution, family trees were reserved for the feudal upper classes, who used them to consolidate their social status. While feudalism broke down and family trees lost their old roles, the trees gained new functions as scientific models. This is shown by a new thesis in the history of science and ideas.

Megalith tombs were family graves in European Stone Age

In a new study published in PNAS, an international research team, led from Uppsala University, discovered kin relationships among Stone Age individuals buried in megalithic tombs on Ireland and in Sweden. The kin relations can be traced for more than ten generations and suggests that megaliths were graves for kindred groups in Stone Age northwestern Europe.

Large-scale whaling in north Scandinavia may date back to 6th century

The intensive whaling that has pushed many species to the brink of extinction today may be several centuries older than previously assumed. This view is held by archaeologists from Uppsala and York whose findings are presented in the European Journal of Archaeology.

The same psychological mechanism explains violence among Muslim and Western extremists

Why do some Westerners attack Muslim minorities and asylum seekers and why do some Muslims support and engage in terror against the West? New research suggests that the reasons for such extreme behaviour might be the same in both groups. The results have now been published in the European Journal of Social Psychology.

A Market of Murders: new thesis on 21st-century Swedish crime fiction

Why have Swedish detective stories become so immensely popular in our century? What murder motives and weapons are most common in the genre, and why? And is it true that Swedish crime fiction is characterised by social criticism? A new thesis from Uppsala University provides answers.

Dr. Helena Malmström conducting on-site sampling of bone matrial in a mobil sampling lab.

Modern humans emerged more than 300,000 years ago new study suggests

​A genomic analysis of ancient human remains from KwaZulu-Natal revealed that southern Africa has an important role to play in writing the history of humankind. A research team from Uppsala University, Sweden, the Universities of Johannesburg and the Witwatersrand, South Africa, presents their results in the September 28th early online issue of Science.

Archeologists at the vanguard of environmental research

The history of people and landscapes, whether natural or cultural, is fundamentally connected. Answering key historical questions about this relation will allow us to approach our most important environmental issues in novel ways. Today in the open access journal PLOS ONE archeologists present a list of 50 priority issues for historical ecology.

New results from the analysis of the remains of Saint Erik

The saint's legend speaks of a king who died a dramatic death in battle outside the church where he had just celebrated mass. But what can modern science tell us about his remains? A joint research project headed by Uppsala University now reveals more of the health condition of the medieval king Erik, what he looked like, where he lived and what the circumstances of his death were.

Terrorism is nothing new. Even Shakespeare was familiar with it.

There was no word for terrorism in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, but outbreaks of terrorist violence were frequent. In his new book on terrorism in history and literature, Uppsala University Professor of English Literature, Robert Appelbaum, documents the many ways terrorist violence was used, responded to, and written about in early modern Britain and France.

Researchers guardians of trust in biobank research

Do we trust biobank researchers? In a doctoral thesis from Uppsala University, medical doctor and bioethicist Linus Johnsson claims that we do: At least in Sweden. And since we do, researchers in turn have a moral responsibility towards us.

Ethical challenges of human brain simulation

One of the greatest challenges of modern science is understanding the human brain. Uppsala University’s Centre for Research Ethics & Bioethics (CRB) is part of the European Commission flagship initiative to simulate the human brain and will look at the philosophical and ethical implications of this.

Show more

Uppsala University - quality, knowledge, and creativity since 1477

Founded in 1477, Uppsala University is the oldest university in Sweden. With more than 50,000 students and 7,500 employees in Uppsala and Visby, we are a broad university with research in social sciences, humanities, technology, natural sciences, medicine and pharmacology. Our mission is to conduct education and research of the highest quality and relevance to society on a long-term basis. Uppsala University is regularly ranked among the world’s top universities.

Uppsala University

Dag Hammarskjölds väg 7
BOX 256, 751 05 Uppsala
Sweden

Visit our other newsrooms