To mark the 150th anniversary of New Iceland (Nýja-Ísland), a staff member of the Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies was invited to take part in a festive programme organised by the Department of Icelandic at the University of Manitoba on October 16th.

The programme was titled Sagnaskemmtun (Saga entertainment) and featured a series of guest lectures that addressed, among other topics, the history of the settlement of the Icelanders of the West at Lake Winnipeg (an area named New Iceland in 1875 when Icelandic immigrants arrived in Canada) and the creative arts of the Icelanders living abroad.

Branislav Bédi, project manager at the Árni Magnússon Institute and coordinator of Icelandic teaching at universities abroad, reported on his research into the motivations of Canadian students learning Icelandic at the International Summer School in Reykjavík, a tradition that was established many years ago.

Icelandic has been taught at the University of Manitoba since 1951. Today, the Department offers a BA-programme in Icelandic language and literature, which is available both on campus and online, and is popular among descendants of the Icelanders of the West as well as other students in North America.