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10 Reasons not to study Philosophy at UCPH, if you're not a white man

1. There is a high risk that the curriculum for all of your obligatory classes will consist exclusively of texts by white men. Except for two white women: one who is opposed to abortion, and another, named Hannah Arendt, who is safely introduced after Martin Heidegger, to underscore why she is famous (she was his student and they had it going on).

2. You will probably only be taught by men, all of whom will be white, apart from one, who on occasion will be referred to as the "house-n*gger" by his colleagues. The teacher in question was recently involved in a media controversy for having his photo taken with women dressed in stripper-student outfits.

3. If the question of gender roles is raised, some of your teachers will not restrain themselves from educating you on how women are biologically built to play with dolls, while men are built to play with cars. Even when the class is about Karl Popper.

4. Your odds of finding employment in the Department of Philosophy at UCPH following your studies are minimal if you're not a white man. Only a few years back, the first non-male person in the history of Philosophy at UCPH was hired as an associate professor: a woman, who they brought in from Germany.

5. Some of the few women who actually reach PhD level in the department will occasionally express their disdain for chicken farms (in Danish: "hønsegårde") when asked about their opinion on women in philosophy. (I have not yet encountered any chicken farms at UCPH and I don't know how a disdain for egg-laying birds' possible fencing is relevant to a discussion on women in philosophy).

6. If you enjoy hearing your own voice, but you are not a man, Philosophy at UCPH will not be the place for you. Here you are best heard, when a man repeats your points for you.

7. If you have a strained relationship with naked academics with penises, you can count on your experience as a philosophy student at UCPH to be very strained. You will most likely be confronted with penises very often. Some men with penises love to get naked and swing them around while singing "fresh girl, fresh girl" at you, if they perceive you to be a girl. I've seen it happen more times than I can count on one hand.

8. Simone de Beavouirs statement that women's biology weighs on them, is the only vestige of feminism in Philosophy at UCPH.

9. Racism is alive and well in Philosophy. I've been told that at one of the more recent student trips (in Danish: "rusture") you could encounter the black-painted faces of people who had stuffed their undies with pillows in an effort to look like various black celebrities. The trip also included a slavery-themed event - complete with chains.

10. If you are brown, you will possibly be the only brown person in your class. But of course, there was that one time when two brown people started their degree at the same time.

These posts work as examples on what challenges different people in different positions might meet in relation to their studies in Denmark. They work as a place for sharing your opinion and as a room to express your experiences. FRONT might refer to these experiences in our dialogue with universities, to try to get more peoples experiences heard in this context. If you are interested in sharing a story, please send it to FRONT at: frontnu@mail.com. Sincerely, FRONT

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