My Danish academic degree: Cand. Mag. (Nordic Philology, University of Copenhagen, 1986; Exam. Art.: Music, 1979) was one of a number of degree-designations then often held by professors teaching in the humanities at the university level. It consisted of a main specialization (Cand. Phil.) and if adding a subsidiary subject (2-3 years): Cand. Mag.

The degree does not exist anymore. My dissertation: DEN EKSISTENTIELLE REDELIGHED. OM DÆMONIENS BESNÆRELSE OG DEN GUDDOMMELIGE SAMVIDEN. ET SYNSPUNKT PÅ FRYGT OG BÆVEN OG SØREN KIERKEGAARD directed by: Aage Henriksen (Karakter/grade: 13/A+) (in English translation: The Existential Honesty. On Demonic Infatuation And Divine Knowledge. A Viewpoint On Fear And Trembling And Søren Kierkegaard) is available at the Royal Library in Copenhagen (#32117364).

The cultures and educational systems of Denmark and the United States are vastly different. The Danish system was restructured in the 1990s to align internationally.

I am not alone as a Cand. Mag. although increasingly they constitute a rare, 'last of the Mohicans'-sort of group. It is internationally held by academic colleagues at a number of universities across the globe (many connected to the Danish Lecturers Abroad program) and in North America by at least the following individuals working alongside traditional Ph.d.'s within various departments at most reputable university institutions:

• full-professor at the University of Minnesota: Poul Houe, Department of German, Scandinavian and Dutch, University of Minnesota: https://apps.cla.umn.edu/directory/profiles/houex001
• full-professor at the University of California, Berkeley: Karin Sanders, Scandinavian Department, University of California, Berkeley: http://scandinavian.berkeley.edu/people/karin-sanders/
• professor emiritus at the University of Wisconsin-Madison: Niels Ingwersen (deceased 2009), Department of Scandinavian Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niels_Ingwersen
• lecturer at UCLA: Claus Elholm Andersen http://clauselholm.bol.ucla.edu/

Typically these arrived from Denmark to tenure-track positions and subsequently had their Cand. Mag. degree evaluated and approved as sufficient for teaching and research in higher education. In 1987 I did not arrive to a tenure-track position.