Course Syllabus

 

 

Course Description

This course is an integrated language and culture course where we explore the Danish language and life in Denmark through the special lens of literature, visual- and dramatic arts. Serving as an advantageous entry point for your studies abroad in Denmark, the course offers an introduction to the Danish language while also exploring important themes in Danish cultures and society through art and fiction. The course will help you navigate and understand your new environment and its artistic dimensions, strengthening your sense of place and sense of belonging while studying abroad.

Our engagement with art and fiction in and outside the classroom will open up for discussions that provide insights into both the Danish language and Danish cultures, history, and politics more broadly. Are there themes or stylistic traits that make Danish artists and authors distinct from others? What can we learn about Danish traditions, values, beliefs, and conflicts through our exploration of literary, visual and dramatic works of art?

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 develop your ability to understand and study other cultures from an intercultural perspective.

Learning Objectives

• Acquire knowledge and understanding of Danish culture and society through the lens of art and fiction
• Ability to speak, read, and understand Danish on a basic level
• Gain an understanding of connections between language and culture
• Enhance intercultural awareness and critical reflection
• Develop a sense of belonging
  

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.

Faculty

Rasmus Hauge has an MA in Comparative Literature from Copenhagen University and a background in education from various companies and NGO's. Since 2019, he has has taught Danish as a Second Language in Copenhagen. 

 

Readings

Danish at DIS: A Sense of Belonging

Adriansen, Inge: “Summary Volume II”, Nationale Symboler i Det Danske Rige, Museum Tusculanums Press 2003 

Andersen, Hans Christian: ”The Gardener and the Noble Family”
https://andersen.sdu.dk/vaerk/hersholt/TheGardenerAndTheNobleFam_e.html?csrt=11017065150425337244

Anderson, Benedict: “Introduction”, Imagined Communities, Verso 1991 

Assmann, Aleida, "Memory, Individual and Collective," in Robert Goodin, and Charles Tilly (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Contextual Political Analysis, Oxford, 2006; online ed., Oxford Academic, 2 Sept. 2009 

Bang Foss, Kristian: Excerpt from Death Drives an Audi, Parthian Books, 2021, translated by Caroline Waight

Berman, Patricia G. "Picturing Denmark in the Golden Age" in In Another Light: Danish Painting in the Nineteenth Century (New York: Vendome Press, 2007) 92-132  

Elmi, Amina: Excerpt from Barbar, 2023, unpublished translation

Hilson, Mary: “The Nordic Welfare Model”, Introduction to Nordic Cultures, UCL Press, 2020

Hammer Stien, Hanne: "Choices that shape the future", Kunstkritikk, October 27, 2023

Jacobsen, Siri Ranva Hjelm. The Sea Letters (unpublished translation)

Jenkins, Richard: ”Everyday social democracy”, Being Danish: Paradoxes of Identity in Everyday Life,

Museum Tusculanum Press, 2012

Jensen, Carsten: Welfare, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2023

Jensen, Lars: "Postcolonial Denmark. Beyond the Rot of Colonialism?", Postcolonial Studies Vol. 18, No. 4, 2016

Jensen, Lars: "Danishness as Whiteness in Crisis", Whiteness and Postcolonialism in the Nordic Region, Routledge, 2016

Kramsch, Claire: “The Relationship of Language and Culture”

Kythor, Ellen: “Stereotypes in and of Scandinavia”, Introduction to Nordic Cultures, UCL Press, 2020

Langvad, Maja Lee: "Danskerloven" in Find Holger Danske, Borgen, 2016

Lidegaard, Bo: “Prologue”, A short history of Denmark in the 20th century, Gyldendal, 2009

Levisen, Carsten: "The dark side of the Danes? A semantic and discursive analysis of janteloven ‘the Jante Law’" in Cultural Semantics and Social Cognition, de Gruyter Mouton, 2017 

Løgstrup, Knud Ejler: "The fact which is the source of the silent demand" in The Ethical Demand, University of Notre Dame Press, 1997

Nordenhof, Asta Olivia: The Easiness and the Loneliness, 2018, Open Letter

Rauhala, Emily: "How progressive Denmark became the face of the anti-migration left", The Washington Post, April 6, 2023

Risager, Karen."The Concept of Culture: An Introduction." Language and Culture: Global Flows and Local Complexity, Bristol, Blue Ridge Summit: Multilingual Matters, 2006

