Academic resources and support

Academics at DIS

The DIS academic model

We’re proud to have built a high-quality, innovative, study abroad experience that combines high-level classroom academics with learning in the field and hands-on development of transferable skills.

Our academic model, get out and explore

Get out and explore

You study abroad for a reason: to learn in a new location.

We believe a study abroad program should lean into its location through place-based learning. DIS courses go beyond the typical classroom walls and venture out to explore the city, Scandinavia, and broader Europe, making the most out of your academics abroad.

All of your courses will journey on Field Studies around Stockholm or Copenhagen, where your faculty bring you to research labs, local businesses, non-profit organizations, and other relevant sites to speak with experts and decision-makers in the field.

Code of Student responsibility

Build your unique study abroad experience

Your classes at DIS will prioritize interactive learning and the free exploration of topics.

You have the freedom to select any combination of courses and build a schedule that works for you, whether that means diving deeply into a single field or exploring a wide variety of subjects.

Expect your classes to offer a hands-on approach with open discussions, case studies, conversations with experts, and projects to demonstrate your skills and understanding.

Our academic model, Inclusive academics, designed for everyone

Ambitious and inclusive

A study abroad experience should be available to all students, no matter their circumstance or background. This includes access to a style of learning that works for everyone.

We embrace a universal design for learning, so that we meet each student’s academic needs and reduce hurdles to learning.

Our academic model, learning by doing.

Learning by doing

Your DIS courses offer you the chance to put theories to the test and learn through experience.

You can put your medical or psychological knowledge to practice within a clinical setting. Develop, pitch, and build your own startup from scratch. Role play as a European nation in the midst of strategic negotiations. Build code to analyze real-world datasets and generate novel insights and visualize them.

These active learning experiences help you to improve practical, transferable skills, expand your professional knowledge, and build an international network.

Illustrating Science

DIS academics by the numbers

340+

courses

80+

disciplines

40+

Study Tour locations

10:1

student-to-faculty ratio

How we talk about learning

While exploring our courses, you might see some terms that you don’t recognize. These are just a few of the concepts that make up our unique academic experience.

Europe as your classroom
on Study Tour

Travel with your faculty and classmates to visit academically relevant locations and explore Europe through the lens of your course.

Learn more about Study Tours.

Put your skills in action

We offer a wide range of courses designed to help you develop transferable skills and techniques to bring from the lab, workplace, or studio back home.

Our academic model, dive into research abroad.

Dive into research abroad

Take advantage of the unique opportunity to join a lab or research group abroad, allowing you to collaborate with local researchers, take part in a project, and train your skills with a mentor.

Research Assistantships embed you within an active research project, while lab courses give you the chance to apply classroom learning and develop your lab and research skills.

Semester Learn about our lab and research opportunities.

Summer View the Labs, Research, and Practicums Summer Session.

Our academic model, put classroom learning in action.

Bring classroom learning into the field

Joining a practicum gives you the special opportunity to enter into a local organization and get professional experience while using your classroom learning in a new context.

Practicum opportunities include several topics and feature the chance to work with a local startup, teach in a school, or join in a local psychology clinic.

Semester View all practicum courses on the Course Finder.

Summer View the Labs, Research, and Practicums Summer Session.

Our academic model, hone your technical and artistic skills

Hone your technical and artistic craft

Workshops and studio courses are the perfect chance to develop your craft, receive expert feedback, and build up your portfolio.

Your options range from songwriting and music production to graphic design and architecture to textiles, creative writing, photography, and beyond.

Semester
Explore all workshop and studio options on the Course Finder.

Summer
Visit the Architecture & Design Session and Furniture Design Sessions for an overview of all summer studio courses.

Our faculty teach what they do

Most of our faculty work as professionals in the areas they teach. They bring more than just an academic perspective. They also bring practical knowledge, personal stories from the field, and subject expertise honed through their work experiences.

Jan Mulder

Jan Mulder is a neurobiologist and researcher at Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. He leads a research team working across many specialties, from molecular biology and microscopy to computer science and data visualization with the goal of mapping every single protein in the human brain as part of the Human Protein Atlas project.

Jan hosts DIS Research Assistants within his lab each semester and loves to bring research to life.

Milosz Cordes

Milosz Cordes spent nine years working as a diplomat for Poland in several European countries and within the European Union ecosystem. He also has years of experience as a film photographer, shooting, developing, and scanning his own photos.

In his courses on European politics, Milosz combines his insider political knowledge with photography, giving students film cameras with which they explore the cities they travel to and how physical space matters within international relations.

Silvia Dragomir

Silvia Dragomir is an architect, urban planner, and advocate of Cities for People. With a focus on sustainability and climate change mitigation, Silvia owns her own architecture firm in Copenhagen and has contributed to projects in the U.S., UK, Romania, and throughout Denmark.

In her courses, you experience Copenhagen as a design model for urban transit, sustainable development, and adaptive responses to climate change.

Iwo Nord

Iwo Nord is a researcher and educator in gender studies and a founding member of Trans Fest Stockholm, an activist collective within the Swedish capital. He works to build and strengthen transgender studies in both the Nordic region and in the former Yugoslav space.

Iwo pairs activist and academic backgrounds, emphasizing intersectionality and a variety of perspectives when teaching. He loves to facilitate nuanced conversations in the classroom, where students are encouraged to challenge thinking habits and embrace change.

Academic resources and support

At DIS, you have all the learning resources you might typically expect at your home school, including a fully-stocked library, a Student Hub where you can gather to work together with classmates, and a dedicated Academic Support Team to assist you.