Danish

This course first focuses on history and culture, starting with a brief historical view of Danish society since 1800. It then analyses culture both from a history of ideas perspective and by exploring Danish cultural values. The course thereafter takes an institutional approach to various sectors of Danish society, providing more in-depth descriptions of, among other things, the Danish political system, its labor market structures, welfare regime, education system, most important industries, civil society, and the relationship with the European Union. This version of the course also focuses on the international institutions in which Denmark is embedded and on the internationalization of the Danish economy and Danish firms. This entails a dual focus on internationalization and comparison with other countries and markets. The course comprises a student project work module where students do either a comparative study with a focus on a particular feature of Danish society, (e.g. elements of the business regime, welfare regime, labor market and their development) or an analysis of how a given Danish sector has been transformed by internationalization. 

The course explores different aspects of Danish culture such as literature, mythology, history, film, music, architecture, painting, the welfare state, and national identity. This course is a unique combination of lectures and excursions, which includes trips to the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art and Frederiksborg Castle. NOTE: This version of the course (50 A) represents the evaluation based on attendance only. It is worth 6 quarter units and is graded on a P/NP basis only.

The course explores different aspects of Danish culture such as literature, mythology, history, film, music, architecture, painting, the welfare state, and national identity. The course is a unique combination of lectures and excursions, which includes trips to the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art and Frederiksborg Castle. This version of the course (50 Q) is worth 12 quarter units and requires a 15-20 page individual research paper.

The course offers students “Danish Perspectives” to a wide range of fields within arts and the humanities. Students gain an overview of Danish history, but also Danish culture and cultural history. Throughout the course students discuss how one can describe the Danes as a people – while at the same time being critical as to whether it is possible to determine a people in such a stereotypical way at all. The student is given a general introduction to various perspectives of Danish culture ranging from literature, music, film and TV to the narrative culture of the Vikings, the Danish history of slavery and the perceived particularities of Danish identity and Nordic “exceptionalism”.

The first part of the course focuses on history and culture, starting with a brief historical view of Danish society since 1800. It then analyzes culture from two perspectives: the history of ideas in Danish society and Danish cultural value systems. This entails a brief introduction to key Danish thinkers and cultural movements and their political impact, and an introduction to Danish cultural values and the development and changes of such values over the last 30 to 40 years. The second part of the course takes an institutional approach to the Danish political system, including its labor market structures and education system, by descriptions of specific societal sectors, drawing on theory about institutional orders and business regimes. Continuing with the institutional approach, the third part of the course focuses more specifically on the business sector leading to a discussion of key industries and types of firms in the Danish economy.

The course explores different aspects of Danish culture such as literature, mythology, history, film, music, architecture, painting, the welfare state, and national identity. The course is a unique combination of lectures and excursions, which includes trips to the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art and Frederiksborg Castle. NOTE: This version of the course (50 B) is worth 6 quarter units and requires a 10-page paper.