The end of a semester and the finality of grades is always difficult for me. Here in Denmark, the end of the semester bleeds into the next. So, while I started my new class yesterday, today I finished grading from last semester (until the re-exams are submitted).

Exams were my biggest concern when I thought about coming to Denmark to teach. I am an “easy’ grader. If I could, I would not give out grades. I would write a personal note to each student about their work over the course of the semester, what they did well and what they need to work on. This is how grading was done in my program during my first year of college. Since then, I have been chained to numbers.

I do not—and I have never—assigned exams. Instead, the students’ work over the course of the semester is scaffolded with assignments building upon each other and leading to a final paper of some kind. When I calculate final grades for students, there is some math involved, but there is also some wiggle room. There are many scaled variations between A and F to reflect an “almost A” or a “barely C.” I can reward ambitious efforts or excellent attendance.

In Denmark, the student’s Exam is the only basis for their grade in the class. And since most of the Exams I have graded are anonymous, I am grading only the words on the paper. This is extra torture. Further, there is a 7-point scale with 12, 10, 7, 4, 02, 00, and -3 being the only grades given. When grading, we talked about a “strong 10” or a “weak 7,” but this is not reflected in the grade. Further, a 12 is more or less an A+ and is not awarded easily.

In my U.S. classes, I want students to succeed and I tell them at the start of each semester that I have designed the class toward success. Much of the students’ grades are based upon attendance and participation assignments and the final is usually not more than half of a student’s grade. Most of my final assignments are 20% of the final grade. When I am grading, I am able to take into account every assignment the student has completed as well as other things I know about the student.
*
While the day to day teaching has not been that much different in Denmark, the exam process is quite different. I did not have the opportunity to see any of my students’ writing before they submitted their exams and everything I graded was anonymous. Grading at home is a drag; grading in Denmark is beyond stressful.

In the U.S. exams take place, for the most part during the course of the last week of the semester. Grades are usually submitted before Xmas. Then it is done and time to move forward, even if I give too many incompletes.

The Exam system in Denmark is interesting and messy. In Denmark, Exams—the final exams and papers for fall courses—are spread throughout December and January, scheduled independently of when the class may have met during the semester. Some of these exams are oral presentations; some are timed writing. Some are take-home and the time students are given to complete these assignments varies from 24 hours to 3 days to 5 days or more. Most exams have either an internal second grader or an external second grader. The grade on the Exam is the grade for the class.

For my B.A. elective class about Hip Hop America, I assigned a pretty standard paper and was the sole grader. This was a small class and the grading was relatively easy.

For my co-taught M.A. theory and methods course, the students considered three questions for a week and then had 24 hours to write about a question we selected from the three. My colleague and I read about 30 papers (about 15 pages each) and then decided on a grade together. This was also fairly easy and we only argued about a couple of papers that we disagreed on.

For my M.A. elective course about Girls on Fire and YA dystopia, I had an internal grader who read the students’ papers. I did not realize I had an internal grader until the students had already started the exam. This was the toughest set of papers to grade. It was a small class and I came to love each of my students over the course of the semester. I read and graded and re-read and graded the essays three times, each time trying to make myself be more objective. Still, most of my grades were higher than the agreed-upon assigned grades ended up being.

On top of regular exams, I also supervised a B.A. thesis project this fall. This was also a new experience for me though I have supervised many similar kinds of student projects over the years. The most difficult part about this B.A. thesis advising, however, is the dual role that I play—as mentor and supervisor as well as the grader. I work with an outside reader in assessing the student’s thesis; together we assign a grade. So, throughout the semester I have been commenting and encouraging and wanting this student to do the best, but then I have to do my best to evaluate her project objectively. I am still second guessing myself, especially since this was the first thing I graded in Denmark.

This spring I will be a grader and an internal grader. The class I am co-teaching (really two classes in one big experiment) will have a mid-term for each of our classes and the final will have a paper and an oral exam. I am grateful for this experience teaching, working, and grading in a different mode. It is one of the reasons why I applied for a Fulbright, but it is tough. I hate to make decisions, generally, especially when such decisions can impact someone’s life like a grade can.
*
And, here’s the ultimate contradiction within the Danish educational system. Everything is rather laid back most of the time. Students come to class or they don’t come to class and most classes do not have any kind of participation or attendance requirement. I still don’t know which paper belongs to which student though I have invited all of my students to seek my feedback. The only thing that rescues me from my grading despair is that I get to work with many of the same students in the spring. And even if I don’t know what each individual needs, I have been able to identify what the collective needs. And maybe that is part of the point of this system.

Part of my research project for my Fulbright in American studies revolves around fitness. In my first semester in Denmark, I have tried to get a lay of the land by observing and participating in a variety of fitness activities. I’ll be continuing this work this spring, but I will also be offering some fitness-related events of my own.

Free Yoga Classes on the University of Southern Denmark’s Campus
On Mondays throughout the spring, I will be offering Yoga for Every Mind/Body classes. These classes are free and open to anyone. Classes are offered in the classrooms behind Starbucks from 16:30 to 17:30. Best to bring your own mat and other props if you have them, but I will also have a few mats participants can borrow.

Yoga Classes at Earth Yoga Studio
Abril, of Earth Yoga, has been generous enough to provide space for me to teach classes from her studio. I will teach some Sunday classes and will also offer a “Yoga for Open Hips” workshop. Please register through the Earth Yoga website. The cost for these classes covers the operating costs of the studio.

Hiking Yoga Odense
This spring I will be offering a few Hiking Yoga events that take advantage of some of Odense’s landscapes. Basically, we do some yoga, then we walk to another scenic spot and do some yoga, then we walk to another spot and do yoga, and then we return where we started and do some yoga. No experience or equipment necessary. Free and open to all.

