News

• 09.09.2025

  Cultural readiness in a time of uncertainty

  From the Culture Meeting on Mors to defense plans in the Nordic countries. The debate on strengthening the cultural front has risen high on the agenda. Researchers, cultural leaders, and politicians are discussing the role that a strong awareness of our shared culture plays in Denmark’s resilience in uncertain times.

• 15.08.2025

  New collaborative Nordic book on refugees wins award

  Welcome to the history books! With this book—co-written by, among others, former fellow at the Nordic Humanities Center, Heidi Vad Jønsson—clear attention is drawn to overlooked stories of forced migrants and refugees in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden.

• 28.05.2025

  Expertise in diplomacy paired with research in the humanities

  The former Danish ambassador to Moscow and NATO is part of a research team at the Nordic Humanities Centre examining the impact of the Ukraine war on the Nordic region. He is a new so-called practice fellow and in this interaction, deep knowledge of negotiation tactics and realpolitik is combined with knowledge of history, important theoretical concepts and precise cultural understanding.

• 29.01.2025

  Researchers examine the consequences of the Ukraine war for the Nordic Region

  The war in Ukraine has challenged the idea of Denmark and the Nordic countries as a peaceful corner of the world where war is confined to history books. The conflict has come close to home and has already reshaped security policies. But what can we learn from history as we navigate a new world order, and what impact does it have on our sense of identity? These are the key questions in this year’s research project at the Nordic Humanities Centre.

• 10.09.2024

  New recommendation for the Nordic Council of Ministers: Get a clearer insight into what adds value to your collaboration

  A key concept in the Nordic Co-operation is ‘Nordic added value’ and its Scandinavian version ‘nordisk nytte’. But what really adds value when it comes to cross-border co-operation on climate, culture and research? A new report written by a researcher at the Nordic Humanities Centre shows that it is important to have a clearer understanding of the different interpretations of the term.

• 05.07.2024

  The shadow of war - Denmark, the Nordic countries and the return of geopolitics

  This is the title of the research project that eight new fellows in the Nordic Humanities Center will embark on from February 1, 2025. The project has just been selected as the center's second research relay.

• 04.06.2024

  Symposium with Nordic colleagues

  On September 12 to 13, researchers from the Nordic Humanities Center will gather for a symposium with Nordic colleagues. The title of the symposium is "Individual and state in the Nordic model - historical experiences and future social legitimacy", and it takes place at Linnaeus University in Växsjö, Sweden.

• 04.04.2024

  On a guided tour of the Nordic welfare model

  For a week, students from Princeton have visited Danish ministers, grassroots organizations and researchers. At the Nordic Humanities Center, Professor Klaus Petersen took them on a guided tour of the history behind the Danish welfare model, and we had a chat with a couple of the young Americans.

• 19.03.2024

  New call open for Nordic Humanities Center

  Applications are now open for the next research project at the Nordic Humanities Center. Permanent academic staff at the faculties of the humanities at the University of Copenhagen and the University of Southern Denmark are eligible to apply. The project period runs from 1 February 2025 to 31 January 2026. We are looking for 6 Senior Fellows and 2 Junior Fellows.

• 07.02.2024

  Join us for the official opening of the Nordic Humanities Center

  The Nordic Humanities Center is a new research centre at the University of Southern Denmark and the University of Copenhagen that brings humanities perspectives to major societal challenges. The first research project at the Center will be ‘Legitimacy under Pressure – the Past and Future of the Nordic Model’.

• 01.02.2024

  First research team at the Nordic Humanities Centre assembled

  The Nordic region and the Nordic social model will be in focus when researchers from SDU and UCPH unite their expertise in a joint project over the next year. Drawing on history and literature, they focus on how the Nordic model can stand up to the challenges of the future.

• 26.05.2023

  Literature professor to head ambitious research centre

  SDU Professor Anders Engberg-Pedersen will become head of the Nordic Humanities Center for Challenge-Based Inquiry on 1 June.

• 01.09.2022

  New Nordic humanist centre to create new understandings of the world’s societal challenges

  Thanks to a donation from The A.P. Moller Support Foundation, the University of Copenhagen and the University of Southern Denmark will establish a new research centre: the Nordic Humanities Centre for Challenge-Based Inquiry. Based on humanistic disciplines, the Centre will contribute nuances, perspectives, new understandings and opportunities for action in relation to the major societal challenges such as the climate crisis and pandemics.