Program Overview

The advantages of the DIS program are the opportunity to study with a geographically diverse group of students from across North America and other countries, attend a broad spectrum of courses taught in English, and experience continental European life in the clean, safe and humane city of Copenhagen.

Denmark's International Study Program (DIS), was founded in 1959, is affiliated with the University of Copenhagen and is financially supported by the Danish Government. Unlike programs in other European institutions, it is organized along the lines of an American university, with course credits, semesters, and instruction in English. Faculty are mostly Danish but many have spent time at North American universities. Students come from Universities across the United States and Canada, as well as from Central and Eastern Europe, Russia, China and of course, Denmark.

Typically, DIS offers over 80 courses each semester, organized into the following academic programs:

• China Studies
• Communication Across Cultures
• European Culture and History
• European Politics and Society
• International Business and Economics
• Marine and Environmental Biology
• Medical Practice and Policy
• Migration and Minorities in Europe
• Molecular Biology and Biotechnology
• Psychology and Child Development

A unique feature of DIS courses is a strong emphasis on field studies. Each Wednesday is devoted to site visits in and around the Copenhagen area, taking advantage of cultural, political and economic institutions that provide students with hands-on experience to enhance course content. In addition, during a mid-semester two-week break, DIS offers study tours, appropriate to the focus of each program, to locations such as Greater Denmark, Sweden, Berlin, Russia, Brussels, Amsterdam, and Frankfurt where students meet with leaders in political institutions, universities, multinational companies and visit cultural and historical sites.

DIS is located in the medieval heart of Denmark's capital, Copenhagen, a city of one and half million. DIS occupies a now modernized and restored building, originally constructed in 1798, that contains administrative offices, a reference and study library, student lounges, computer labs (providing free email and Internet access), an academic advising center and some classrooms. Other classrooms are held in University of Copenhagen buildings located nearby.

Copenhagen is a vibrant city of strolling pedestrianized streets, outdoor cafes, jazz clubs, ethnic restaurants, museums, historic cathedrals and castles. Danes are famous for their sense of design, gourmet combinations of food and drink, and humane politics. Denmark has a foot in many camps: it is part of Scandinavia yet occupies a central position on the mainland of continental Europe; it faces both the Baltic and the North Sea, straddling an East-West cultural axis. A small country of just over 5 million, it makes no pretense to dominate by military or economic means, but rather seeks to lead through the advancement of cultural values of tolerance and empathy for others. Danes have been major supporters of United Nations efforts to bring peace to warring countries and exceeds the United States in overseas development aid on a per capita basis. Lively debates about world affairs can be anticipated in coffee houses and around kitchen tables across the country.

Students attending DIS have a number of housing options. Many stay with host families who often become life-long friends. Alternatively, students may stay in a Kollegium, a student cooperative similar to a residence hall, but with more individual autonomy.

DIS is a University of Delaware study abroad program and this has a number of advantages: admission is made by a UD committee, any scholarships or financial aid may be applied to DIS tuition and housing expenses, and all courses transfer to University of Delaware programs.

General Information

Language: English is widely spoken by Danes throughout Copenhagen and you will have no difficulty interacting with people you meet or with your host family, if that is your choice. In addition, all DIS courses are taught in English. You may wish to take a Danish course as part of your program, but it is sometimes hard to practice on Danes because invariably they will reply in English.

Visas and Passports: Both are required. As part of the admissions process, you will apply for a Danish residence visa that will allow you access to the Danish government national medical insurance program.

Transportation: As part of your housing fee, DIS will provide you with a monthly transit pass. Copenhagen, and Denmark as a whole, has a dense and highly efficient network of buses and trains that allow easy movement around the city. In addition, many Danes use bicycles along well-defined bike paths for short urban trips. Inexpensive used bikes can be purchased in Denmark and resold, often at no loss, upon departure. DIS organizes several two-day bike tours to various parts of the country.

Copenhagen is also central to many other European destinations that can be reached via ferries and express trains.

Housing: Students who choose a home stay with a Danish family can expect the kind of experience that is at the core of studying abroad. Being part of the daily life of a foreign family, learning its habits, sharing its daily concerns, household chores and festive moments, getting involved in dinner conversations and arguments - in brief, experiencing a foreign culture from the inside instead of observing it from the outside - will give you incomparable personal and intercultural insights and skills. And, it's a two-way street. Families, very carefully chosen by DIS staff, sign-up to be host families because they believe in the kind of intercultural exchange that occurs when having a foreign student living with them.

