An American sociologist's view of life in Denmark

June 26, 2008

An American sociologist's view of life in Denmark

Nicole Stokes DuPass is an American sociologist from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and a guest researcher at the Danish National Centre for Social Research in Copenhagen.

Paula: Is this the first time you live in Denmark?
Nicole: No, I lived in Denmark for 13 months from 2000-2001 as a student at Roskilde University. I have returned to Denmark from the US several times since then for my work as a sociology professor and researcher.

Paula: Do you like it here?
Nicole: I do enjoy my time in Denmark and I find that the quality of life is very high. Unlike living in the US, I find that in Denmark it is more common to enjoy your personal life and not let work intrude on that time. This is something that I hope will not change here because it is healthier for the body and spirit.

Paula: Was learning Danish challenging?
Nicole: Very challenging to speak but not as difficult to read. Pronouncing the words is still the hardest part for me. I still cannot make certain vowel sounds!

Paula: Did you like studying at Roskilde University?
Nicole: I really enjoyed my time at RUC and met wonderful people—many of whom I still talk with often. The International Students Organization was very active at the time and had a lot of events and parties which made it much easier to meet people and to not feel so isolated being in a new country.

Paula: Were the teaching methods similar to what you were used to back in the US?
Nicole: I took classes at both RUC and University of København and I found the RUC classes to be the least like classes in the US which was good for me. My experience at RUC was that the expectation was for the student to work independently with little guidance from professors. For me this was very good because I had a project established and could (at that point) work on my own most of the time. This model is very different from the US where university students get a lot of assistance from professors and spend significantly less time working independently until the later part of their studies. I think that both methods have positives and negatives.

Paula: Have you found Danes to be welcoming?
Nicole: I have found many Danes to be welcoming but I have also encountered many who seem reserved or distant. I had an interesting conversation with a Danish friend about this. I told her that when I first came to Denmark, I encountered a cultural wall when trying to meet new people and make connections that took a long time to break through. If I was not an out-going person, I might not have kept trying to meet people. She told me that “the wall” is not intended to be a barrier but rather reflects the fact that many Danes are reserved to new people—they are just anxious about meeting new people and the anxiety is often interpreted as hostile or negative. I don’t know if this is true for all but I did find this explanation interesting!

Paula: What image did you have of Denmark before you lived here?
Nicole: I, like many people, believed that Denmark was a very open and egalitarian society. I still believe that this is true on many levels. However, I do believe that the general attitude about foreigners living in Denmark is quite negative and closed but I am hopeful that this will change in time.

Paula: Did you notice a difference between this from when you first lived here in 2000 and now?
Nicole: Yes, very much so. There is a tension here now that I did not feel then and I am not sure where it is coming from. I think that the Danish government has become less receptive to immigrants coming to Denmark and this is evident from many of the new laws and social policies that have been enacted since 2000. However, I also think that the actions of the government are not necessarily representative of the mindset of the average Danish person. Of course there are some people who have negative attitudes about foreigners and about Denmark changing but I also think that there are many others who are not closed to new cultures and new people coming to Denmark. This is a social phenomenon that is still evolving and it will be interesting to see where the journey will take us.

Paula: Can you tell us about your work?
Nicole: I teach sociology at a two-year college in New Jersey. Each January, I teach a class called, International Social Problems where I bring a group of social work students to Copenhagen and Malmo to visit social agencies. I am in Denmark again this summer conducting research about Danes coupled with foreign partners. I am conducting interviews about their experiences living in Denmark and Sweden.

Paula: do you find the social problems from US and Denmark to be similar?
Nicole: Yes. I believe that many societies have similar social problems like drugs and alcohol, prostitution, crime, health care, social insurance, immigration, etc. The difference is in how societies attempt to address these problems. Many of my students are familiar with the approaches used by the social systems in the US but what I hope they gain from my class is a new approach—or a new way of tackling the social problem.

Paula: But in contrast to US, health care is free in Denmark. Are you saying Denmark has social issues in regards to health care, like the United States does?
Nicole: No, not at all. All that I am saying is that all countries regardless of the type of system they have must care for the sick in some way—whether it is privately or publicly funded.

Paula: Do you feel a difference between how Danes generally viewed the US when you were here back in 2000 and how they do nowadays?
Nicole: Yes. In 2000, the US was not engaged in military conflict with Iraq and Afghanistan and at that time, the US had much better relationships with the rest of the world. So today, the focus is very different. Now, most people are interested to see if the US will continue with this direction or if (with a new President) we will begin to repair these global relationships. I generally think that there is a positive attitude about people from the US among Danes. But many of my discussions with Danes and others are about our up-coming presidential election. Many seem to share my hopes that Senator Barrack Obama will become our next president.

Thank you for taking your time, Nicole. I hope you enjoy your time in Denmark.