Academia and Christiania

Hello everyone! It's been a while, so I will probably have to break this post up into several. I've had a few requests to discuss academics in Denmark, so I will try to spotlight that a little now. My mom is constantly asking if I am actually doing any work here or if I am just on vacation, since I'm traveling a lot. The short answer is that I am learning a LOT, both inside and outside the classroom, and this definitely isn't a slacker semester. Just like at Gettysburg, if you miss a day of doing work, you might be seriously behind and it can be difficult to catch up. General background on DIS: when you come to DIS you pick a program, for which there may be one or more core courses depending on which program you chose. My program is Biotechnology and Biomedicine (BB for short), so my core course is Medical Biotechnology and Drug Development. DIS really stresses experiential learning, so for your core course you will go on a short study tour (3-4 days) to either sestern Denmark, sourthern Sweden, or northern Germany. I already blogged about that (we went to Aarhus and Odense), as it was three weeks into the semester. Later you go on a long study tour with your program (6-7 days). Other programs went places such as France, Germany, Finland, Sweden, Estonia, Lithuania, Scotland, Turkey...my program went to London, where we learned a lot of the business aspect of biotechnology. It is really a unique experience to learn about something in a classroom and then see it in real life, especially when you are able to see that what you are learning applies internationally. Field trips are not limited to the core courses, though. Every class has one day "field studies", which are essentially the study tours in miniature (a few hours or a day rather than a few days). I think that the experiential learning is what makes DIS unique, and it has helped my personal learning curve skyrocket. I've been able to read Hans Christian Andersen stories, hear about his life, then go and see where he was born. I've heard all about Christiania, a free-town in Denmark, but then I was able to examine it with a critical eye with my Danish class. I've actively engaged with the Danish culture by being a screaming F.C. København fan during a match with their big rivals Brøndby. I have learned about Viking history and Nordic mythology, then seen archeological relics from that era. I have learned about cancer and spent time in the pathology department at Rigshospitalet trying to diagnose diseases. It has just been an amazing experience, and I have learned so much. I really wish that American universities would use this style of teaching more, because I think it makes a huge difference. Hans Christian Andersen once said "At rejse er et leve" ("To travel is to live"). I would suggest that this should be modified to "At rejse er et lære" ("To travel is to learn").
I mentioned before my long tour that my Danish class visited Chrisitinia, which I now have time to fully discuss. Christiania was born in 1971 when some squatters moved into recently abandoned military barracks. Before long, it became a large settlement which the government couldn't get rid of. Any attempts by police to remove people led to rioting, so the Danish government decided to treat it as a social experiment and let it be. The community has had a lot of trouble with drugs in the past, so they made a law banning hard drugs. They put a lot of work into helping junkies get over their addiction by buying a farm in northern Denmark where they were able to get rehabilitation services. Other laws of Christiania forbid private cars, violence, weapons, bulletproof clothing, sale of stolen goods, fireworks, and motorcycle gangs/paraphanalia. Interestingly, Christiania is mostly men, and a lot of the residents are older--leftovers from the hippie generation. Christiania is actively trying to get the Danish government to legalize marijuana (or hash as they call it here), and they openly sell it on the aptly named Pusher Street. Since there was a police raid while I was there, there were no hash sales going on, and everyone was a little on edge. There are stores within Christiania, as well as restaurants and coffee shops. They love organic food, and everything is very homegrown feeling. They produce bikes which are immensely popular (and also immensely expensive) in Copenhagen, which I will post pictures of.

We knew we were getting close when we saw this!

My Danish class entering Christiania

Art everywhere! There's a skateboarding ramp in there.

organic food at the restaurant/grocery store

one of the houses

police raid...riot helmets and all

Christiania bike...it has a giant bin in the front...like a wheelbarrow and bike in one

Where's Gandalf?

Christiania: You are my heart

Danish class treking back to the EU

Me in front of Christiania

I'm afraid that is going to have to be it for now. I still have to update on London and this past weekend (I went to Ribe, the oldest town in Denmark!), but that will have to come later. As I said, it's real school and the next two weeks I will be beyond swamped with exams, papers, and presentations. Hej hej!