Girls on Fire: Mind/Body Fitness Dance
While this event includes yoga, it is more of a dance class than a yoga class—a mind/body form of fitness dance. I have written a blog about this event, which takes place in the Winter Garden at SDU on March 8.

One of the things I miss most about home is my fitness family and I am excited to share my yoga knowledge and skills with my community in Odense and at SDU.

This line, crooned by Courtney Love, is almost always in the back of my head. My college roommate would repeat this line and her love of cake was almost unmatched. Almost, because I too love cake and it only sometimes rivals my love of soft-serve ice cream or frozen yogurt. But Love can't capture the deliciousness of Prinsesstarta, or Princess Cake.

There are many wonderful cakes in Denmark. In fact, kage takes many forms and even inspires holidays. There is a daily kage on my campus and students often make kage for events. The Danes’ love of cake has inspired me to make myself vegan cakes way too often, and I have been eating cake almost every day.

But I digress, which is easy to do when talking about dessert… unless that dessert is Princess Cake.

Apparently, if you watch The Great British Bake Off you are already familiar with Princess Cake. And if you frequent IKEA, you may have sampled their version (which is pink, not green, which is a total travesty). But I had knowledge of neither context. Instead, I discovered Princess Cake at a breakfast buffet on a Viking ferry from Stockholm to Helsinki.

It looked intriguing: creamy layers covered in a green marzipan. When I saw that it was called Princess Cake, I had to try it.
Side note: the meaning of my name is “princess,” something that never seemed to fit until I found Princess Cake. I mean, besides Princess Lea, of course.

I fell in love with Princess Cake. The next day at the buffet, I got the last piece. The next two days, I ate the grocery store version in Stockholm. The next day, on my birthday at the Romme Alpin ski resort, I was disappointed to find no Princess Cake at the Swedish dinner buffet. (But I more than survived, stuffed with dinner and several desserts.)

Princess Cake is layers of vanilla cake and pastry cream and raspberry jam, with a big dome of whipped cream and a green marzipan layer encasing it all. There are other versions, but this is THE cake in Sweden. And it has a fun story that connects it back to Denmark.

Princess Cake is far from vegan, so it will be a short experience that I will savor as long as I am on vacation in Sweden. Someday I might venture a vegan copy, but for now, I am just going to be the girl with the most Princess Cake.

While I am only mostly vegan, I prefer to eat vegan when I can. When traveling, being vegan can be a challenge, especially with a picky vegan partner. But, Sweden has provided an extra fun opportunity for some vegan tourism: fast food.

If you are vegan, you know how tough it can be to eat fast food. Even if an option is available, it is difficult to trust the kitchen. But I had done some homework, and I knew that Sweden was extra vegan-friendly compared to other places.

In fact, Sweden is so vegan-friendly that the “McVegan” burger was developed here. Sweden is one of the few places in the world where the McVegan is sold. And I have been planning a trip to Sweden with almost the sole purpose of getting to try the McVegan.

Now, generally, I try to avoid McDonalds despite the very nostalgic connections I have to the place. Every once in a while I start to crave the hot fudge sundae and I will sneak off for one. But, otherwise, my only fast food splurges are usually confined to Subway sandwiches, and usually in a pinch.

*Side note: I have taught the book Fast Food Nation many times, and my colleague taught it to our students this semester. I read 40 final exams that talked about the ills of fast food in America… And still, I can’t help but want to eat at McDonalds.

But Sweden not only delivers the McVegan at McDonalds’… the local Max Hamburger chain also offers vegan fare. Since both fast food restaurants were within 70 meters of each other and only a two-minute walk from my hotel, the vegan taste off was on!
Both restaurants offered kiosk ordering. (I never want to order at the counter again!)

Max Hamburgers was significantly more crowded, and significantly more expensive. Max also didn’t have a vegan hamburger though they had a lot of vegetarian options. Max was also very dirty…but it was also very tasty. As one of the oldest hamburger chains in Sweden, it has some authenticity points.

The verdict: the McVegan burger did not disappoint. It had that good old McDonalds’ taste I remembered from my youth. More impressive, however, would be if they made a McVegan burger version of the Big Mac. Then I would most definitely have to live in Sweden.

Max Hamburgers was just darn tasty. The vegan burger option was a barbecue pulled pork type of sandwich with jalapeños. While not my favorite sandwich, this one was absolutely the best vegan version I have ever had. The barbecue sauce was sweet and spicy and the vegan “meat” was a nice texture. The fries were also significantly better. The meal, however, cost almost twice as much.

Another Max bonus: we also had vegetarian chicken nuggets that I am pretty sure were vegan (according to a food blogger) and were definitely vegetarian according to the menu, but they were a little too much like my memory of the real thing. But they were very good, and my husband’s favorite.

Another Max drawback: There are a wide variety of sauces available, but any extra sauce costs 7 Swedish krona (SEK) for a very small cup. Thus, we only had the vegan mayo, which was very good. Very good, but not my first choice of sauce.

All said, I would eat both of these vegan fast food meals again, especially after my vegan internet research yielded two failed attempts: one to find a vegan grocery store that was a café instead, and one to find a buffet that I imagined being endless and only included a couple of not-so-good-looking choices. Further, the grocery stores in Sweden are stocked with vegan options. So, while food can be a bit pricey, the vegan food is not hard to find. Finally, both fast food options were significantly healthier than fast food in the U.S., so it is almost guilt-free.

And then there were those non-vegan splurges, like my favorite new discovery—Princess Cake. But that is another blog.