An alternative to the home stay is the Kollegium, a European-type student residence hall. You will have your own room and bathroom and share a kitchen, along with cleaning responsibilities, with about 15 other students, mostly Danish. Kollegiums do not have dining halls so you have to plan and cook your meals and shop for food, often cooperatively with others in your hall. Unlike the home stay option, the Kollegium fee does not include meals.

In either case, most families and Kollegiums are located in the quiet, green suburbs of Copenhagen and you should expect an average 30-60 minute commute to DIS in central Copenhagen. The cost of local transportation is included in the housing fee.

Social and Cultural Programs: DIS organizes a number of excursions, bike trips, and overnight trips to Oslo and southern Sweden in addition to more formal study trips during the mid-semester break. A DIS-sponsored men's and women's soccer club plays in local leagues and basketball is also offered. The DIS Film Club screens movies on Sunday afternoons and an American minister meets regularly at DIS with the "Students of Faith" group. Finally, DIS arranges social activities throughout the year, including arrival and farewell parties, a Danish Christmas luncheon, a picnic in the former royal hunting grounds, and a Danish-style Mardi Gras (Fastelavn).

Orientation: A very well-organized week-long excursion begins each semester, greeting students at the Copenhagen airport, introducing them to host families or the kollegium, providing a crash course on survival Danish, culture and customs, outlining the nature of the academic program and its opportunities, and offering a walking tour of the city of Copenhagen.

Travel to Denmark: Relatively inexpensive flights have been arranged by DIS through STA Travel. Direct flights from Copenhagen via SAS leave from Newark, NJ. Students may also make their own flight arrangements. The cost to travel to Denmark is not included in the fees to attend DIS.

Courses

Requirements and Admission

University of Delaware students who are juniors or seniors may apply to the DIS program for either semester or for a full year. A minimum overall grade index of 3.0 is required to be considered. Students considering beginning study at DIS in the fall semester should apply by the previous March 1st; and for study beginning in the spring semester, by the previous September 30.

An application form is available from the UD Semester in Copenhagen coordinator, Dr. Peter Rees. The application process requires completing the form, obtaining two letters of recommendation from University of Delaware professors who have knowledge of your academic work, and an official UD transcript. An interview will then be arranged with the admission committee to discuss your background, interest and suitability to study in the DIS program.

Upon acceptance, a series of additional forms and visa application will need to be completed.

At the completion of the program, DIS will send an official transcript to the University of Delaware Records Office. This transcript will be kept on file and an official copy provided whenever you request a copy of your regular UD transcript. All DIS courses taken transfer to the University of Delaware, however, grades received while studying at DIS do not contribute to a student's overall UD grade point index. Students studying at DIS remain matriculated in good standing at the University of Delaware.

Costs and Scholarships

Students pay the costs of attending DIS set by that program. There is no out-of-state/ in-state difference. Tuition and fees are published each year in the DIS Catalog and posted on the DIS website. For 2006/2007, the fees are as follows:

Comprehensive Tuition Fee
One semester (fall or spring): $11,175
Second semester of an academic year: $8,390

Includes:

• Full Tuition
• Free use of textbooks
• Study tours to Europe and Denmark
• All field study events
• Academic counseling
• Use of library and computing facilities
• Comprehensive medical, accident and liability insurance
• Pre-departure materials
• Extensive orientation program in Copenhagen
• Student bank account set up upon arrival
• Pick-up at the airport upon arrival
• Cultural and social events

Housing
One semester (fall or spring): $3,500
Second semester of an academic year: $3,500

See DIS Catalog for full list of what is included, but note that the family stay includes meals while the Kollegium and Danish Roommate stay does not. However, for these latter two programs, a $400 per semester stipend in Danish Kroner is provided.

A new housing option is renting a room in an apartment owned by a Dane. This Danish Roommate stay provides your own room as well as bathroom and kitchen access. DIS carefully screens Danish roommates just as is done in the selection of Danish families.

A refundable $200 damage deposit is required for all types of DIS-arranged housing options.

Scholarships
DIS offers the following on an academic merit/financial needs basis:

• Various scholarships ranging in value from $500-$2000 each semester
• $400 work-study scholarships

Students intending to apply for scholarships should plan on applying to the program well in advance of the deadlines listed above.

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