Ways of Living: Danish Architecture & Urban Design (Copenhagen’s Walking Classroom, Summer 2024)
FULLY BOOKED
An international summer school (BA-level, 7.5 ECTS) at the University of Copenhagen.
The course runs from 29 July 2024 through 9 Aug 2024 (including weekends).
FULLY BOOKED
Course description
This two-week, intensive, summer course welcomes students from a diversity of academic and cultural backgrounds and socio-political perspectives, who have deep interests in urban environments and issues. The city of Copenhagen is our primary classroom, and walking lectures, sidewalk seminars, independent field studies, and collegial debates will be unfolded across a diversity of places within the metropolis. First-hand experiences, place-based interpretative discourses, on-site analyses, and critical readings are entwined to support grounded ways of questioning and considering the historical and contemporary Danish urban design and architecture cases at hand. ‘Ways of living’, in this course, encompasses and addresses a diversity of human and nonhuman actors and relationalities, and acknowledges that architecture and urban design are never stand-alone but are always entangled as parts of something both bigger and smaller than themselves – both materially and immaterially. In this course, ways of living span a broad spectrum between ways of living relative to the constantly shifting socio-cultural conditions and political landscapes, as well as ways of living with (and as) nature and climate crisis. Our primary foci include such wider themes as urban history, sustainable urban development, public life and day-to-day life (including human health and wellness), climate adaptation and biodiversity, architectural transformation, multi-modal transport, decision-making processes (including participatory urban design and the distribution of power relations and resources), circularity, playscapes, and urban recreation.
NB: Additional notes on course structure: The primary assignment in this course is a written exam paper structured as a critical reflection logbook. In general, each course day is organised such that collective field sessions compromise the first half of the day, and independent field studies compromise the afternoons. Moreover, there will be a one-course day designated as a full-day group field study exploring new neighbourhood developments in Copenhagen. Note well that weekend days are included in the course schedule given the condensed period of two weeks. Lastly, all sites can be easily reached via public transport, bicycle, foot, or/and scooter – however, should you have any accessibility-related concerns, please feel free to mail your queries in advance to dcc@hum.ku.dk.
Application deadlines
- First round: 1 April
- Second round: 1 June (after availability, and only for students enrolled at the Faculty of Humanities/UCPH)
Students must apply by 1 April by submitting application form including relevant documents. Deadline for second round of applications in case of remaining seats is 1 June.
This course will be taught in English, therefore good English skills are required. All applicants must have completed the first year of studies at Bachelor’s level (60 ECTS) before summer school begins.
Bachelor's and Master’s students are eligible to apply to this course. But please note, that the exam is at Bachelor’s level only. The course is open to international exchange and guest students and Danish students as fee-paying guest students.
Accepted students will be notified before the end of April.
The course consists of group work, lectures, field trips, workshops, and tutorial work. The workload amounts to 206 work hours equivalent to the 7,5 ECTS points students receive upon meeting the above criteria.
Teaching and learning methods
The programme consists of lectures and ‘walking tour lectures’; group seminars and collegial debates being unfolded on-site run by the summer school team, and field trips and independent field studies and assignments.
The primary assignment for the course is a critical and analytical logbook. It is a place-based daily learning tool and a daily learning practice that challenges students to couple emplaced and embodied ways of knowing with more traditional forms of scholarly literature citation; grounding theory in place. Every walking-tour lecture and field study entails one required logbook entry/page, and each entry must combine textual and visual analyses alike. The logbook as a whole is due in digital format at the end of the course.
Literature
A reading list will be specified for accepted students by May. It is expected that students read all the required text material before summer school.
Curriculum module:
Danish Summer Culture Course, 7.5 ECTS, Activity code: HDCB01181E, Danish Culture Courses 2019.
Student workload
| Category | Hour |
|---|---|
| Exam | 50 |
| Excursions | 8 |
| Preparation | 70 |
| Lectures | 33 |
| Fieldwork | 45 |
| Total | 206 |
Credit: 7,5 ECTS
Type of assessment: Written assignment
6-10 standard pages.
The primary assignment for the course is a critical and analytical logbook. It is a place-based daily learning tool and a daily learning practice that challenges students to couple emplaced and embodied ways of knowing with more traditional forms of scholarly literature citation; grounding theory in place. In brief, every walking-tour lecture and field study entails one required logbook entry/page, and each entry must combine textual and visual analyses alike. The logbook, as a whole, is due in digital format at the end of the course, before 12:00 noon on Thursday 18 August 2022 online in Digital Exam.
Exam registration requirements: Curriculum Danish Culture Courses 2019
Aid: All aids allowed
Marking scale: 7-point grading scale
Censorship form: No external censorship
Exam period: TBA
Re-exam: Same as above.
Unfortunately, the University of Copenhagen does not offer scholarships or tuition fee reductions.
Figures are estimates only.
Tuition fees
Read more about tuition fees here.
Accommodation
Monthly rate approximately: DKK 4000-6000. Deposit: one month’s rent.
Miscellaneous
Living expenses: Approx. DKK 2500 for three weeks
For more information on living costs and costs of accommodation, please visit UCPH website for international students.
Summer school participants are responsible for finding and funding accommodation during their stay in Copenhagen. Students can use different online portals to search for accommodation, such as:
- UCPH Housing Foundation (acceptance letter from UCPH required)
- Airbnb
- Housing Anywhere
- Hostel World
- Danhostel
For additional information, please refer to: Housing for international summer school students.
Student Testimonials (Summer 2021 + 2022)
The course was a remarkable ON-SITE experience in the city of Copenhagen, while observing and reflecting on the WAYS OF LIVING, how people behave, act and evolve over time. Together with the focus on the SPACE IN BETWEEN, meaning the transition between private and public and all layers in between, together with the focus on the people (considered) at the margins of society, and moreover actions and problems invisible for the users yet crucial for the way we continue to live and use the city as our playground.
Was such a pleasure to spend two weeks in Copenhagen this summer taking part in the CU Ways of Living class. Learned so much about the design and use of public space. It felt like I was handed a new set of eyes to observe 'life between buildings' at home in Amsterdam too - very grateful for that Courtney D. Coyne-Jensen and Lars Gemzøe! Next months, I'm hoping to put bits of what I've learned in practice with cases/projects I'm working on.
Application deadlines
The application deadlines are as follows:
- First round: 1 April
- Second round: 1 June (after availability, and only for students enrolled at the Faculty of Humanities/UCPH)