331
Arctic Yearbook 2014
The third phase begins with the establishment of a Faroese scientific society (Societas Scientarium
Færoensis) in 1952. The society started a scientific journal in Faroese and organised a regular public
lecture series (Gaini 2002). In 1965, the University of the Faroe Islands was established. A modern
Faroese University was now a reality. A driving motivation behind this initiative was the idea that the
university should contribute to cultural nation-building (Marnersdóttir 2003), especially in light of
concerns that national identity was being eroded. A key element in this process was language. The
main emphasis was therefore to develop a Faroese dictionary, and to collect and document Faroese
language usage and traditions (Joensen 1988). The first academic employed was a professor in
linguistics (Joensen 1990). In this period the university offered BA programmes in Faroese and
history.
The fourth phase begins around the turn of the 21st century. The language battle was over and Faroese
was established as a national language taught in all schools from primary to university level
education. Today, the Faroese scientific journal, Fróðskaparrit, is over 50 years old, and Wikipedia has
over 10,000 articles in Faroese (Jacobsen 2014). In this phase, the purpose of the University is not
primarily cultural nation-building anymore, but also to be a major driver in the economic
development of the society (Fróðskaparsetur Føroya 2014). Having good quality higher education
available at a national level has been a major advantage for building up human capital and supports
the development