• Language policy, sociolinguistics and linguistic diversity
• Linguistic landscapes and language visibility
• Nynorsk language and written culture
• Socio-onomastics
• Power and place naming; critical approaches to toponymy; place branding; onomastic capital
• Names and identity (including geographical names and personal names)
• Translation of Norwegian
• Modern and contemporary Nordic social, cultural and historical studies (especially links between Norway and Scotland from the 1800s to the present day)
• Memory studies

Dr Guy Puzey was appointed Lecturer in Scandinavian Studies at the University of Edinburgh in 2015 and Senior Lecturer in 2022. He first came to Edinburgh as an undergraduate student, graduating with first class honours in Italian and Scandinavian Studies in 2006. He went on to study for an AHRC-funded MSc by Research, which he was awarded with distinction in 2007. He then continued with AHRC-funded doctoral research on language policy in Italy and Norway, which he completed in 2011. Before taking on his current role, he was employed by both the School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures and the Office of Lifelong Learning (now the Centre for Open Learning) in a number of roles from 2006 to 2015.

His principal research interests concern the interactions between languages, politics and identity, particularly in the social and cultural contexts of Norway, Scotland and Italy.

Guy's doctoral thesis examined the political dimension of language activist campaigns in Norway (with the Nynorsk language) and Italy (with a focus on Lombard dialects). Guy has also carried out extensive work in the emerging field of linguistic landscape studies, focusing on the relative visibility of languages in public spaces. He has been consulted by policy‐makers and has participated in several externally‐funded research projects related to Gaelic language policy, applying his comparative European perspective to the Scottish policy context and collaborating with colleagues from the Celtic & Scottish Studies subject area.

In the field of socio-onomastics, focusing on the social implications of names and naming processes, Guy’s work deals with the links between power, identity and place naming, especially with regard to minority languages, but also in connection with renaming, place branding, and onomastic capital. He has engaged in collaborative research in these areas with colleagues from Australia, Finland, and Germany. He has also carried out work on psychological aspects of personal names.

Other research interests include connections between Norway and Scotland from the 1800s to the present day, especially during and after the Second World War, the social and cultural history of the Cold War era, and memory studies.

Guy is also a translator of Norwegian literature and contributes to Translation Studies programmes at the University of Edinburgh.

School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures (undergraduate courses)

• Communicating across the Scandinavian Languages (2022-present)
• Culture and Society in Twentieth-Century Italy (2009-10)
• Dynamics of Language and Power (2019-present)
• History of the Scandinavian Languages (2006-07; 2010-11; 2015-17)
• Introduction to European Theatre (2015-18)
• Nordic Languages: Diversity and Historical Developments (2022-present)
• Norwegian 1 (2012-20; 2022-present)
• Norwegian Language 2 (2013-14; 2015-21)
• Nynorsk Language and Literature (2015-present) (course organiser)
• Scandinavian Historical and Cultural Topics 2 (2012-13)
• Scandinavian Languages 2 (2013-14; 2015-22)
• Scandinavian Literature 2 (2012-13; 2015-present)
• Scandinavian Literature for Children and Young People (2006-09)
• Scandinavian Place-Name Studies (2007-09)
• Scandinavian Studies Language Paper 1 / Oral for Norwegian (2015-16; 2018-19)
• Scandinavian Studies Language Paper 2 (honours-level translation from Danish, Norwegian and Swedish) (2012-13; 2015-present) (course organiser)

School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures (postgraduate courses)

• Literary Translation as Creative Practice (2012-13)
• Minority Languages in Europe: Policy and Language Planning (2012-13; 2014-15)
• Translation Studies (2012-13; 2015-present)

Office of Lifelong Learning (now Centre for Open Learning)

• Norwegian 1 (2006-07; 2008-09; 2010-11; 2013-15)
• Norwegian 2 (2007-08; 2011-12)

• Will Wakely (MSc by Research in Scandinavian Studies, 2024-)
• Ashley Xing (PhD, 2023-)
• Emma Dussouchaud-Esclamadon (PhD, 2022-)
• Jeff Justice (PhD, 2022-)
• Joseph Wade (PhD, 2018-)
• Jamie Glisson (PhD, 2019-25)
• Rachel Rankin (PhD, 2020-24)
• James Konrad Puchowski (PhD, 2018-23)
• James Konrad Puchowski (MSc by Research in Scandinavian Studies, 2017-18)
• Anja Tröger (PhD, 2016-20)
• Anja Tröger (MSc by Research in Scandinavian Studies, 2015-16)