Stangerup, Henrik: The Man Who Wanted to be Guilty, Marion Boyars Publishers, 1991

Söderquist, Anna Strelis: "Introduction" in Kierkegaard on Dialogical Education, Lexington Books, 2016

Thisted, Kirsten: "Blame, Shame, and Atonement: Greenlandic Responses to Racialized
Discourses about Greenlanders and Danes", Journal of Critical Mixed Race Studies, Vol. 1, No. 2, 2022

Østergaard, Uffe. “Danes.” Ethnic Groups of Europe : An Encyclopedia. Edited by Jeffrey E. Cole, and Jeffrey E Cole, ABC-CLIO, LLC, 2011, p. 103–107 

 

Visual media:

Ehlers, Jeanette: "Manifesting Black Resistance", Louisiana Channel, 2023

Ehlers, Jeanette: "Black Magic at the White House", 2009

Ivínguak` Stork Høegh: https://www.nuukkunstmuseum.com/en/behind-the-art/ivinguak-stork-hoeegh-b-1982/

Ingeborg Topsøe og Per Fly: "Secrets We Keep", Netflix, 2025

Korneliussen, Niviaq: "To be a Greenlander", Lousiana Channel, 2020

Solvognen: "Julemandshæren"

 

Course Resources

 Audio Files and Online Worksheets

In the Canvas course, Danish at DIS, Worksheets, Media and Guidelines you will find audio files and online worksheets that you can use to practice vocabulary, phrases, pronunciation, and grammar throughout the semester. In your textbook 'Danish at DIS - A sense of belonging', the texts with complementary audio files are marked with a headphone symbol and a QR code. 

Online Dictionary: Ordbogen.com

DIS has a subscription to Ordbogen, a Danish-English/English-Danish online dictionary. You are able to access this dictionary via this link

A good resource for help with pronunciation is: ordnet.dk

 

Course Format

12 weekly class sessions are scheduled throughout the semester. 

Learning a new language is a process that requires persistency. To support continuous acquisition of language skills, group work or individual independent class work in Danish is assigned.

Long class sessions serve to support academic focus and enable us to complement our work in the classroom with activities in other locations, thereby extending class topics and discussions to concrete experiences with art and culture in Denmark. 

An oral exam in Danish takes place in session 12.

During the course, each student will be part of a group presentation called Artwork of the Week. This is a chance to present af piece/work of Danish art (in any medium) that has caught your interest and sparked curiosity. Your presentation will count as your Cultural Assignment 1.

 

Field Studies 

In this course we have one field study and a seminar night. 

Our field studies serve as an opportunities to engage with the other students and class relevant topics in a different way. For time and details, see the calendar.  

 

Approach to Teaching and Expectations of the Students

The teaching style of this class is interactive. You are expected to actively participate in class discussions, to have done the readings and other homework, and come to class with notes, questions and relevant observations.

Engaged participation is an integrated part of class and will be a large part of the course evaluation. Participating in class discussion requires a high level of preparation and a voluntary contribution of knowledge and ideas. You are expected to actively participate in class discussions and other activities in every class and to engage respectfully with your fellow students. 

When in class, we do not just go over what is in the assigned text; we take it elsewhere, with additional information and discuss and analyze issues concerning the topic of the day and course in general. It is therefore important you read the assigned texts thoroughly, take notes, reflect on differences and similarities compared to you own culture and bring comments and thoughts to class in order for all of us to have fruitful discussions and create an inspiring and vibrant classroom.

Keep in mind that learning a new language requires curiosity and commitment. When learning a new language, mistakes are inevitable, so we share the ambition of maintaining a classroom culture in which everyone feels at ease talking in a new and unfamiliar language.

To aid your learning process and class dialogue, use of computers and phones are not allowed in the classroom or during course related activities, including group work, unless you have accommodations or if devices are part of class work. Failure to comply will affect your participation grade.

Use of AI is only permitted for pre-writing purposes and should always be referenced and used with critical awareness on your part.

 

Absence policy 

Due to DIS policy, Academic Support at DIS will be notified if you miss two classes (or more) due to unexcused absence. Academic Support will also be informed if you are consistently late to class or absent during sessions on multiple occasions. Always reach out to your faculty before class about your absence. Repeated absence will affect your participation grade. 

What to do if you miss a class: You are expected to do all preparations for all classes, also classes you miss. If you miss a class, reach out to another student from class to hear if you can see their notes.

 

The syllabus is subject to change