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For many Tufts students, myself included, studying abroad is a highlight of their college experience. After spending an amazing semester studying abroad through Danish Institute of Study Abroad (DIS) in Copenhagen, I wanted to share my experience to help prospective study abroad students navigate their own decisions. 

One of the most unique aspects of DIS is their core courses, as they allow students to gain hands-on experience in their interests through field studies and international travel. All students pick one core class and around 3-4 electives. The short study tour typically takes place within Denmark or a neighboring country for a couple of days to give students an introduction to a specific topic. Halfway through the semester, students travel with their core class to a predetermined destination across Europe for a week. Each long study tour location is intentionally chosen to reflect the course content, including activities such as guest lectures, museum visits, guided tours, and many recreational activities!

As a double-major in International Relations and Middle Eastern Studies at Tufts, I excitedly picked “International Humanitarian Law and Armed Conflict.” Our short study tour took us to Esbjerg and Skieve, where we studied the history of landmines in Denmark during the second world war. For our long study tour, we travelled to Bosnia & Herzegovina and Serbia, focusing on the application of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) during the Yugoslav Wars and the Bosnian Genocide of the 1990s. We visited historical sites such as former Danish minefields from WW2, a Bosnian Genocide memorial in Srebrenica, and the site of NATO bombings in Belgrade. This core course connected me with experts in IHL and gave me firsthand insight into concepts typically confined to the classroom, making it an unforgettable experience. 

Another aspect of DIS which I greatly appreciated was the program’s commitment to using their resources to ease the process of studying abroad. One of the most simple but impactful things DIS did to ease our transition was picking us all up from the airport on arrival day. Having never been to Denmark before, I was quite nervous about traveling there alone and navigating to my dorm. However, DIS made the process incredibly easy, with staff waiting at the airport to greet us, label our luggage, send it directly to our housing, and guide us to private buses, which alleviated my anxiety.

An additional resource that made my semester incredibly easy was the commuter card provided by DIS for unlimited travel between my housing site and the DIS campus. With DIS housing sprinkled throughout Copenhagen, some buildings are a 5-minute walk from DIS, while others are more than 45 minutes away. My dorm was a 20 minute journey on the metro to DIS, so everyone who lived in my dorm, and others similarly located, received a commuter card from DIS to ease the process of getting to school. 

Although I could ramble on and on about my semester in Copenhagen, I hope this post provides a helpful overview of some of my favorite aspects of studying abroad with DIS. If you are more curious about Copenhagen, check out “Study Abroad in Copenhagen!”, a post where my peer and I share advice with future students. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me at maya.tesfai@tufts.edu.