"Study" Abroad

For those of you starting to wonder whether I'm really on a four month long vacation...I'm not. Here is a quick run-down of the classes that I'll be taking this semester.

Positive Psychology - This is my "core course" at DIS which involves two study tours (one to Western Denmark and a longer one to Madrid). The professor is a self-employed executive coach and consultant in the combined field of positive psychology and design thinking. I'm not quite sure what this means yet although I do know that he works closely with the LEGO corporation which is pretty cool. Denmark is consistently rated one of the happiest places in the world so it seems like a fitting place to study the science behind happiness and well-being.

Danish Language and Culture - Pretty self-explanatory, however after being here for only a week I can already tell you that Danish and I are not going to get along - they have nine different vowels. I have to introduce myself in Danish in class tomorrow and have been practicing with some of the Danes that live on my hall so hopefully I won't butcher it too badly. For the cultural component of the class we have already had a cafe night (free dinner and wine!) and explored a Danish supermarket.

Hans Christian Andersen and the Danish Golden Age - I wanted to take a few classes while abroad that I knew I wouldn't be able to take at Wesleyan and this one certainly qualifies. We will be reading around 30 fairytales by Hans Christian Andersen as well as parts of his diary and autobiography. It has been really interesting so far just realizing how many of the stories I listened to growing up were written by him. The best part about this class is that we are literally living in the middle of Hans Christian Andersen's world (he is everywhere here!) and the professor is very committed to using the city as our classroom. Last night we went to Tivoli, an amusement park and garden in the center of the city, to see a performance of Thumbellina in the Pantomime Theater and today we had a two hour walking tour to see places relevant to the author and time period.

The Psychology of Leadership - This class looks at the psychological and social processes that characterize effective leadership. The professor is big on group work (not my favorite) and field studies, but she brought us delicious pastries on the first day of class so I like her already.

Public Health Ethics - Maybe my favorite course so far, especially because we really have nothing like it offered at home. The class is co-taught by two Danish professors and will cover major issues in health politics and the ethical dilemmas surrounding prevention and health promotion.