My Study Abroad in Copenhagen

Studying abroad is an essential part of the Carleton experience. Typically about 70% of Carleton students participate in an off-campus studies program at least once in their four years. So I took full advantage when I had the opportunity to go to Copenhagen this Fall with DIS – the Danish Institute for Study Abroad.

Going to Copenhagen was a recommendation that I received from my elder Carleton friends who had previously participated in DIS. It was one of the best decisions I have made in my life. I embraced meeting new people in a new culture, traveling to new places, and gaining new perspectives, and I returned to Carleton enriched with incredible life experiences. 

Among the world’s happiest and most livable cities in one of the most egalitarian countries, Copenhagen was the perfect place for me to live and immerse myself in coursework that spanned my majors in Psychology/Political Science. I loved how my classes encouraged me to intimately know Copenhagen through field studies and incorporated travel to different parts of Denmark and the rest of Europe into our curriculum.

In my favorite field study, we met the architects of the Copenhagen Metro and discussed the innovative station design and the future of the city. On my class trip to Aarhus (Denmark’s second-largest city), I discovered my favorite museum, ARoS. I spent a week in London with my Cognitive Neuroscience of Creativity course, complete with engaging academic lectures and cultural immersion (think food tours, street art, museum visits, and afternoon tea).

The best of my class trips though was for Integrated Climate Change Planning. We went to Bordeaux, France, where Silvia (my beloved architect professor) had studied abroad. Her critical eye and insider insights made our visit to the forward-thinking, UNESCO World Heritage city super engaging and rewarding.

I had a week off from class which DIS gives you to explore on your own. What made my time abroad extra special was getting to visit some of my Carleton friends. One weekend I visited my alumni friend traveling Europe. I also went up to Stockholm to see my favorite senior on the baseball team when I was a first-year, now a graduate student at the prestigious Karolinska Institute. Then I visited my roommate, studying abroad in Barcelona before both of us headed over to Madrid. In Madrid, we stayed with two of our old friends and teammates who graduated last spring; both were teaching English in Madrid alongside a few of our other Carleton friends. My roommate also came to visit me later in the term in Copenhagen, and with my fellow Psychology major and Carleton friend at DIS, Maya, I traveled to the surreal island chain of Lofoten in the north of Norway. All were once-in-a-lifetime experiences that I am so grateful for.

Of course, my time abroad wouldn’t be complete without the friends I made. DIS comprised over 1200 or so students from various North American universities, and my dorm also housed other local Danish/international students. I am especially thankful for my roommates who both became my best friends during our four months of living together.

My Study-Abroad Courses:

• Transportation in Urban Europe
• Integrated Climate Change Planning
• Equality in Scandinavia: Developments and Challenges of the Welfare State
• Identity Lab: Transforming Prejudice, Discrimination, and Conflict
• Cognitive Neuroscience of Creativity

More pictures from my study abroad are attached below!

Kai is a junior excited to be back at Carleton after studying abroad in Copenhagen, Denmark. He is a Political Science & Psychology major and prospective Public Policy Minor from Charlottesville, Virginia. He loves working in the Lutsky Social and Personality Research Lab, volunteering for Project Friendship, playing piano at the Weitz, hanging out at Sayles, taking walks around the Lakes or in the Arb, and pitching/playing infield for the baseball team.