The Virgin Islands
In 1999 I was asked by the Danish Ministry of Education to go to the former Danish colonies, the U.S. Virgin Islands (sold to the U.S. in 1917), to explore the possibilities of implementing a Danish language and culture program at the University of the Virgin Islands. For some time there had been considerable efforts underway to share and study the archives (at the National Archives in Copenhagen) pertaining to the period the Virgin Islands were under Danish colonial control.
The thought had emerged that with the proper language skills in place scholars from the U.S. Virgin Islands would themselves be able to study the materials directly. In addition it was thought that the University itself, as well as the VI community as such, might benefit from a Danish language and culture program given the history of the islands and the continued presence of Danish cultural remnants there. The program would be instituted according to the general principles governing Danish Lecturers Abroad Programs (such being supported by the Danish Ministry of Education at numerous universities in many nations.)
Consequently, I visited the Virgin Islands (St. Thomas, St. Croix, St. John) on three occasions, in August 1999, November 1999, and in March 2000. I met with university and government representatives, and together we outlined plans for an efficient and satisfactory program which was adopted by the UVI Curriculum Committee in the summer 2000.
A Danish instructor was eventually sent to the Virgin Islands to implement the program but returned to Denmark shortly thereafter. The project failed to materialize due to various reasons one might only speculate about. Perhaps, conflicts of interest within UVI, as well as conflicts of interest within some Danish government ministries, caused the project to stall.
Still, much good could have come, which is the reason why I here have included my three reports to the Danish Ministry of Education. These may be of interest to readers of Danish. For others there is a brief English summary of the first report.