University of Copenhagen

This course is an introduction to the burgeoning field of philosophy of psychiatry. Against a solid historical background, the course sets out to present, examine, and discuss concepts fundamental to our understanding of mental illness (mind, body, self, person, rationality, emotion, normality/disorder), the meaning of psychopathology, the relationship between biology (genetics, evolutionary biology, and neuroscience in particular) and subjectivity, and the question of therapy (the values and norms of well-being).

The course deals with particular aspects of Egypt’s archaeology, history, and social history, from Prehistoric to Islamic periods. It draws on archaeological knowledge from the material remains, such as architecture, burials, and pottery in their social and archaeological context to reconstruct social and political history, development of hierarchy, power and ideology. Through Egyptology, it combines textual sources with material remains in the construction of various aspects of ancient culture: social and political history, art and architecture, and religion. The course also introduces the theory and methods of archaeology and Egyptology to discuss the sources of information and how they can be approached.

This course provides a broad and coherent understanding of sediment transport, geomorphological processes, coastal deposits, and landforms in coastal environments. It builds an understanding and appreciation of coastal development over both short and long time spans and how (and why) changing boundary conditions (climate change; sea level change) affect these landscapes in the long term. This includes an appreciation of risks related to climate change along with possible adaptation strategies and measures. Topics include waves and currents; erosion and transport of sediments; beach and shoreface morphology; conceptual morphological models; stratigraphy and formation of coastal landscapes; beach erosion/accretion; coastal response to changes in sea-level, sediment supply and climate change.

This course covers multiple linear regression and least squares methods; generalized linear models; survival regression models; nonlinear effects and basis expansions; parametric, semiparametric, and nonparametric likelihood methods; and aspects of practical regression analysis in R.

This is an individual study project. Students must have a well thought-through idea of the theme of the study. A faculty teacher is appointed as supervisor, and an agreement is signed between the student and the teacher describing the title, contents, and ECTS credits of the study. A supervisor normally meets with the student between two and four times to discuss the progress of the individual study, or any problems encountered. Most supervisors also choose to read and comment on parts of the study. Students applying to do an individual study must submit a detailed project description with their application. Exams for Individual Study Projects may be oral, written or a combination of the two. This version of the course is worth 12 quarter units and corresponds to a workload of 412 hours. 

This course takes a comprehensive look at the challenges and dynamics of "Arctic" issues and relations. The course is structured in four thematic parts: what’s going on and the Arctic now and then; ways of analyzing what’s going on in the Arctic; what the Arctic is a region of; and global issues/arctic particulars. While the first part establishes the basics in terms of geography, states, institutions, and current political developments in an empirical way, the remaining three parts use theoretical approaches from international relations and neighboring disciplines to look at these political dynamics. The second part applies concepts and approaches from core international relations theories such as security dilemma, deterrence, interdependence, norms and rules, and securitization, while the third part deconstructs the idea of the Arctic as a region and understands how it is instrumentalized for a number of purposes, drawing on constructivism, post-structuralist, and critical geopolitics. The last part takes a cross-cutting look at three globally relevant and salient issues – post-colonialism and decolonization, feminism and gender, and climate change and the Anthropocene – to understand their relevance and particularity in the Arctic in a way that seeks to go beyond the state-focused approaches. As such, this course critically applies previous international relations theories and knowledge, but the final part also steps outside these theoretical approaches, and through the empirics of the course, ventures into texts and approaches from neighboring disciplines to gain other perspectives on the top of the world. The course necessitates curiosity about issues and concepts spanning military and strategic studies to post-colonialism and the notion than non-humans can also be analytically central.         

This course deals with dating, mating, and close (intimate) relationships. Although other relationships such as family and friendship are addressed, the main focus is on adult romantic relationships. It discusses core concepts and frameworks of close relationships (attachment, interdependence, love); cycles of close relationships from stages of initial attraction (and underlying mechanisms) to relationship formation, maintenance, repair, and in some cases dissolution; important aspects of close relationships such as trust, commitment, satisfaction, and sacrifice; communication and interaction patterns, conflict, and the relationship’s social context; and dishonesty in romantic relationships and ongoing research. Throughout the course and more in-depth towards the end, it also addresses crucial contemporary matters such as cross-cultural differences and multi-ethnic couples; the LGBTQIA+ community; technology and online dating; and casual, short-term, and non-monogamous relationships. 

The course introduces basic theory and algorithms of machine learning. Topics include: supervised learning setting; unsupervised learning setting; concentration of measure inequalities; analysis of generalization in classification; algorithms; assumptions behind the algorithms taught in the course, their implications, and common pitfalls; and correlation versus causality. The course assumes solid math and programming skills, including knowledge of linear algebra, calculus, probability theory, discrete mathematics, and programming. 

This course focuses on twenty-first century U.S. fiction. It includes reading works from five to six authors for each section of the course. One half of the course focuses on twenty-first century transnational American fiction: texts that situate the United States at global scales (hemispheric, transatlantic, and transpacific), often with an emphasis on migration. The other half of the course focuses on twenty-first century U.S. fiction that raises and explores questions of selfhood, identity, and gender. Both parts of the course examine how the themes and forms of twenty-first century U.S. fiction relate to the changing identity of the nation, the state, and the self in today’s globalized world. 

This course introduces sociological perspectives on food and eating in everyday life, as well as key sociological concepts and theories with relevance for food and eating. It deals with topics such as the social significance of meals within the family and in institutional settings, identity and the meaning of food and meals, and food poverty. It also examines developments in meal patterns and how societal challenges such as climate change, risks, and health (including body weight management) are dealt with in ordinary food practices. Parallel to the focus on social aspects of food and eating, the course introduces theories of social practices and human action and key sociological concepts such as inequality, stigma, social class, gender, age, and social inclusions and exclusions.