Projects Supported
Since its reorganization in 2002, Norway House Foundation has granted numerous fellowships to Norwegian graduate students, made grants for Norwegian cultural activities and for educational seminars focusing on Norwegian–American educational and scientific projects.
Learn more about some of our grant recipients below.
Norway House Foundation Networking Events
The Norway House Foundation organizes three networking events annually for students and business professionals to get together and exchange ideas. In November 2024, the event occurred at the Norwegian Club in San Francisco with a presentation from Morten Hansen - The Race to the South Pole - Lessons in Leadership.
For information about the next event, contact bo.erlend@gmail.com
Cultural and Social Programs at the Norwegian Seamen’s Church in San Francisco
The Norway House Foundation supports the many cultural, educational, and social programs put on by the church. People new to the Bay Area and people who have lived here for many decades attend these events. Kudos to the staff and many volunteers
Bay Area Book Festival
Norway House Foundation has provided significant support for the Bay Area Book Festival since its inception in 2015. Through this support, we have been able to introduce more than a dozen authors to audiences across the Bay Area, averaging three to four authors per year.
Building Bridges Between Norway and UC Berkeley -
Liv Duesund
Since 1998, Liv Duesund has recruited Norwegian BA, MA, PhD, and postdoctoral students from Norwegian universities to study at UC Berkeley, developing research projects — including data collection in public schools near campus — in close collaboration with UCB faculty such as Hubert Dreyfus (Philosophy), Stuart Dreyfus (Mathematics), Jean Lave and Elliot Turiel (Graduate School of Education), and Trond Petersen (Sociology). These collaborations brought UCB professors to lecture and supervise research at the Universities of Oslo, Bergen, Trondheim (NTNU), and Tromsø.
Duesund also developed a Special Needs Education internship program spanning Berkeley's preschools and primary schools, in partnership with Berkeley Unified School District, and currently leads a research project on teachers' skillful coping with disruptive behavior in secondary and high schools, engaging student researchers in dedicated UCB research groups.
A major achievement was leading the establishment of the Peder Sather Center for Advanced Research, funded by eight Norwegian universities and a startup grant from the Research Council of Norway — later renewed for a second decade with a ninth partner, the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU).
Duesund has organized numerous workshops and conferences bridging Norwegian and UCB scholars on topics ranging from artificial intelligence and moral development to cultural identity and learning — including a seminar with filmmaker Terrence Malick. She currently co-leads UCB's Teacher Education and Learning program with Professor Trond Petersen through the Berkeley International Study Program.
In 2003, Duesund co-produced a two-part documentary with philosopher Hubert Dreyfus, From Novice to Expert, broadcast on NRK's Knowledge Channel.
Frameline, the San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival
Founded in 1977, the San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival, hosted by Frameline, is the longest-running, largest, and most widely recognized queer film exhibition in the world. In June 2026, we celebrated five decades of queer media at Frameline50, welcoming 50,000 attendees and over 600 filmmakers and industry professionals to the Bay Area. Now, we’re excited to kick off 50 more years (and beyond), starting with Frameline51 in 2027.
Hailed by the Telegraph as “the greatest soprano in the world,” Lise Davidsen has listeners flocking to hear her wherever she sings—a following that has only grown since her memorable Cal Performances debut during the 2024–25 season. Her return to Berkeley arrives amid a remarkable year for this singular artist, including her long-awaited role debut as Isolde in Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde at the Metropolitan Opera and Barcelona’s Gran Teatre del Liceu in two stunning productions created expressly for her, each rapturously received.
Here, she and recital partner James Baillieu—one of the leading song pianists of his generation—bring a program featuring works by Bach, Reger, and Richard Strauss alongside Wagner’s Tristan-imbued Wesendonck Lieder, all capped off with a glorious selection of traditional Christmas favorites sung in English, German, Italian, and, of course, Davidsen’s native Norwegian.
“The radiating, shimmering … overtones that halo her voice make [Davidsen] sound arrestingly powerful and visceral. You feel it as almost physical presence—pressing against your chest, raising the hairs on the back of your neck.”—The New York Times
This performance is made possible in part by the the Norway House Foundation.
