Dr. Ulf Jonas Björk will speak to The Whiteside Forum on Sunday January 26, in Morrison, on the topic of "Scandinavian Cultural Highlights and the Secret to Happiness." Professor Björk is the visiting professor of Scandinavian Studies at Augustana College in Rock Island. The Nordic countries rank high in United Nations rankings of happiest nations. How can people be happy with very cold weather, limited sunlight and high taxes? Let’s find out.

“Prof. Björk taught journalism at Indiana-Purdue in Indianapolis for 35 years, earning five excellence-in-teaching awards. His research has focused on the Swedish immigrant press in the United States and on the presence of U.S. media and popular culture in Sweden. He is the co-author of two books and single author of numerous journal articles and book chapters and has collaborated with colleagues in Sweden, Finland, Canada and Germany on various research projects. In 2012, he was the Fulbright Distinguished Scholar in American Studies at Uppsala University in Sweden. Dr. Björk has been a member of the advisory committee for the Swenson Swedish Immigration Research Center at Augustana for more than 20 years.”

The Whiteside Forum will host this presentation with Q&A on Sunday January 26, 2025 in the Community Room of the Odell Public Library starting at 2:00pm. The library is located at 307 S. Madison St. Morrison, IL and all Forum events are free and open to the public. Please join us!

For more information about this event or The Whiteside Forum, contact Marc Adami by text at 815-718-5347 or email marcadami53@gmail.com.

The Whiteside Forum, established in 1985, is a nonpartisan, not-for-profit community group which sponsors presentations and discussions of issues of importance and interest to the public. Issues chosen for conferences have an international dimension as well as local interest and importance. The organization is supported entirely by individual, special and business contributions and all events are free and open to the public