Before living in Denmark, and learning (a little bit) more about other countries in Europe and Scandinavia, these places seemed like a kind of utopia for women. Iceland is considered to be the “best place in the world to be a woman.” In Sweden, children are taught to think about “people” rather than “women” and “men.” In Denmark, there is leave for new mothers and fathers. In many of these places there is legislation against sexism and stereotypes in advertising. These are conscious steps toward gender equality, and in the U.S. we have yet to take such steps.

But what I have found (in my very little experience and underdeveloped analysis), is that women here are still struggling to be seen as equals across institutions and traditions. Women and men still do gendered work. Women fail to hold the top positions at the same rates of men; for instance, many academic departments at my university lack tenured female faculty members. Moreover, while there is more gender equality, feminism might be even more of a “bad word” here than it is in the U.S. Many of my female students crave female mentors and opportunities to study gender.

With more research, my limited and anecdotal observations would certainly yield more proof of patriarchy’s insidious hold on the world, but I mention these observations here as one of the foundations for a special event I plan to offer this March for International Women’s Day, a mind/body fitness dance event that I hope people here in Odense, Denmark will be brave enough to attend. I am trying to be brave in offering this opportunity to my new and temporary community.

This type of event takes many people way out of their comfort zones, but this is part of the point. Mind/body fitness dance is an opportunity to “dance it off” or “dance it out,” to “shake it off” or “light it up.” My poster invites participants to: “Lose Yourself. Find Yourself” and “Move and Be Moved.” However we think about it, the results are achieved the same way: through novel physical movements set to inspiring music and through new ways of thinking about ourselves and our world(s).

A merger of feminism and fitness, dance and yoga, structure and freedom, this event is really just a glorified fitness class. If someone has done Zumba or step aerobics or Jazzercise, my mind/body fitness dance will seem very familiar. But my class is about more than these dance fitness classes that stay on the superficial planes of the body. The goal of mind/body fitness dance is not toward burning calories or losing weight; it is toward freeing ourselves from such expectations and limitations. It is not an exaggeration to say that this class is a transformative experience.

So, I hope the women and girls of Odense will come dance with me. Brave men and boys are also welcome. That’s part of the point about feminism: it helps all of us live outside of the limited and limiting expectations of gender. This event is an opportunity to play in a dystopic space where the possibilities are what we make them to be.

So, be brave, be fierce, be vulnerable, be powerful. Move and Be Moved.

For a mid-term election event organized by M.A. students in American studies, I gave a brief no-frills talk about Politics. At first I had no idea what I was going to talk about, but one of my students gave me some great questions to consider concerning whether this mid-term election was part of the Year of the Woman and what role pop culture plays in elections.
 
As I note in this piece, my students and colleagues here in Denmark are much more interested in Politics and elections than most people I know in the U.S. Of course, everyone I know is more interested in/involved in Politics now that American politics resemble the worst kind of shit show ever. At the mid-term election event, students gathered and watched the news as the ballots were counted and the results were shared and analyzed. Many stayed on campus until 5:00 in the morning! Many were waiting to see if the anticipated blue wave would arrive.
 
So, as the blue wave comes into power and the shit show continues, I share a slightly revised version of my talk here:
 
Politics with a Capital P
For most of my education and early career, I have not really been interested in Politics, at least not the kind in the category of the capital P. I think the system is broken and needs some work if it is going to both represent the American people and carry on—or more accurately, finally realize—the American traditions of democracy, liberty, justice, and freedom.
 
I am interested in the kind of politics that are not capitalized. Cultural politics.
 
As Americans we agree on the general principles, but the way we define the pursuit and definitions of these ideals varies greatly. And the divide—the false divide between Republicans and Democrats—continues to grow, in part, because our system cannot contain the realities of the spectrum of political beliefs and desired methods.
 
I have long been a registered Independent, and I think the system needs some major revisions if not an overhaul, but I put my efforts in the cultural and educational realms.
 
But, at the same time, the election of Donald Trump means that I can’t be uninterested in Politics—capitol P. None of us can. And there have been a number of good old-fashioned grassroots politics that have emerged in the era of Trump, but these stay mostly peripheral to my life and work.
 
So, I am fortunate to be here in Denmark with American studies students and colleagues who can remind me about the importance of capital P politics. In fact, many of my students have a much firmer grasp on political systems than I will ever have and my students and colleagues here are more interested in American elections, especially midterm elections, than just about anyone I have ever met in the U.S.
 
I want to offer some food for thought on a couple of related topics—women and politics, pop culture and politics, and the bigger picture of Politics. And I have to do what I do, what American studies does—you know I have to make it more complicated….
 
The Year of the Woman?
There are many reasons why women would opt out of politics. Who wants to be treated the way women in politics are treated?
 
Certainly the election of Trump provided an impetus for women to get involved and run for office in record numbers. But not all women are equally promising toward a realization of justice and equality.
 
Being a woman in politics means that you have had a similar experience of being belittled and even accosted. In this patriarchal structure you’ve probably been steered toward other pursuits or told that you’ll never make it in politics. Being a woman in politics means having to prove yourself every day. It means having to prove that you “have what it takes,” that you can play with the big boys, or the big guns. Because politics have been a man’s world and a boy’s game.
 
Simply being a woman in politics is not enough to change the structures of politics as usual, let alone the policies reflected by a particular class of people (namely: older, rich, white men). Today, many women in politics espouse similar ideas and policies as the men who have come before them. We see a few women playing pivotal roles or, in the recent case of Susan Collins, failing to play an important pivotal role.
 
We see every woman in politics judged for her looks first and her mind second; this is an American tradition after all. We see women like Dr. Ford (and Anita Hill before her) treated like poison and accused of being liars and opportunists. We see professors who advocate “engaged citizenship” banned from teaching with the excuse of “partisan politics” when political pressure is applied. Academic freedom is threatened; women’s right to control their bodies and speak their minds are treated as if these are optional rights.
 
