Course Syllabus

Course Description

This course is an integrated language and culture course with a major focus on making sense of your study abroad experience through the method of personal storytelling. Studying abroad is a unique opportunity to undergo processes of inner transformation, if you make space for contemplation and deep reflection. This course will offer such a space, as we explore your new location abroad and the stories and values that have shaped our way of life.

We will co-create a supportive learning community rooted in mutual trust which will allow us to honestly reflect on meaning-making questions that inspire us. In our reflections, we will draw upon excerpts of writing by Danish storytellers and poets, but you will also be invited to engage in conversations with Danes during school visits, communal dinners and city walks to gain a more nuanced understanding of the stories and values that underpin everyday life in Denmark.

This course serves as an ideal entry point for your studies abroad in Denmark. Offering an introduction to the Danish language while also supporting a growing sense of place and belonging during you time abroad. Language learning focuses on spoken, everyday Danish, reading and listening comprehension as well as basic grammar, allowing you to interact in simple and practical ways in your local surroundings. This functional approach is reflected in classroom interactions, hands-on exercises, and experiential learning through field studies in Copenhagen and surrounding areas.

As an integrated language and culture course, we will examine how culture is embedded in language through common and distinctive expressions and concepts. We will also engage openly and critically with the values, symbols, and both dominant and marginalized narratives in Danish culture and history, exploring how these elements continue to shape identities today. An important part of this process will be your own observations of Danish culture and society during your study abroad experience. With Denmark as your case study, this course will enhance your ability to reflect on and engage with other cultures from an intercultural perspective.

Learning Objectives

• to acquire the ability to speak, read, and understand Danish on a basic level
• to gain an understanding of connections between language and culture
• to increase students’ level of self-awareness and enhance their capacities to engage in mutually committed communities
• to explore dominant values and narratives that underpin our societies and then enable students to consciously choose the values and narratives they want to embody
• to foster a mindset of lifelong learning guided by curiosity and creative grit

 

Faculty

Cand. mag. in Nordic Literature and French, Vice Consul at the Royal Danish Consulate of Ethiopia (2000). Educator at Novo Nordisk and Mærsk (-2006).  With DIS since 2006, full time faculty since 2010. Certified in True Storytelling 2023, Certified in The Inner MBA Program 2025. Areas of specialization: storytelling, postcolonial studies, social change and democratic education.

Readings

Hall, John A., Korsgaard, Ove and Pedersen, Ove K. (eds.): Building the Nation: N.F.S. Grundtvig and Danish National Identity, McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2015.

hooks, bell: “Teaching to Transgress – Education as the Practice of Freedom”, Routledge, New York 1994

Lidegaard, Bo: "Prologue 1849-1901". In: A Short History of Denmark in the 20th Century", Gyldendal 2009.

powel, john a. and Menendian, Stephen: “Belonging without Othering – How We Save Ourselves and the World”. Stanford University Press, California 2024

Viray, Sydnee and Nash, Robert J: “Our Stories Matter. Liberating the Voices of Marginalized Students Through Scholarly Personal Narrative Writing, Peter Lang, New York, 2013

Literary fiction (excerpts):

Absalonsen, Kalanguak: "K", Copenhagen, 2024 

Andersen, Hans Christian: "Complete Fairy Tales" (edition TBA)

Caspar Eric: "Crip"

 

Field Studies

Our field studies will be interactive and offer students opportunities to engage in conversations with Danish students who have been practicing personal storytelling, as well as Danish professors who teach personal storytelling in Denmark. 

Additionally, we will use Copenhagen as our class room during some of our class activities and assignments.

Please, see further information in Calendar. 

 

Guest Lectures

The sessions led by guest speakers will be interactive and focused on personal storytelling as a tool to gain agency. Guest speakers will offer minority perspectives on Danish culture and social issues. 

 

Podcasts

On Canvas, you can find podcasts that you can use to practice vocabulary, phrases, and pronunciation. In the textbook DIS DANSK, they are marked with a little headphone symbol. The podcasts can be found on Canvas under Danish Language Resources, Modules.

 

Ordbogen.com

DIS has a subscription to Ordbogen, a Danish-English/English-Danish online dictionary. Go to http://www.ordbogen.com/  and follow the instructions received by Ordbogen.com.

 

Approach to Teaching

This course will draw upon collaborative pedagogical approaches practiced in the Danish Folk High Schools. We will take our point of departure in Nicolai Grundtvig's concept of education as a pathway to joy of life. 

Students will be invited to make sense of their study abroad experience through personal storytelling - both in small storytelling circles and in written assignments. The approach to storytelling is inspired by indigenous storytelling practices and the research on 'Scholarly Personal Narrative Writing' by Robert J. Nash and Sydnee Viray.

DIS Accommodations Statement 

Your learning experience in this class is important to me.  If you have approved academic accommodations with DIS, please make sure I receive your DIS accommodations letter within two weeks from the start of classes. If you can think of other ways I can support your learning, please don't hesitate to talk to me. If you have any further questions about your academic accommodations, contact Academic Support academicsupport@dis.dk

Evaluation and Expectations for Students

The teaching style of our class is very interactive and rooted in a sense of mutual trust and responsibility. You are expected to prepare for each class by doing the assigned homework and to come to class motivated to engage wholeheartedly. 

Our approach to learning Danish and exploring personal storytelling will require that students are ready to adopt a mindset of curiosity and personal integrity, but also to maintain a generous, understanding and open attitude towards fellow students.

For a three credit course like this, DIS generally expect students to work an average of six hours per week outside of class per three hours in class. The six hours include the time students spend on assignments, tests, exams, field studies and seminar nights related to the class.

Grading

Assignment	Percent
Engaged Participation	30%
Cultural Assignments (1+2)	35%
Online Worksheets*	10%
Oral Exam	25 %
Total	100 %

 

*Online Worksheets are part of the final grading and can be accessed in the "Danish at DIS" Canvas course. Please see Guidelines and assessment criteria for worksheets.