European Humanities European Humanities

The European Humanities program is home to a broad array of unique courses in history, literature, art, music, cultural theory, religion and philosophy. The course selection is designed to allow students the greatest degree of academic independence and individual focus.

Student Profile

The program welcomes students with a focus in any area of the humanities. You will have the opportunity to enhance your major by tailoring the core course research paper to your specific area of study within the humanities.

Core Course

You will learn about European history and culture by focusing on how selective ways of remembering Europe’s past – the rich as well as tragic heritage — has shaped collective and individual identities. Essential aspects of the course are explored on site through academic tours in Denmark and Germany, France, or the Czech Republic.

These countries are viewed as case studies in which to unravel the complex web of identity formation and help answer how identity is shaped by repositories of memory and meaning: landscapes and cityscapes, art and architecture, literature and film.

Study Tours

Each section will take a three-day study tour to Denmark to explore the construction of Danish national myths and how these historical interpretations shape current Danish memory and identity.

Choose between a European study tour to France, Germany or the Czech Republic that is faculty-led and forms an integral part of the course. Visiting the nation’s capital and prominant regional locations gives you the chance to broaden your perspective and explore how historical and current events are framed differently within the same country. This tour offers you the opportunity to make comparative observations between the country under investigation, Denmark and your home country.

Elective Courses

In addition to the required core course, you are free to select any combination of courses from the DIS curriculum. Please click here for a full course overview. If you want to learn more about the fruits of European cultural history, from ancient art to modern film, check out courses listed under History, Art History, Literature, Philosophy, Religious Studies, Film Studies, etc.

European Humanities Photo Gallery

DIS Student Bloggers

Wonder what it is like to study European Humanities in Copenhagen? 

Click here to read Hannah Miller's blog!

The depth of study and dedication of my professors in European Humanities was impressive; they all possessed expertise, and paid real attention to students. On the long study tour, I spoke with renowned Czech artists and visited important sites in terms of Czech and global history. We learned to view ‘ordinary’ places with new attention and skepticism, to engage with these places and recognize their profound political and cultural resonance – thanks to our study of local history and contemporary ‘memory studies’.

Charles Thaxton Bates College

Kierkegaard Authorship

Denmark’s most radical author, the existential philosopher Søren Kierkegaard (1813 – 1855) lived in, worked in and was shaped by Copenhagen.
In collaboration with the Søren Kierkegaard Research Center at the University of Copenhagen, we offer several thought-provoking elective courses focusing on his authorship, as well as other thinkers from continental Europe, who have critically appropriated elements of his thought in their work.

Kierkegaard Honors Level Seminar
Kierkegaard's Authorship

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Music in Copenhagen

Along with Denmark’s most talented young musicians, performance majors receive focused instruction through this elective course with Danish music professors at the Royal Danish Academy of Music, the most prestigious conservatory in Denmark. Regular practice and rehearsals culminate in local and regional performances with the Academy ensembles.

Music Performance: (Instrument or Voice)
Music Composition: Private Studio Instruction

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