Holberg International Memorial Prize

The Holberg International Memorial Prize was established in 2003 by the government of Norway with the objective of increasing awareness of the value of academic scholarship within the arts, humanities, social sciences, law and theology, either within one of these fields or through interdisciplinary work. The prize was established in honour of Ludvig Holberg

Ludvig Holberg

Ludvig Holberg, Baron of Holberg was a writer, essayist, philosopher, historian and playwright born in Bergen, Norway, during the time of the Dano-Norwegian double monarchy, who spent most of his adult life in Denmark. He was influenced by Humanism, the Enlightenment and the Baroque...

and complements the Abel Prize

Abel Prize

The Abel Prize is an international prize presented annually by the King of Norway to one or more outstanding mathematicians. The prize is named after Norwegian mathematician Niels Henrik Abel . It has often been described as the "mathematician's Nobel prize" and is among the most prestigious...

in mathematics established in 2002.

The Holberg prize draws on the 200 million Norwegian

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

kroner Ludvig Holberg Memorial Fund, established on 1 July 2003 by the Norwegian Government. Responsibility for administering the Holberg Prize was given by the Government of Norway to the University of Bergen

University of Bergen

The University of Bergen is located in Bergen, Norway. Although founded as late as 1946, academic activity had taken place at Bergen Museum as far back as 1825. The university today serves more than 14,500 students...

. In turn the University of Bergen

University of Bergen

has established a Board of the Ludvig Holberg Memorial Fund and appointed an academic committee composed of prominent researchers from relevant academic fields and different universities. The Board of the Ludvig Holberg Memorial Fund awards the annual prize on the basis of the recommendation of the academic committee's evaluation of nominations submitted by scholars holding a senior position at universities and other research institutions within the academic fields covered by the prize.

The prize includes a cash award of 4.5 million Norwegian

Norway

kroner (EUR 570,000 or USD 800,000).

The prize is named after the Dano-Norwegian writer Ludvig Holberg

Ludvig Holberg

who excelled in all of the sciences covered by the award.

Laureates

Year	Laureate(s)	Institution	Citation
2004	Julia Kristeva Julia Kristeva Julia Kristeva is a Bulgarian-French philosopher, literary critic, psychoanalyst, sociologist, feminist, and, most recently, novelist, who has lived in France since the mid-1960s. She is now a Professor at the University Paris Diderot...	University of Paris University of Paris The University of Paris was a university located in Paris, France and one of the earliest to be established in Europe. It was founded in the mid 12th century, and officially recognized as a university probably between 1160 and 1250...	“for innovative explorations of questions on the intersection of language, culture and literature which inspired research across the humanities and the social sciences throughout the world and have also had a significant impact on feminist theory”
2005	Jürgen Habermas Jürgen Habermas Jürgen Habermas is a German sociologist and philosopher in the tradition of critical theory and pragmatism. He is perhaps best known for his theory on the concepts of 'communicative rationality' and the 'public sphere'...	University of Frankfurt	“for developing path-breaking theories of discourse and communicative action and thereby providing new perspectives on law and democracy”
2006	Shmuel Eisenstadt Shmuel Eisenstadt Shmuel Noah Eisenstadt was an Israeli sociologist. In 1959 he was appointed to a teaching post in the sociology department of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. From 1990 until his death in September of 2010 he had been a professor emeritus...	Hebrew University in Jerusalem	“for developing comparative knowledge of exceptional quality and originality concerning social change and modernization, and concerning relations between culture, belief systems and political institutions.”
2007	Ronald Dworkin Ronald Dworkin Ronald Myles Dworkin, QC, FBA is an American philosopher and scholar of constitutional law. He is Frank Henry Sommer Professor of Law and Philosophy at New York University and Emeritus Professor of Jurisprudence at University College London, and has taught previously at Yale Law School and the...	New York University New York University New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan... University College London University College London University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...	“for developing an original and highly influential legal theory grounding law in morality, characterized by a unique ability to tie together abstract philosophical ideas and arguments with concrete everyday concerns in law, morals, and politics.”
2008	Fredric Jameson Fredric Jameson Fredric Jameson is an American literary critic and Marxist political theorist. He is best known for his analysis of contemporary cultural trends—he once described postmodernism as the spatialization of culture under the pressure of organized capitalism...	Duke University Duke University Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...	“for outstanding contributions to the understanding of the relation between social formations and cultural forms in a project he himself describes as the "poetics of social forms".”
2009	Ian Hacking Ian Hacking Ian Hacking, CC, FRSC, FBA is a Canadian philosopher, specializing in the philosophy of science.- Life and works :...	University of Toronto University of Toronto The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...	“for his combination of rigorous philosophical and historical analysis which has profoundly altered our understanding of the ways in which key concepts emerge through scientific practices and in specific social and institutional contexts.”
2010	Natalie Zemon Davis Natalie Zemon Davis Natalie Zemon Davis is a Canadian and American historian of the early modern period. She is currently a professor of history at the University of Toronto in Canada. Her work originally focused on France, but has since broadened to include other parts of Europe, North America, and the Caribbean...	University of Toronto University of Toronto The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada... Princeton University Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....	“for being one of the most creative historians writing today, an intellectual who is not hostage to any particular school of thought or politics.”
2011	Jürgen Kocka Jürgen Kocka Jürgen Kocka is a German historian.A university professor and former president of the Social Science Research Center Berlin , Kocka is a major figure in the new Social History, especially as represented by the Bielefeld School...	Free University of Berlin Free University of Berlin Freie Universität Berlin is one of the leading and most prestigious research universities in Germany and continental Europe. It distinguishes itself through its modern and international character. It is the largest of the four universities in Berlin. Research at the university is focused on the...	“for effecting a paradigm shift in German historiography by opening it up to related social sciences and establishing the importance of cross-national comparative approaches.”

