Nordic Humanities Center's conference at Christiansborg: Topical topic filled the hall
On Thursday 15 January, the Nordic Humanities Center hosted a well-attended conference entitled "In the Shadow of War: Denmark, the Nordics and the return of geopolitics". It took place in the Parliament Hall at Christiansborg and gathered 170 people.
In her opening speech, Minister for Higher Education and Science Christina Egelund reminded us of how the world order we have taken for granted is faltering. About the war in Ukraine, about a Europe that must stand on its own two feet, and about how we have almost become used to truth and facts being negotiable.
- Part of losing the truth is also losing a part of yourself - when the truth is distorted, the compass of who we are, where we come from and what we stand for disappears. This makes culture and history an obvious target," said the minister.
There were presentations from former Foreign Minister Holger K. Nielsen, historian Bo Lidegaard, and Weekendavisen enter records Anne Sofie Allarp, and the chair of the Nordic Association, former minister Lars Barfoed, emphasised from the floor that a "strong Nordic Region is not the opposite of a strong Europe".
- Part of losing the truth is also losing a part of yourself - when the truth is distorted, the compass of who we are, where we come from and what we stand for disappears. This makes culture and history an obvious target," said the minister.
How best to navigate Denmark in a new world order
The team of fellows at the Nordic Humanities Centre had put together strong panel debates on how Denmark can best navigate in a geopolitically challenging world.There were presentations from former Foreign Minister Holger K. Nielsen, historian Bo Lidegaard, and Weekendavisen enter records Anne Sofie Allarp, and the chair of the Nordic Association, former minister Lars Barfoed, emphasised from the floor that a "strong Nordic Region is not the opposite of a strong Europe".
”- When the truth is distorted, the compass of who we are, where we come from, what we stand for also disappears.
Shared values and strong resilience
What role the cultural field should play in Denmark and Nordic preparedness was also up for debate.From several sides it was noted that without a strong awareness of shared values, our resilience as a country is weakened.
The two fellows, associate professor of aesthetics and culture Malene Breunig and assistant professor of art history Kristian Handberg, spoke briefly about their upcoming joint book, which deals with the concept of "cultural preparedness". It will be part of the book series "Challenges" published by the Nordic Humanities Centre.
The Centre is supported by the A.P. Møller Foundation and gives a group of humanities researchers from the University of Copenhagen and the University of Southern Denmark the opportunity to work on a joint research project every year.
The next fellows will start at the Nordic Humanities Center on 1 February and their project will focus on polarisation, hate speech and conspiracy theories in 2026.
You can read about it here