Kobenhavns Universitet (KU)

The various institutes and departments of KU are spread throughout the city and I confined my courses to Anthropology with some language and culture courses and one additional course from the Theology Faculty. The Danish culture course, offered every fall by the International Office, is very helpful. Professors from a variety of disciplines (e.g., history, architecture, art history, film, literature, law) present an overview of Danish history, thought and expression. It is very enjoyable, although I think the course title is somewhat misleading, or perhaps mistakes culture for haute coutre. The courses tend to be small, tend to be seminar style, so slacking on the reading it not really possible. The classroom is professional, but relaxed. The Anthropology Institute at KU is very progressive in its use of theory. This, combined with the presence of excellent visiting faculty, made my courses at KU's Anthropology Institute foundational to my anthropological education.

The way that the Anthropology students are graded at KU makes it easy for international students who will only be there for one year to get off a little easy, compared to US coursework. This is not to say that the material isn't rigorous enough, it certainly is. It might be nice to have some sort of final synthetic paper for those who have spent one year in the Antropology Institute, or similar departments and institutes.

Danish.

Get going! You have to be somewhat independant and resourceful at finding your own friends, and enjoy being somewhat anonymous. I came from a big public university, so I was used to being anonymous. On the other hand, the classes were small and fairly intimate, but do not expect anyone to baby you.

I travelled a lot! Lets face it, we go abroad to see things and meet people more than to learn. So, expect to spend a lot more on your travel than you do at home. I spent about the same on food, but that is because I ate very little. Food is of an excellent quality in Denmark, but expensive. Going out to eat... prohibitive! I spent more telephone services because I called my fiancee in Ireland and my family back in the US. Groenjordskollegiet was dirt cheap to live in, so I saved a ton there. I never really went out much in the US, as I was under 21. So, while in Denmark I spent much more at Studenterhuset.

It was very difficult getting to know people while living in Groenjordskollegiet. Few of the residents were students at KU, so there was no continuity of contact inside and outside of the classroom. Groenjords was also a considerable distance from downtown Copenhagen and the Anthropology Institute. I would rather have lived downtown with a Danish student as an apartmentmate.