Politics is dirty, manipulative, and short-sighted. It has been the realm of the privileged. Idealists are eaten alive.
 
I do hope that this is the year of the woman, and that the roles that women play in politics continue to increase at least until we find equal gender representation. This would be a start.
 
More so, seeing women like Stacey Abrams elected would signal a shift, but not simply because she is a woman and not simply because she is a black woman. There is nothing simple about these aspects of Abrams’s identity; but both are cultural identities that have shaped her life and her politics. This means that she offers more than just politics as usual. [And the blue wave of women entering Congress means that we might just see different politics.]
 
We need more of these firsts because when there are no more firsts—that would be a start. When ideologies and actions are more important than appearance and party loyalty—that would be a start.
 
The shift that begins with the “year of the woman”—with the increase in women serving at all levels of government—is more important symbolically than it is in terms of any immediate impact or policy-level change.
 
The simple presence of women does not mean anything unless social justice is what is on our agenda.
 
So how do we put social justice on the agenda? How do we empower the people with the most to lose and the least to win?
 
…How do we get people interested in running for office when we can hardly get people interested in voting?
 
 One answer might be found in the power of popular culture—but not just the power of pop culture to entertain and excite—the power of popular culture to shape our ideologies, our consciousness, and our approaches to politics—cultural politics, or Capital P politics.
 
The potential of popular culture toward these ends is, ultimately, why I am in the field of education and not politics.
 
Pop Culture and Influence on Elections
The power of popular culture is complicated. Its power to shape political attitudes and beliefs is certainly greater than its ability to make a direct political impact when it comes to elections. This is one of the reasons why celebrities can make an impact. Celebrities represent more than just a candidate; they represent an institution.
 
Celebrity fan culture can hack general apathy and the—not untrue—belief that an individual’s vote does not matter. But because people’s pop culture choices are also political, pop culture and politics are intertwined. Pop culture is nuanced, while politics allows little room for complexity.
 
Celebrity support often unintentionally exacerbates the divided nature of the either/or aspects of the American two-party system. Their support has the appearance of partisan politics because their support is for left-leaning causes: human rights, in short. Sometimes celebrities are well-versed; sometimes they are passionate tools.
 
American popular culture helps to shape our understanding of politics, but basic human rights should not be polarized in the way that America’s two-party system requires.
 
Side note. I am not even talking about the whole “fake news” situation though news is now a part of entertainment media and overlaps pop culture. I am talking about pop culture: movies, television, music, video games, and entertainment media and practices of all kinds.
 
Some shows, films, music, stars, etc. cater to liberals and some cater to conservatives. None are neutral in the bigger sense of cultural politics. Thus, people’s pop culture choices reflect their ideologies and political views.
 
Side note: We can, perhaps most obviously, see the difference in the power of left pop culture and right pop culture in the attempts to find celebrities and entertainers willing to perform at Trump’s inauguration, which of course, made it easy for the “fake news” to mock Trump.
 
Most pop culture texts and agents—and the most popular ones—cater to liberals. Sometimes in dangerous ways.
 
For instance, Bill Maher can be just as emotional and close-minded as any conservative talk show host. When one of his guests said that when we, on the left, have conversations about “how can they think such things,” on the other side of the door, there’s a group of conservatives having the same conversation. Maher cut to the next segment as if he not just displayed this exact behavior, as if his whole show was not built on it. Maher probably lies a lot less, but he panders to his fans at least as much.
 
Taylor Swift’s recent voter inspiration is interesting because she does so with a more liberal message despite her pop culture image that plays well in the often conservative white world of country music. But her fans are young, and maybe they are still open-minded.
 
Big-name celebrities, respected celebrities, celebrities with questionable motives, celebrities with good intentions—all can inspire votes through their endorsements. But these celebrity interventions can only do so much. The hard work is something that cannot be reduced to a sound bite or secured with a check.
 
So, in terms of elections, celebrities can, perhaps, be of most help through sound bites and big checks. But, if we keep pandering to a populace that lacks critical thinking skills, we might need those well-informed celebrities to use their power in other ways. Maybe they already do….
 
Ultimately, it is not celebrity, it is conscious pop culture creations that teach us about truth, social justice, human rights, compassion, joy, and love—the stories that move people’s hearts and minds—that hold the most political potential. These are the kind of politics without a capital P, but with the potential to influence, and maybe even transform, the capital P politics.

I keep forgetting that it is Thanksgiving in the U.S. This is not unusual since I really don't celebrate Thanksgiving. But, I do take the day off at home. In Denmark, it is any other day and I had (a wonderful) class discussing dystopia. But, in Denmark, American studies students are having a Thanksgiving dinner for 50 people and some people are celebrating Thanksgiving at least by eating, but it is not a thing here. (They have, however, adopted the Black Friday tradition, though they call it Black Day in the stack of junk mail that went straight to recycling.)

Denmark has plenty of holidays, most of which feature food or drink. All of them require plenty of food, and especially drinks. There are Danish holidays just for beer and just for cake. (A small selection of x-mas beer bottles are the backdrop in the picture above.) And in Denmark, there are many cakes, every sweet pastry is cake, and cake is almost always available. I love Denmark.

But I digress, below is a response I provided to an "Ask the Expert" feature for a campus magazine (pictured above, translated into Danish). I tried to keep it simple... but it was also an opportunity to reflect in new ways on old American traditions and holidays as well as how our traditions and holidays relate to Denmark.

