About this course
This course is an integrated language and culture course where we explore the Danish language and life in Denmark through the special lenses of art, literature, and theatre. Serving as the ideal entry point for your studies abroad in Denmark, the course offers an introduction to the Danish language while also discussing important themes in Danish culture, the arts, and society. The course will help you navigate and understand your new environment, strengthening your sense of place and sense of belonging while studying abroad.
Our engagement with the arts in and outside the classroom will open up for discussions and provide insights into both the Danish language and Danish cultures, history, and politics more broadly. What can we learn about Danish traditions, values, beliefs, and conflicts through our exploration of literary, visual and dramatic works of art? Are there themes or stylistic traits that make Danish artists and authors distinct from others?
The language learning in the course will emphasize spoken everyday Danish, reading comprehension, and simple grammar, which will allow you to interact in basic ways with your local surroundings. The functional approach is evident both in classroom interactions, hands-on exercises, and experiential learning through field studies around Copenhagen and environs.
An important component of the course is your own observations of Danish society as you are studying abroad. As this is an integrated language and culture course, we explore how culture is reflected in language through expressions, concepts, and keywords. By openly and critically studying values, symbols, and dominant and marginalized narratives in Danish culture and history we will begin to understand how these continue to shape identities today. With Denmark as your case study, you will also develop your general ability to understand and study other cultures from an intercultural perspective.
Syllabus
Course note
As an alternative to this specialized section of Danish Language and Culture, DIS also offers a general Danish Language & Culture Level I course. The general course provides multiple perspectives on Danish society, history, and culture. Topics range from the Viking Age to the recent New Nordic Wave, Denmark under German occupation during World War II, Greenland and Denmark’s colonial past, the modern Danish welfare state, and concepts such as hygge, happiness, equality, and trust.
Read more about Danish Language & Culture Level I.
