With a partnership extending back 40 years, Carleton’s Off-Campus Studies Office and the Danish Institute for Study Abroad in Scandinavia (DIS Abroad) grew even closer this year as the talented staff at each worked to reconstruct what study abroad could look like in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. DIS, an organization offering study abroad programs in Sweden and Denmark, normally receives a handful of Carls along with students from other universities around the country. This year, they knew that their programs couldn’t operate as normal, but felt that the study abroad experience was too precious to give up entirely, a sentiment that Carleton shared. Most university administrators, college study abroad offices, and third-party program sponsors decided to cancel their usual slate of international offerings, but Carleton and DIS decided to work together and find a safe way to give interested students the international adventure they wanted. Together, they created a one-of-a-kind OCS program that sent a cohort of exclusively Carleton students to Copenhagen for a non-traditional and unexpected 2020 fall term.
Carleton OCS programs usually take over a year to plan, but this one was put together in an incredible flurry of just one month. In early June, after Carleton had decided to cancel their scheduled fall OCS trips, Helena Kaufman was contacted by Zoé Kilbourne, Malene Torp, and Ian Samuel Terkildsen from DIS who proposed an opportunity to organize a custom program for the upcoming academic term. Designing the program involved many of the usual considerations (like how long it should be and what courses should be offered) but also required this team to confront COVID-19-specific worries like how to protect the health of participants and how to navigate travel when travel restrictions are in constant flux. Motivated to work quickly and aided by the support of Carleton’s Registrar and Dean, Carleton and DIS found a way to make their program possible, responsible, and fun.
After more than one hundred students initially showed interest, 53 students ended up enrolling in this special DIS-Carleton Option program. The program was 12 weeks long and included ample opportunities to engage with Copenhagen while taking the interesting courses offered by DIS. Each student enrolled in an assortment of electives and one “core course” which was designed to act as a sort of pod of up to 12 students where they interacted internally and traveled together. Aiming to keep the experiential elements and engagement with Denmark despite the limitations of the pandemic, DIS arranged travel opportunities like trips to local castles, walking tours of Danish cities, visits to art museums, and kayaking in the Copenhagen harbor. For housing, students could choose to live either with a host family or in a dormitory with local students.Each option gave students an insight into Danish culture and the local landscape.
The biggest tangible change in the face of COVID-19 was added signage and sanitation stations all over as constant reminders to keep up good hygiene and to maintain social distance, but other aspects of the program shifted to accommodate for the realities of the pandemic. For example, students were required to limit travel to within Denmark and couldn’t visit every bucket list destination around the continent like they might have tried to do in a normal year. Kilbourne commented that “study abroad in Europe usually becomes a study abroad tour of Europe.” While this may have been a disappointment for some, she saw this as a benefit because it meant that this program offered a “localized experience and more in depth understanding of the country they are studying abroad in.” The coronavirus pandemic has done so much damage, but this deeper commitment to one country is one positive change, and smaller class sizes are another.
Through all of the modifications and uncertainties, the students on this program have demonstrated flexibility, enthusiasm, independence, and a spirit of adventure that is appreciated by everyone at DIS and Carleton. Carleton and DIS, too, have received praise for their willingness to take the risk of creating this program and sending students abroad in these uncertain times. The result of the partnership this fall was an overwhelming success. Other colleges have been inspired to consider doing the same, and Carleton has decided to run the program again this winter term with around 60 students slated to participate in the unique experience.