Why do we celebrate Thanksgiving?
There are so many ways to answer this question! I think most Americans would say that we celebrate Thanksgiving because it is a tradition and an opportunity to be thankful for what we have. However, we tend to be more centered on the activities of the day—eating, drinking, and watching football—than we are on the meaning of giving thanks. And Thanksgiving almost always means eating too much! Plus, Thanksgiving also means two days off of work and an extra-long weekend, at least for some of us. It also means the beginning of the Christmas holiday season and, in the last decade or so, “Black Friday” shopping deals. Every year Black Friday starts earlier and earlier, with some retail stores even opening on Thanksgiving Day.

As an American Studies professor, I tend toward a more cynical explanation (if my above explanation was not already cynical enough!): we celebrate Thanksgiving because it is a way to justify our mistreatment (and genocide) of Native Americans through a myth of equality and cooperation. Further, we see gender stereotypes play out as the women cook the food and do the dishes while the men drink beer and watch football and the children watch holiday-themed movies and television shows. But of course there are diverse iterations of this Thanksgiving holiday tradition, and even Native Americans celebrate a version of Thanksgiving.

Even with my critical views and vegan diet, I am guilty of indulging in the perks of the Thanksgiving holiday. It is a day when I don’t have to work and don’t have to leave the house and can stay in my pajamas all day. My husband and I can cuddle up and watch football or non-holiday movies. I even make a vegan “Tofurky” (a product manufactured specifically for vegans to enjoy the turkey tradition) and vegan stuffing, mashed potatoes, and gravy … and of course dessert!
 
How much does Thanksgiving mean in a Danish context?
Being new to Denmark, I can only answer based on the little bit I have learned since I arrived just over a month ago. My short answer would be that celebrating Thanksgiving is a very hyggeligt thing to do! This very “cozy” time with family and friends, eating and drinking and being warm by the fire is very much in line with the practice of this holiday in the United States. I plan to add more candles to my future Thanksgivings! (More on hyggeligt later ... and candles are very popular in Denmark.)

But another Danish context relates to something I learned from my American Studies colleague, Jørn Brøndal, about the early Danish settlers in America. He writes about Danish travel writers’ perceptions of the Indians they encountered on their travels, and in one of our classes he talked about how the Danish settlers to the New World participated in the genocide and removal of the Indians alongside other white settlers. So, perhaps the celebration of Thanksgiving also has a deeper meaning in a Danish context! At the very least, my experience so far tells me that the Danes have a lot to be thankful for!

When I got my ticket to “A Conversation with the President,” I was not so naïve as to think I might actually get to have my own conversation with Barack Obama. Granted, I am—like Obama—an eternal optimist and a girl can dream, of course.

But, no, this particular dream did not come true. Instead, it was as expected: after giving a talk for the 200 students attending the event, I was barely able to find a seat in the back row, which was still closer than I could ever imagine I’d ever get to the man, the myth, the legend. The students got to spend the hour standing on the stairs, but they may have had a better view.

Regardless of the view, I am still privileged to have had this opportunity to see and hear Obama, to be in the same room as he answered the questions of the CEO of Foreningen Business Kolding. He remarked about the comfort of Danish chairs (which I am in total agreement with) as well as the highly organized society of Denmark, which he attributed to the cold temperatures.
Since the event was a partnership between business and education, it was no surprise that Obama was asked about these topics. When he started talking about education, I started taking notes.

And here’s where my home institution and other American universities should listen up: when asked about the skills he thought students of today need for the world of the tomorrow, Obama spoke about the need for critical thinking and creativity. He highlighted the importance of learning to work with people and to develop empathy and understanding. He said that his advice to his daughters (if we assume that they might listen to him) is to be kind and to be useful, to “worry less about what you want to be and more about what you want to do.”

While he did not use the word “interdisciplinarity,” this is exactly what he was talking about.

He talked about how the most successful people are those who love what they do. If you focus on what you want to be, he argued, then you have “no center, no focus, no reason except to maintain the power that you have.”

Obama reiterated an argument that is not new: the kind of work we train students for—by asking them to sit in lecture halls, follow scripts, and spit back answers on tests—will be done by robots, by artificial intelligence. I’ll add that rather than see this as a threat, we should see this as an opportunity. Human beings will be freed up for higher pursuits and I’m with Obama in imagining what such a world might bring.

I think that the Danes felt inspired and it was certainly a breath of fresh air to hear Obama’s optimism about the future—his sights have always been on the long game, so to speak. His Obama Foundation, which he describes as a “university for social change,” has a vision of training young leaders to guide, steer, and organize “communities, nations, and the world,” creating communities of people across nations, in multiple fields, with a shared mission and values.

It was nice to soak in some optimism for an hour, but when I checked my Facebook feed, and I saw what was going on at home—the travesty of the Brett Kavanaugh hearings—the long game seems too far away. We’re going to need more than optimism to get through these trying times. I will remain optimistic that the long game is still in play, but an end to a culture that excuses and encourages sexual violence (among other insidious things) needs to end before we can set our sights on the promises of the future.

Apparently, I had to go all the way to Denmark, just to be in the same room as Barack Obama. Before the event, instead of listening to one of my distinguished colleagues speak and hanging out with the VIPs, I will be giving a talk for the 200 students who have been privileged enough to score a ticket to the event—some by departmental affiliations in business or American studies and some by a good old-fashioned lottery.

I’d like to say that I have been specially selected to give a talk to SDU students before the Obama event, but the truth is that I was one of only two volunteers and I had the most flexibility in my schedule. The students, it turns out, will be waiting in the campus library for two hours since they are not considered VIPs. In fact, I opted out of my VIP ticket to talk with the students—a place I am far more comfortable being—even if I still have to dress in “business” attire.

