Learning Beyond the DIS Classroom: All That the City Has to Offer

Studying abroad with DIS extends far beyond the classroom. While seminars and readings provide critical frameworks, the city itself becomes an equally important site of learning. Copenhagen offers countless opportunities to engage with ideas in lived, tangible ways, through art, film, and community spaces. Whether stepping into a gallery, attending a film festival, or volunteering with local organizations, these experiences deepen and challenge what we learn academically, allowing theory to meet reality.

Daddy Issues Exhibition

The posters of the Daddy Issues exhibition were probably the first visuals that caught my attention when I arrived in the city. As someone interested in gender-related issues, different representations of masculinities are always on my radar. This is why I was eager to visit the gallery and encounter new perspectives on fatherhood: the paternal bond between child and father, and the complexities that lie in between. The exhibition invited reflection not only on personal relationships, but also on how masculinity is constructed, performed, and challenged in contemporary society.

Volunteering

As I dedicate the majority of my classes at DIS to refugee- and migrant-centered issues, I often find myself moving around the city trying to engage beyond the classroom with people on the ground. While I haven’t been able to fully commit to one specific organization, I owe a great deal to the people who opened their doors to me, shared their experiences, and allowed me to volunteer alongside them. These moments offered a more grounded understanding of the realities we discuss in class, bridging the gap between theory and lived experience, and reminding me of the human dimension behind academic concepts. Copenhagen is a lively city, full of countless opportunities for hands-on engagement.

CPH:DOX

CPH:DOX is a Danish film festival focusing on documentaries, held annually in Copenhagen. As someone whose intellectual curiosity is constantly provoked by documentaries, I knew I had to go.

For my core class, International Refugee Law, and my elective, Human Trafficking, we have discussed the figure of the smuggler on multiple occasions: how it is constructed, racialized, and gendered. I was intrigued by this almost mythical figure, one that often feels distant and abstract. This is why I chose to watch Waking Hours, an Italian documentary following a smuggler living in the dark forests along Europe’s borders. The portrayal of the smuggler as a young, skinny Afghan man challenges the dominant, criminalized, and threatening image often associated with this figure. Through his story of detention, torture by Croatian police, and coercion to consume unknown pills, the film complicates the victim–perpetrator binary. “To me, Europeans are very cruel people,” he says after recounting his experiences. The film complemented my classroom knowledge, expanded my imagination, and offered an honest portrayal of reality: one that resists being simplified or instrumentalized for political narratives.

Studying in Copenhagen does not only mean being able to engage in interactive and experiential classroom settings, but also having access to all that the city has to offer: museums, art galleries, volunteering opportunities, and film festivals.