Holberg Prize Schools Project

Also awarded by the foundation is the Holberg Prize Schools Project. Students in upper secondary schools conduct their own research projects. Three finalists are selected from the entrants to receive the prize.

2006 Recipients

Bergen Handelsgymnasium
Bergen Handelsgymnasium
Bergen Handelsgymnasium is an upper secondary school in Bergen, Norway. Established in 1904, it is one of the oldest gymnasia in the country. Its architect was Jens Zetlitz Monrad Kielland, a nephew of the novelist Alexander Kielland....

: "Youth and school lunch. What do the students eat at school?"
Glemmen videregående skole: "Youth and Henrik Ibsen. What do today's young think of Ibsen?"
Levanger videregående skole: "Youth and exchange programs: What effects do a stay abroad have on a student's attitudes, behaviour and career choices."

Committee

The Holberg Prize Academic Committee is composed of four members:

Henning Koch, Professor of Law, University of Copenhagen
University of Copenhagen
The University of Copenhagen is the oldest and largest university and research institution in Denmark. Founded in 1479, it has more than 37,000 students, the majority of whom are female , and more than 7,000 employees. The university has several campuses located in and around Copenhagen, with the...

, Denmark
Stein Kuhnle
Stein Kuhnle
Stein Kuhnle is a Norwegian political scientist.He was born in Bergen as a son of Jacob R. Kuhnle. He was appointed professor of comparative politics at the University of Bergen in 1982. Among his works is Velferdsstaten from 1985, and in 1995 he was co-editor of a book on the theory of political...

, Professor of Comparative Social Policy, Hertie School of Governance, Berlin, Germany
Toril Moi
Toril Moi
Toril Moi is James B. Duke Professor of Literature and Romance Studies at Duke University. Previously she held positions as a lecturer in French at the University of Oxford and as Director of the Center for Feminist Research at the University of Bergen, Norway...

, Professor of Literature and Romance Studies, Duke University, Durham NC, USA
Turid Karlsen Seim, Professor of Theology, University of Oslo, Norway

Criticism

The prize has attracted some controversy. The award committee, which counts three Norwegians and one Dane, has been criticised for lacking full academic credibility internationally, notably by Jon Elster

Jon Elster

Jon Elster is a Norwegian social and political theorist who has authored works in the philosophy of social science and rational choice theory...

External links

The Holberg Prize website
Reactions, from the Norwegian researchers' association
Debate, from forskning.no
Jon Elster: Too much politeness, too little quality, about Norwegian academic life in general and the Holberg Prize in particular

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