HRVK0007FU Aspects and Contexts of Danish Society: An Exercise in Cross-Cultural Studies

Aspects and Contexts of Danish Society is a course in English designed to introduce international students to many of the ideas and concepts, past and present, that have influenced the formation of Danish society (and Scandinavia) and to consider them from a variety of angles.

The course will explore numerous aspects of life and society in Denmark and will look at how they may be studied and understood. The topics include early mythology in Scandinavia, society in the Viking Age, the Reformation in Denmark, central Danish thinkers, the relationship between Church and state in Denmark, the status of minorities in Denmark, social controversies and images of the Danes.

At the same time as learning about the history and present situation of aspects of Danish society, students will be encouraged to consider the phenomena they are presented with from a comparative and cross-cultural angle and to reflect upon how ideas and belief systems can shape basic social and political institutions. We will pay particular attention to the ways in which Danish assumptions may differ from those of the students’ home cultures and the manners in which we can study and analyse them.

Students will learn how to discuss and analyse phenomena in societies in a way that is well-informed, rigorously critical, and responsibly engaged. The course investigates the ways human societies construct practices, seek meanings, and pose questions about their life worlds. These investigations may be informed by anthropological, sociological, cultural, and/or historical perspectives.