(Of course, I am still trying to figure out exactly what business attire consists of and I am guessing neither yoga pants nor my “fuck racism” shirt are appropriate. I was also told, quite plainly, that a skirt—my go to for anything that requires me to “dress up”—is not a good idea. I bought a blazer, so that should do it… as long as sparkly Doc Martens are close enough to business attire...)

So, while this “A Conversation With the President” event will most likely focus around topics related to business (given the sponsorship of the business crowd in Denmark), my talk will focus on popular culture and racism: “Barack Obama: Our Pop Culture President … and the End of Racism?” While I am a bit (read: extremely) nervous, I am also excited to have this opportunity to connect with many students I would not otherwise have contact with.

And if I might be allowed to do some very un-Danish bragging, if I can fit it all into 25 minutes, my talk is going to be quite entertaining and thought-provoking! And of course there is no pressure on me to give a pre-talk before hearing/seeing one of the greatest orators of our time. And there is no pressure for the tech to work for all my video clips. And there is no pressure to get on a train that morning and not get lost….

So, stay tuned! I will be posting a copy of my talk on my website www.cultureandmovement.com

As I noted in a past blog about some of the initial things I have learned through observation and orientation, there are many similarities between the university system in Denmark and the university where I teach in the U.S., the University of Maine at Augusta. But there are also some interesting differences and quirks I have discovered in Denmark (so far!).

9:00 is not 9:00. 9:01 is 9:00
Fortunately I was team-teaching my first class when I found out about the fact that classes start on the quarter hour. So, if a class is scheduled at 9:00 in the morning, it actually starts at 9:15. If a class is scheduled at noon, it actually begins at 12:15. If something begins at 9:00 sharp, it is usually listed as 9:01 to help avoid confusion.

Further, they use the 24-hour clock in Denmark, which I have always understood as “military time.” I can handle telling the time for the most part, but can’t quite get over the weirdness of feeling like I must be living in a war movie.

No equivalent of “general education.”
Students specialize early on and so by the time they are working on their bachelor’s degree, it is assumed that they have already gotten all of that general knowledge from their previous studies. Thus, in my classes I have students who have all chosen to study American studies (for a variety of reasons), which is quite different than my previous teaching where students had to take, for instance, a humanities or cultural diversity elective or were “forced” to take college writing.

I can see the logic in this system, but I did take a lot of really great classes during my undergraduate education that I never would have taken if I did not have to. I learned many things that still resonate with my life and work today. Without the general education requirements for things like cultural diversity or fine arts, we might never know what we are missing out on!

My Hip-Hop America class is full of English majors.
I assumed that the elective classes (one MA-level and one BA-level) that I am teaching would be filled with American studies majors. Both are small classes, which was also a little surprising. I was surprised to find in my Hip-Hop America class that half the students there on the first day were actually English majors (a major that studies literature as well as language and more). I don’t know if they were nervous or if they were not really excited about the subject.

Only the Japanese exchange student seemed really excited, but he was nervous and apologetic about his English (which was very good!). My technology worked perfectly and I had made a kick-ass power point with music videos and engaging content, but it mostly fell flat. I’m a little worried, but will remain optimistic!

Many international students are in the American studies program.
My MA-level “Girls on Fire” class is almost entirely international students. I have students from Germany, Brazil, Slovakia, and more countries I can’t remember… and one of the few Danish students is originally from the Faroe Islands. In my BA-level Hip Hop class I have two German exchange students and a Japanese exchange student.

Gender not so equitable?
In much of my women’s studies work, Denmark (and other Scandinavian counties are often cited as having superior gender equity). With a few of my initial observations and conversations, I am not sure that it is all that more advanced than the U.S. I was told by a couple of colleagues, anecdotally, that they think that young men in Denmark today are “down on” feminism and they would probably not take a class they thought would be about women or feminism. And, this just happens to relate to part of my research project, so I hope I will be learning more about girls and women and feminism in Denmark!

Related, there are a lack of opportunities to do gender studies at my university here (and, again anecdotally, it seems this is a lack in some European countries more generally). After my first Girls on Fire class, two students approached me after class to see if I was willing to work with them on their Master’s thesis projects since they wanted to do gender studies but had not been able to find anyone to work with.

After just over two weeks in Denmark, I have learned some interesting things about Denmark, the Danes, and Danish cultural life. Of course, I am only scratching the surface and look forward to what else I have to learn. Here’s a few little stories and observations:

The Danes are a laid-back people: In Maine (and certainly elsewhere), we have a saying: “It is what it is.” This is basically a kind of acceptance of those things we cannot change. When my wonderful, kind landlord showed me around the apartment (with a long list of all of the cleaning quirks I need to try to remember!) and then walked me to the internet office, she repeated several times: “So it is.” I am not sure if this is a Danish saying or just something she says because she has run out of words in English. I guess I will find out!

Fitting in: Apparently my blond (grey-white) hair and blue (green-grey) eyes help me to fit in well here. Many people have spoken Danish to me expecting me to answer back, and some have even shown shock when I speak English back to them. (My pronunciation is so horrible that I have barely tried to speak more than a few basic words at a time.) One day I let an older woman with a plant get off the bus in front of me and she thanked me profusely for, what my colleague told me after, was my immense kindness. I just smiled.

Learning the language: They say that the language is impossible to learn. It is even more impossible to speak. But I have been practicing (on Duolingo and by pronouncing words and street names in my head) and I can recognize words and am feeling more comfortable. And then someone asks me something simple like: “Good morning, would you like a croissant,” (while holding out a bag with a croissant in it) and I understand not a single syllable!

