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Language skills
required
Programme length
Full time study for two academic years.
Study mode
Face-to-face learning
Application status
International students:
Students with Icelandic or Nordic citizenship:
Overview

  • Do you have basic proficiency in Danish?
  • Do you want to better understand the multifaceted relationship between language and culture?
  • Are you interested in Danish history, literature, politics, institutions, society and/or the Danish people?
  • Do you want to improve your skills in written Danish?
  • Are you aiming at a career in tourism, interpreting, translation or other forms of communication to Danish-speaking target groups?

The MA in Danish is generally a two-year programme, tailored to suit the individual student, which aims to provide students with specialised knowledge and academic skills. Master's students will gain first-hand research experience.

Programme structure

The programme is 120 ECTS and is organised as two years of full-time study.

The programme is made up of:

  • Mandatory courses, 20 ECTS
  • Elective courses, 70 ECTS
  • Final project, 30 ECTS

Students must take part of the programme at a university in Denmark.

Organisation of teaching

The programme is taught in Danish.

Main objectives

Students will learn the skills required to take on jobs that call for specialised knowledge of Danish language, literature and culture.

Other

Completing an MA in Danish allows you to apply for a doctoral programme in Danish.

A BA-degree in Danish, with a grade average of at least 7.25 (first class) and a final thesis gives access to second cycle of higher education.

To enrol in the Master's program in Danish, students must have a BA-degree in Danish as major (with a minimum average grade of 7,25). The program is a two-year program (minimum of 120 ECTS) and the students are required to take part of the studies at a university in Denmark. Students must write a thesis of a minimum 30 ECTS.

The following documents must accompany an application for this programme:
  • Statement of purpose
  • Certified copies of diplomas and transcripts
  • Proof of English proficiency

Further information on supporting documents can be found here

Programme structure

Check below to see how the programme is structured.

This programme does not offer specialisations.

Year unspecified | Fall
MA-thesis in Danish (DAN441L)
A mandatory (required) course for the programme
0 ECTS, credits
Course Description

MA thesis in Danish.

Language of instruction: Danish
Part of the total project/thesis credits
Year unspecified | Fall
Language Usage and Expression: Danish (DAN703F)
A mandatory (required) course for the programme
5 ECTS, credits
Course Description

This course is theoretical as well as practical. Students refresh important rules in Danish language, language use and stylistics. They analyse how different types of texts have different purpose of communication. Emphasis will be on the students' writing skills in Danish language and their training in use of theoretical as well as practical aids.

Language of instruction: Danish
Year unspecified | Fall
Languages and Culture I (MOM301F)
A mandatory (required) course for the programme
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

This course concerns the diverse connections between culture and language, as seen from the perspective of cultural history, social sciences and linguistics. Ancient and modern world languages will be introduced and their origins, influence and effects investigated. Written and spoken language will be discussed: what sorts of things are written, why and how? Rules and alternate perspectives on the nature of langauge will be considered, raising the question of how we understand man with respect to thought and language.

Language of instruction: English
Year unspecified | Fall
Nordic Modernism and Avant-Garde - From Edith Södergran to Anarchy on the Internet (NLF108F)
Free elective course within the programme
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

The course will explore the history of modernism and of the avant-garde in the Nordic countries through key texts of Nordic modernism. Avant-garde movements such as expressionism and surrealism and their effects on Nordic literature in the years between the World wars will be studied. The course will also focus on groups of writers and other artists that operated under the banner of modernism in the Nordic countries in the post war period, ranging from the publishers of the magazines Heretica in Denmark and Birtíngur in Iceland in the post war period to diverse groups and forums of artists and writers operating today on the internet.

The course will also deal with fundamental questions such as the reaction of modernism to the "grand narratives of modernity and whether modernism itself has become such a "grand narrative" of literary history and culture.

Language of instruction: Danish
Not taught this semester
Year unspecified | Fall
Scandinavian Literature (NLF109F)
Free elective course within the programme
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

A Nordic literature canon will be presented and discussed form a critical perspective and the canon concept will be in focus. An important Nordic literature selection will be presented, read and studied. There will be a literature seminar in connection with this course with participation from critics and authors from the Nordic countries.

Language of instruction: Danish
Year unspecified | Fall
Literature Translations (DAN702F)
Free elective course within the programme
5 ECTS, credits
Course Description

This course deals with literary translation between Icelandic and Danish. Students get a summary of the history of the Danish-Icelandic literary translation tradition and practice translation critic by analysing different translations from different periods. Students will face the challenges in translation as well as which strategies and methods they have to consider while finding solutions.

