Psychology department to test out new Copenhagen study abroad program this spring

| Senior News Editor

The Danish Institute for Study Abroad building in Copenhagen, Denmark. DIS hosts the new study abroad program at Denmark for psychology students.Courtesy of Danish Institute for Study Abroad

The Danish Institute for Study Abroad building in Copenhagen, Denmark. DIS hosts the new study abroad program at Denmark for psychology students.

Study abroad options for psychology students are broadening this year with a new pilot program in Denmark.

The program, led by the Danish Institute of Study Abroad (DIS) in Copenhagen, will offer psychology students academic opportunities they are not able to have on the Washington University campus.

Psychology professor Leonard Green, coordinator of the program, says that students will be required to take a core class in one of two tracks, either positive psychology or European clinical psychology. Students will also be required to enroll in a practicum for the core area they choose.

According to Green, students do not have much of an opportunity to study European psychology at Washington University.

The students will also be required to take two non-psychology programs, at least one of which must focus on Europe or Denmark specifically.

Bikes line the canals in the Christianshavn neighborhood in Copenhagen, Denmark.Betty Hallock | Los Angeles Times | MCT

Bikes line the canals in the Christianshavn neighborhood in Copenhagen, Denmark.

The University will be sending students on the program this spring and next fall. Contingent upon the program’s success, it may be made into a permanent study abroad program for the University.

“It is the first year, although it is only temporarily approved, it’s not a fully approved program for psychology students,” said Julie DiBerardino, the study abroad advisor in charge of the new program.

Green said he hopes the program will be offered in future years.

“We will evaluate it at the appropriate time to see if we want to make it a permanent option,” Green said. “I’m hopeful it will be a permanent part of the curriculum.”

According to DiBerardino, there are seven students who are signed up to go on the program in the spring.

Green views study abroad as a beneficial addition to Psychology students’ educations.

“If a student can work it in, I think study abroad offers a wonderful opportunity for a psychology major. This really expands and enriches their major…providing them a larger, broader perspective [and a chance to pursue an] area of expertise…that they would not necessarily find [offered] here,” he said.

This program is not held at a specific university, but rather is sponsored by DIS, a Danish-government recognized study abroad program. All DIS classes are taught in English.

Psychology students can also study abroad at a number of other locations, including the University of Queensland in Australia and the University of Sussex and Exeter University in England.

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