Some surprises:
The amount of litter. I really expected the streets of Denmark to be much cleaner! There are beautiful cobblestones and bricks of many designs and varieties everywhere and the streets are well-paved and smooth. I feel like getting one of those trash wands and picking up trash everywhere I go!

The amount of racial and ethnic diversity. In my pre-reading and some of my orientation, I learned about the changing demographics of Denmark (like everywhere) and controversies around immigration and what it means to be (ethnic) Danish, and while these issues still exist, I have been surprised at the visible ethnic diversity around me.

Some totally new things:
I live on an island, a very flat island. It is not so flat when riding a bike, but it is a new place in this way. When I bought my bike, the man who sold it to me told a story about the people of this island. He said: If there was a nuclear war all around them, the people of Funen (or Fyn, in Danish) would make some coffee and sit around and wait. If, when they were done with their coffee, the war was still going on, they would make some more coffee and wait. The Danes aren’t going to be starting any wars anytime soon, he assured me.

I live in a relatively large city compared to the college towns and small cities where I have lived. Navigating has been frustrating and confusing, and I am lucky to have a friend, Kirby, who is more familiar with the area and good at navigation. I have now gotten to campus twice without getting lost. So, that is a major improvement! But when I tried to show Kirby the grocery store I found on my route, my first turn would have taken us into the city center, far away from where I was trying to go.

Further, my campus is also very confusing with long, maze-like hallways where every wall and door is white, several floors with stairs in multiple locations, buildings that are connected, doors that lock after you exit them, doors that lock at 4 pm so that you have to swipe your ID card and use a passcode (my card does not currently work since it “locked” after three failed passcode tries), classrooms that are within another classroom, etc. (Oh, and did I mention that more than 95% of all signage is only in Danish?) I was doing great finding my way to my office, my classroom, IT, etc. … until Kirby and I tried to meet up and ended up looking for each other for over a half an hour!

Some not surprises:
Bureaucracy is just as convoluted and frustrating as anywhere else. Despite doing the needed things far ahead of time (which was frustrating, confusing, and expensive), two weeks later I still cannot access my grant money through my Danish bank account (luckily the Fulbright Commission gave me cash!), but I do have my CPR card (like a social security card) which makes me a “real person.” I also have a NemID, which allows me secure online access and a residency card, which I was not expecting to receive.

No one knows what a Fulbright is. In this way, Denmark is not unlike anywhere else, though the Americans I have randomly met, are super-impressed when I tell them why I am here. And, when I return I will be pestering all the people I know in academia to apply for one!

Part of my Fulbright orientation was an introductory comparison between the Danish educational system and the U.S. educational system, including what we might expect from Danish students.

In terms of comparing the educational systems and experiences with students, I have found that some of the observations between Denmark and America don’t ring true to my experience as a professor at the University of Maine at Augusta (even though some resonate with my undergraduate and graduate experiences). There are certainly differences, but the distance between my American students in Maine and my Danish students in Denmark may not be as wide as it could be.

At Danish universities, there are no fraternities or sororities and there is no sports culture, particularly the kind you find at big American universities. So, while I got plenty of Go Cougs! and Beaver Nation! at Washington State and Oregon State Universities during my graduate studies, at UMA we don’t really have much of a sports culture and we don’t have a football team.

Related: much of Danish students’ social life takes place off campus. Since UMA is a commuter campus (or, rather, a set of commuter campuses), this rings true for my students as well. In both contexts, we work to try to make spaces and opportunities for students to socialize.

Few students live on campus in Denmark. UMA has no dorms so no students live on campus!

UMA has a confusing name. The University of Southern Denmark also has a confusing name, or set of names. The abbreviation of SDU throws us American off and I have heard the Danish name for the university, but have yet to pin it down with my developing language skills.

Danish students call their professors by their first names. One professor explained that when he taught at Mississippi State e could not get his students to call him by his first name, but in Denmark he can’t get them to address him formally. I have always asked my students to call me by my first name and feel very uncomfortable when students address me with the American version of respect.

While I have been told the Danes can be big drinkers, and there are even bars on campus (whether formal or informal), at UMA we are not allowed to purchase alcohol with university funds and we are rarely allowed to consume alcohol on campus.

I have been told: Here in Denmark many students don’t attend classes since it is not required. There is an understanding that Danish students are adults and they should have independence and freedom. It is the students’ responsibility to learn the class material so they can pass their exam at (or after) the end of the semester. Further, students may not participate in classes as fully as American students and may have a more ambivalent attitude toward their education. While attendance may be sorely lacking at UMA, and I have certainly encountered students who do not wish to participate, I do find that most of my students (who are “non-traditional” compared to the Danish) are highly engaged and invested in their educations. They have often sacrificed a lot for their education and end up with crippling debt.

In Denmark, there are high dropout rates, especially in the first year and many students just never finish their education at the bachelor’s, master’s, and doctorate levels, even though that education is “free” and they are paid a generous stipend to be a student once they reach the age of eighteen. (PhD students are actually employees of the university with a full salary!) UMA suffers from a similar set of problems (low attendance and completion rates), but for what may (possibly) be an entirely different set of reasons. I will have more to say about these similarities and their fundamental differences in future blogs!

All of these observations are based upon my preconceived notions from research, conversation, and Fulbright orientation, so I am excited to see what more I learn this year… beginning with my first class on Wednesday!

Besides understanding almost nothing spoken to me by the Danish and being lost every time I have tried to find my way around Odense (Copenhagen has been far easier to navigate!), the things I share in common with the Danish (according to my orientation and observations so far) make me think I might be Danish…

The Danes wear a lot of black. Welcome to my wardrobe.

The Danes mostly wear what we call tennis shoes or sneakers. I don’t believe in wearing uncomfortable shoes and pretty much wear my (Saucony or Adidas) tennis shoes all the time.

