Arctic Yearbook 2014 | Page 331

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