Norma Fay Green, Acting Chairperson and Director of Graduate Program, Journalism Department, Columbia College, Chicago, IL
Lecturing and Research: Modern American Journalism
Host: University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark; Odense University, Odense, Denmark
August 2000-December 2000

Media Sociology course I guest lectured in at Institut for Journalistik at Syddansk Universitet, Odense, Denmark. It was a second year (third semester) class of 75 journalism students that I tried to break down into small groups for in-class assignments such as the one pictured.

In addition to guest lectures in the journalism department, newly established in 1998, I spoke to students and faculty of the Political Science Department and the History Department, Center for American Studies on campus. Through contacts I made during the months I was there, I also ended up advising some students at other Danish universities in Aalborg and Roskilde who were working on journalism projects. Other audiences ranged from very bright and lively Social Science gymnasium students to adult learners in "International English V" at a community school in downtown Odense. I also presented research on U.S. public journalism trends at an annual Media Research in Denmark Association conference that draws participants from other Scandinavian countries.

Being overseas during Fall 2000 allowed me to witness a Danish national forum and subsequent referendum on a common European currency euro, Queen Mother Ingrid's funeral in Europe's oldest monarchy and a U.S. presidential election from afar. The last weeks of U.S. presidential campaigning coupled with ready access to U.S. coverage of the earlier Danish vote via ready access to Internet news resources provided me with lecture material and ended up being adapted into a commentary which ran as a bylined piece in the leading Danish daily newspaper, Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten. So I got my first Danish byline, thanks to translation editing and assistance by my host department faculty and staff!

Being away from one's home country for a few months is an invaluable experience that will surely resonate in my renewed teaching, research and administrative tasks. Further, I made dear friends among some of my Danish colleagues and fellow U.S. Fulbrighters. I intend to keep in touch with them. Through a series of coincidences, I met a Danish
Fulbright Scholar in Denmark when he returned to his hometown of Odense for Christmas. He and his family were living only three blocks from our home in Evanston, IIlinois so my husband and I made it a point to befriend them these last few months. We treasure our time spent between my return to the U.S. on Christmas Eve and their return to Copenhagen in June. We intend to visit Denmark again to see them and other friends. I hope to be invited back when the SDU journalism department moves into new headquarters.

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