The Danes respect privacy and I tend to be a rather private person (not counting my professional life!). I’ve been told it can be difficult to make friends with the Danish and their established social circles, but (being shy and a bit of a homebody) I have always found it hard to make friends.

The Danish cultural staple of hygge is pretty much what I strive for in my life (of course I have much more to learn about hygge!).

The Danish believe in work/life balance and taking care of people. I have often let my work/life balance suffer because of my tendency to take care of people (and myself), but this is one of the things I have been working on over the last few years and have gotten closer to achieving through my recent sabbatical and current Fulbright.

The Danes like to eat and drink. Clearly I do not enjoy these activities (sarcasm!). Bread and cheese (after pork and fish) are staples of the Danish diet and I have fallen in love with at least four varieties of bread that I have had. (Stay tuned for more on brød!)

There are other similarities as well, but not everything can be the same. I am not much of a bike-rider and prefer to walk; however, I have certainly experienced the pleasure and freedom that a bike can bring and may end up becoming a bike lover or at least biking out of necessity.

And, while I have read that the Danes are literal-minded and don’t understand sarcasm, I have been assured by at least several Danes that this is totally true (but their answer was delivered sarcastically!). Since most of my daily conversation and teaching is rather sarcastic, I was really worried that my students would not understand my sarcasm or sense of humor at all. So, now I don’t have to worry quite as much!

Finally, the Danes value their participatory democracy, support their welfare state, and believe in equality (achieved through an interventionist state and the redistribution of wealth) and strive for flat hierarchies and egalitarian ethos. My “socialist” tendencies mesh much better with the Danes, but I still have much to unpack regarding these similarities, particularly the Danish tendency toward social cohesion that may lead toward resentment toward immigrants in some cases.

When I wrote my applications for a sabbatical (spring 2018) and a Fulbright (Fall 18 and Spring 19), I expected to get neither. Instead, I got both. My proposed sabbatical project(s) ended up being very different, in part because I was not quite ready to dive into that particular project. And project directions always change. This is the case for my Fulbright as well.

My proposed Fulbright project resulted from my attempts to imagine this place I had not been and what I might like to learn. It was ultimately not one cohesive project, but reflections on the ways in which my Fulbright experience would complement and extend my work in three general areas: girls’ cultures, fitness cultures, and educational systems. My title: Consciousness and Movement in Girls’ Cultures and Fitness Cultures.

Teaching in a foreign educational system will certainly be a challenge and will, I hope, help me to develop my pedagogies and programs for American studies and interdisciplinary studies. I will also be co-teaching an American studies theory and methods course with one of my Danish colleagues; we started working on the syllabus when I was on sabbatical. Perhaps most exciting, I will also have the opportunity to work with graduate students for the first time, and I am already advising a B.A. student's thesis project about black feminism and Beyoncé’s Lemonade.
*
When I had more time to really start doing some pre-Fulbright research about Denmark (again, during my sabbatical), the part of my project surrounding girls’ cultures and fitness cultures evolved into a more specific project that considers the Danish concept and practice of hygge (hoo-gah) and the concept and practice I have taught and studied (and preached and tried to practice) in the U.S.—self-care. I am interested in how Danes understand and practice hygge and how these practices and understandings can help me understand, develop, and extend the concept of self-care. My new working title is: Understanding Self-Care through Hygge (hoo-gah): An Interdisciplinary Exploration of Danish and American Culture.

Hyyge has no one-word translation in English, but is often understood as “cozy.” This simplification stems, at least in part, from the fact that hygge is not just a concept or a style or something you adopt for certain occasions or certain spaces, it is a foundational aspect of Danish culture and identity. In the U.S. and the U.K., we look to the concept of hygge to help explain why the Danes are cited as some of the happiest people in the world as well as to give advice on how to find this concept in, for instance, the design of classroom spaces and having a cozy lifestyle to survive winter. But this is, I think, a shallow understanding of a much deeper concept.

I’m excited to learn more about hygge and Denmark, and I plan to learn many other things along the way… I have already learned so much in just a few days!

When I teach American Studies to U.S. students, I often have to help them unpack the years of stereotypes and partial truths that they were raised on and brainwashed by, I mean, educated through. For some students, the critiques and questions of American Studies click right away and they usually take as many of my classes as they can fit into their program. For other students, the discomfort and discord is a constant struggle though almost all of them report that it was a worthwhile struggle.

My Denmark students have chosen to study America and I want to know why. I want to know what is different about the ways in which Danish students see and understand America, and what interests them about America as a subject of study—whether they are taking an undergrad class for elective credit or have chosen to pursue a graduate education in the subject.

How do Danish students learn about America—in school and outside of school? Are they critical? Curious? Confused? Will they be interested in the subject matter I will be teaching? (How could they not be: hip-hop and young adult dystopia?!) Or will they prefer the more conventional (and still fascinating) subject matter of American studies—the histories and the classics, for instance.

And, of course, I expect I will learn far more than I will teach—about Denmark, about my subject matter, about myself. While the American Studies I teach is “critical,” I wonder if I will discover a latent American exceptionalism that is part of the core of being an American. I wonder if my enthusiasm and passion and some of my less conventional approaches will scare them or engage them (or both).

While I am prepared to teach my subject matter, this is the least prepared I have felt this close to the start of a semester. In addition to not really knowing what to expect from my students, I also have not been to campus and I have not seen my office or my classrooms. I have no idea how many students are in my classes, and I don’t even know what day and time I am teaching one of my classes. While these questions will be answered soon enough, the bigger questions will take more work.
To quote Hamilton (which I will be teaching): “Let’s go.”