Language of instruction: Danish
Year unspecified | Fall
Individual Project (DAN805F)
Free elective course within the programme
5 ECTS, credits
Course Description

Individual project.

Language of instruction: Danish
Year unspecified | Fall
Individual Project (DAN901F)
Free elective course within the programme
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

Individiual project.

Language of instruction: Danish
Year unspecified | Spring 1
MA-thesis in Danish (DAN441L)
A mandatory (required) course for the programme
0 ECTS, credits
Course Description

MA thesis in Danish.

Language of instruction: Danish
Part of the total project/thesis credits
Year unspecified | Spring 1
Danish System of Governance, History and Culture (DAN802F)
A mandatory (required) course for the programme
5 ECTS, credits
Course Description

The aim of this course is to give students a good overview of the historical, political and cultural development in Danish governance through the 20. century till now – from absolutism to representative democracy. The course will among other things be devoted to the Danish welfare model and the democratic safety net in light of the state finances, geography, demography and religion, the Danish labour market, the political system, the healthcare and educational system, Denmark’s international relations and general tendencies in Danish society. Students will make presentations during the semester and the course is closed with a written home assignment.

Language of instruction: Danish
Year unspecified | Spring 1
Nordic Communication (NLF206F)
Free elective course within the programme
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

The course will focus on the language policies in the Nordic countries seen in a present and partly historic and comparative perspective and investigates how and to what extent language policies and inter Nordic communication are intertwined in the Nordic countries. We will ask questions like: What characterises language policy in the Nordic countries? How does inter Nordic communication work? Does Icelandic purism have consequences for inter Nordic communication? What is the connection between Norwegian language policy and Norwegians ability to understand other Nordic languages? Does inter Nordic communication have especially good terms in the Danish-Swedish Oresund region?

Language of instruction: Danish
Face-to-face learning
Distance learning
Year unspecified | Spring 1
Individual Project (DAN803F)
Free elective course within the programme
10 ECTS, credits
Course Description

Individual project.

Language of instruction: Danish
Year unspecified | Spring 1
Individual Project (DAN804F)
Free elective course within the programme
5 ECTS, credits
Course Description

Individual project.

Language of instruction: Danish
Year unspecified | Spring 1
Languages and Culture II: The European Intellectual Tradition (MOM402M)
Free elective course within the programme
5 ECTS, credits
Course Description

The European intellectual tradition is characterized by the strong links between academia and society. Many of the most important European thinkers of the 19th and 20th Centuries worked outside of the universities – and many of those who did pursue an ordinary academic career also were public commentators frequently intervening in political discussion of the day and in some cases gaining considerable influence. In this course we present a selection of European thinkers who have been important both as scholars and as public intellectuals. We read and discuss samples of their work and look at critical discussion of their ideas. We also reflect on the time and place of the "European" – to what extent their work is quinessentially Eurocentric and to what extent awareness of cultural contingency emerges.

Language of instruction: English
Face-to-face learning
Distance learning
Year unspecified
  • Fall
  • DAN441L
    MA-thesis in Danish
    Mandatory (required) course
    0
    A mandatory (required) course for the programme
    0 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    MA thesis in Danish.

    Prerequisites
    Part of the total project/thesis credits
  • DAN703F
    Language Usage and Expression: Danish
    Mandatory (required) course
    5
    A mandatory (required) course for the programme
    5 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    This course is theoretical as well as practical. Students refresh important rules in Danish language, language use and stylistics. They analyse how different types of texts have different purpose of communication. Emphasis will be on the students' writing skills in Danish language and their training in use of theoretical as well as practical aids.

    Prerequisites
  • MOM301F
    Languages and Culture I
    Mandatory (required) course
    10
    A mandatory (required) course for the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    This course concerns the diverse connections between culture and language, as seen from the perspective of cultural history, social sciences and linguistics. Ancient and modern world languages will be introduced and their origins, influence and effects investigated. Written and spoken language will be discussed: what sorts of things are written, why and how? Rules and alternate perspectives on the nature of langauge will be considered, raising the question of how we understand man with respect to thought and language.

    Prerequisites
  • NLF108F
    Nordic Modernism and Avant-Garde - From Edith Södergran to Anarchy on the Internet
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    The course will explore the history of modernism and of the avant-garde in the Nordic countries through key texts of Nordic modernism. Avant-garde movements such as expressionism and surrealism and their effects on Nordic literature in the years between the World wars will be studied. The course will also focus on groups of writers and other artists that operated under the banner of modernism in the Nordic countries in the post war period, ranging from the publishers of the magazines Heretica in Denmark and Birtíngur in Iceland in the post war period to diverse groups and forums of artists and writers operating today on the internet.

