- Date Of Birth: November 26, 1942
- Date Of Death: August 21, 2011
- State: Indiana
Michael L. Berkvam, 68, died Sunday, August 21st, at his home in Bloomington. He was a professor emeritus of French literature at Indiana University. No one could know Michael very long without being made aware of his Norwegian roots. And woe to anyone who suspected him of being Swedish. When Michael’s ancestors came to this country, they took a new family name, Berkvam, from a railway station in one of the most beautiful areas in Norway.
From his forebears, Michael inherited a love of cold weather and northern climes and the spirit of adventure that marked so much of his career. Growing up in Eau Claire, Wisconsin also shaped Michael’s broad interests in international cultures, histories, and sports. He knew practically everyone in town, and it was there that he developed the interpersonal skills that made him such a deeply loved instructor, colleague and friend.
When Michael was a boy, the Boston Braves moved to Milwaukee. His love of baseball led to his becoming a radio announcer for WBIZ radio, broadcasting the Eau Claire Braves games. When Michael moved to Bloomington in 1971, he received a new lease on his baseball life by transferring his allegiance to the Cincinnati Reds, to whom he remained fiercely loyal throughout their thicks and thins. Football was another of Michael’s great enthusiasms, especially the Green Bay Packers.
One of his most cherished gifts from his wife, Mirka, was fifty-yard line seats for a bone-chilling game at Lambeau Field. Michael was educated at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota; the Sorbonne in Paris, France; and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Michael joined the French and Italian department at IU in 1971, following various teaching positions in France.
He served as resident director of the Indiana-Purdue Foreign Study Program in Strasbourg in 1984-1985 and as resident director of the summer program in Quebec in 1989-1990. Michael was a core member of the IU Honors College and was director of graduate studies in French literature from 1998 through 2003. He retired as a full professor in 2006. Michael was a sophisticated scholar and intellectual.
He was fluent in French and spoke several other languages. His research was supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Lilly Foundation. Michael was an author and made numerous contributions to exhibitions and catalogues at the Lilly Library. His academic focus was French literature, culture and history and the Enlightenment as well as the literature and cinema of the second half of the 20th century.
He was known as an energetic and imaginative creator of new courses. Among these were courses on women writers, French cinema, and French civilization, as well as a departmental introduction to literary analysis and civilization known as the civilization-culture series. Michael was a noted and beloved teacher, who took particular interest in his students. He had an exceptional capacity to challenge and engage them through his creative approaches to teaching and learning.
Not surprisingly, he was the recipient of numerous departments and campus teaching awards. Michael will be remembered for his generosity, his intelligence, and his wit. He was extremely well read and retained a wealth of knowledge. He was a wonderful conversationalist who enjoyed good company, a hearty laugh, and a bad joke. All of these qualities endeared him to his family, many friends, colleagues and students.
Michael will be missed by many and is survived by his wife Mirka; daughter Stephanie Dos Santos (of Paris, France); son David and his wife Rachel (of Portland, Oregon); step-daughter Inka Davis and her husband Kevin (of Chicago, Illinois); granddaughters Safia and Kiara Dos Santos (of Paris, France); his brother Mark and his wife Geri; and nephews, James and Christopher Berkvam (of San Carlos, California).
