In 1961, Barth was invited to the University of Bergen to create an anthropology department and serve as the chair. This important and prestigious position gave him the opportunity to introduce British-style social anthropology to Norway. The only other existing anthropology program, at the University of Oslo, was older and connected to the university's ethnographic museum (now the Museum of Cultural History). It was based in Victorian folklore and museum approaches. By founding the department at Bergen, Barth hoped to create a modern, world-class department with an approach similar to those found in England and the United States.