    The course will also deal with fundamental questions such as the reaction of modernism to the "grand narratives of modernity and whether modernism itself has become such a "grand narrative" of literary history and culture.

    Prerequisites
  • Not taught this semester
    NLF109F
    Scandinavian Literature
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    A Nordic literature canon will be presented and discussed form a critical perspective and the canon concept will be in focus. An important Nordic literature selection will be presented, read and studied. There will be a literature seminar in connection with this course with participation from critics and authors from the Nordic countries.

    Prerequisites
  • DAN702F
    Literature Translations
    Elective course
    5
    Free elective course within the programme
    5 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    This course deals with literary translation between Icelandic and Danish. Students get a summary of the history of the Danish-Icelandic literary translation tradition and practice translation critic by analysing different translations from different periods. Students will face the challenges in translation as well as which strategies and methods they have to consider while finding solutions.

    Prerequisites
  • DAN805F
    Individual Project
    Elective course
    5
    Free elective course within the programme
    5 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    Individual project.

    Prerequisites
  • DAN901F
    Individual Project
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    Individiual project.

    Prerequisites
  • Spring 2
  • DAN441L
    MA-thesis in Danish
    Mandatory (required) course
    0
    A mandatory (required) course for the programme
    0 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    MA thesis in Danish.

    Prerequisites
    Part of the total project/thesis credits
  • DAN802F
    Danish System of Governance, History and Culture
    Mandatory (required) course
    5
    A mandatory (required) course for the programme
    5 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    The aim of this course is to give students a good overview of the historical, political and cultural development in Danish governance through the 20. century till now – from absolutism to representative democracy. The course will among other things be devoted to the Danish welfare model and the democratic safety net in light of the state finances, geography, demography and religion, the Danish labour market, the political system, the healthcare and educational system, Denmark’s international relations and general tendencies in Danish society. Students will make presentations during the semester and the course is closed with a written home assignment.

    Prerequisites
  • NLF206F
    Nordic Communication
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    The course will focus on the language policies in the Nordic countries seen in a present and partly historic and comparative perspective and investigates how and to what extent language policies and inter Nordic communication are intertwined in the Nordic countries. We will ask questions like: What characterises language policy in the Nordic countries? How does inter Nordic communication work? Does Icelandic purism have consequences for inter Nordic communication? What is the connection between Norwegian language policy and Norwegians ability to understand other Nordic languages? Does inter Nordic communication have especially good terms in the Danish-Swedish Oresund region?

    Face-to-face learning
    Distance learning
    Prerequisites
  • DAN803F
    Individual Project
    Elective course
    10
    Free elective course within the programme
    10 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    Individual project.

    Prerequisites
  • DAN804F
    Individual Project
    Elective course
    5
    Free elective course within the programme
    5 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    Individual project.

    Prerequisites
  • MOM402M
    Languages and Culture II: The European Intellectual Tradition
    Elective course
    5
    Free elective course within the programme
    5 ECTS, credits
    Course Description

    The European intellectual tradition is characterized by the strong links between academia and society. Many of the most important European thinkers of the 19th and 20th Centuries worked outside of the universities – and many of those who did pursue an ordinary academic career also were public commentators frequently intervening in political discussion of the day and in some cases gaining considerable influence. In this course we present a selection of European thinkers who have been important both as scholars and as public intellectuals. We read and discuss samples of their work and look at critical discussion of their ideas. We also reflect on the time and place of the "European" – to what extent their work is quinessentially Eurocentric and to what extent awareness of cultural contingency emerges.

    Face-to-face learning
    Distance learning
    Prerequisites
Additional information

The University of Iceland collaborates with over 400 universities worldwide. This provides a unique opportunity to pursue part of your studies at an international university thus gaining added experience and fresh insight into your field of study.

Students generally have the opportunity to join an exchange programme, internship, or summer courses. However, exchanges are always subject to faculty approval.

Students have the opportunity to have courses evaluated as part of their studies at the University of Iceland, so their stay does not have to affect the duration of their studies.

This qualification can open up opportunities in

  • Tourism
  • Culture and communication
  • Trade and business
  • International affairs
  • Translation
  • Teaching

This list is not exhaustive.

  • Linguae is the organisation for language students at the University of Iceland 
  • Linguae organises social events for students at the Faculty of Languages and Cultures 
  • Members currently include students of Italian, French, German, Spanish, Danish, Chinese and Russian 
  • Linguae runs a Facebook group and a Facebook page

More about the UI student's social life

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