Academic Staff - Global Studies

Meet the staff

of our global studies department

The Department of Global Studies unites an international team of researchers and PhD students who are engaged with six geographical areas – Brazil, China, India and South Asia, Japan, Russia and Europe – or pursue a both conceptual and analytical approach in ‘International Studies.’ Within the different areas, each scholar has her/his field of expertise, carries out original research, often in collaboration with partners in or outside of Denmark.

Their approaches are interdisciplinary, emphasizing the importance of history and anthropology, cultural and gender studies as well as political science, sociology and economy. While the starting point of individual research is the area of expertise, projects often go beyond the geographical borders and look at transnational or international interactions, developments or trends from a comparative and/or global perspective. This is also visible in a variety of research projects carried out at the department, the titles of which are “European Colonial Heritage outside Europe,” “Chinese Migration in Europe,” “Observing social trust in the everyday workings of welfare states – Romania and Denmark compared,” “Migrant Youth in Aarhus and Lisbon,” “China Sounds Abroad: Mobility, Migration, and Modernity,” “Political History of Anti-politics and Populism in Europe” (amongst others).

PHD CANDIDATES OF GLAS

Former affiliates

Academic Background: I studied Sinology and English Philology/Cultural Studies at Freie Universität Berlin (FU) Berlin (1988-1995), including two years of Chinese language and literature studies at Fudan University, Shanghai. I received my MA-Degree with the thesis “The Long March of Rock ‘n’ Roll: Pop- and Rock Music in the People’s Republic of China.” Afterwards, I continued to explore my interest in modern Chinese history and culture in the PhD project “Between Entertainment and Revolution: Gramophones and the Early Chinese Music Industry in Shanghai, 1878-1937.” Simultaneously, I was employed at the Department of Sinology, FU Berlin, to organize and contribute to a long-term international (archival) research project on the Sino-German Relations, 1897-1997. I received my PhD degree in 2003.

My research in a nutshell: My research focuses on aspects of modern Chinese history, with an emphasis on the cultural industries, especially the entanglements and (global) transfers of (media) technology and (musical) sound. More recently, I began to combine my interest in Shanghai history with the sonic dimension of cultural politics and production, propaganda and memory studies. Eager to learn and explore Chinese sounds in the past and present, I organized the international conference “China Sounds Abroad” (2021) at Aarhus University, amongst others. Together with MSO-Prof. Wulf Kansteiner I also work on the Velux-funded project “Sounds of War: The Memory of World War II in Taiwan, East Germany and Denmark, 1945-2015.”

What is your favorite book? I have not one favorite book, but among those I recently read I really enjoyed Ha Jin’s The Banished Immortal: A life of Li Bai (New York: Pantheon Book 2019). Ha Jin (b. 1956) is a poet and novelist, who lives in the US and teaches at Boston University. I also appreciate his early masterpiece Waiting (1999) and other works, but The Banished Immortal strikes me as a combination of scholarship, interpretation and creative writing. In the book, Ha Jin literally walks with Li Bai (701-762) through China, based on his most famous heritage: the poems (included in both Chinese and English translation). Li was a strong character, a restless person, a heavy wine drinker, who sought government employment all his life. Ha Jin creates a very nuanced and lively portrait of this “pop star,” invites the reader to explore life during the Tang Dynasty, and learn to appreciate Chinese poetry. Beautifully written, one can appreciate it as a biography and as a novel, while contemplating about the artist in Chinese history.

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Academic Background: I did Asian Studies at Griffith University, Australia specializing in development studies. My honours thesis examined the emerging role of markets in centrally planned economies such as the PRC. For my PhD, my academic interestes shifted to Latin America and for my thesis I looked at banking sector reforms in Central America during the 1980s and 1990s. My first post PhD job was at the University of the South Pacific in Fiji, where I conducted research on the interaction between microfinance and the subsitence economy. This line of research carried on when I took up a research position at the Foundation for Development Cooperation in Brisbane in 2008. My interest in the South Pacific continued but in a different setting. In, 2010 I accepted a position at the Center for Social Responsibility in Mining at the Universty of Queensland where I conducted research on the socio-economic impacts of mining projects. In 2012, I took up a position as senior social scientist with giant consulting firm Worley. After wrecking havoc in other parts of the world, the Global Financial Crisis finally arrived in Australia and the company lost many contracts in a matter of months, which resulted in I reduntancy for many, including me. I dedicated the next 18 months to taking care of my 2 daughters and wife: cooking, cleaning, changing diapers, washing clothes, taking kids to kindergarten and school, entertaining them after school and organising the home front while my wife worked full time. Being a stay at home dad is the most difficult job I’ve had so I salute all those who do it. In 2014, I move to Denmark with my whole family to start my current position. You can visit the PURE page to find out more about my professional self.

My research in a nutshell: I specialize in the governance of natural resources. I also look at the socio-economic impacts of non-renewable resource extraction in Latin America, the South Pacific and Greenland. My most recent project deals with finding economic alternatives for rural communities in El Salvador.

If you would not be a researcher, what do you think would be your profession today and why? It is difficult for me to think of any other profession, other than being a researcher but I do have another passion: cooking! I love cooking for myself and others because I get into a very good mood almost every time I cook. My favorite is food from South East Asia but I also like cooking my own version of Indian, Latin American and Italian food. I’m a vegetarian so finding interesting vegetarian recipes from around the world is one of my favorite past times. If one day, I get tired of being a researcher, I think I may buy a food truck and start selling my dishes to people.

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Academic Background: I have an unconventional background as an academic. I trained in global and transnational histories of philosophy, science, and art through a DPhil in Global History at the University of Oxford (2016-2021) and a BA in History of Art at Goldsmiths, University of London (2005-2008). In between these two degrees, I worked as a contemporary art curator, writer, and manager specializing in cross-disciplinary projects. I ran my own program in London through a multi-year curatorial fellowship funded by Japan’s Agency for Cultural Affairs. As a young person, I was also involved in activism against social and environmental injustices. My current academic work is informed by the knowledge and practice I gained from various environments both within and beyond the university setting.

My research in a nutshell: My work examines how scientist-polymaths in modern Japan drew on diverse forms of knowledge from both Asian and European lineages and created interdisciplinary paradigms that recognize the inseparable connections between humans and nature. These individuals lived during a time of extraordinary social and environmental change driven by competing visions of “civilizational progress.” However, the dominant idea of “progress” often resulted in increased inequality, racism, and degradation of ecological habitats. The language and methods of producing disciplinary knowledge at modern universities typically emerged within this paradigm. I shed light on the underlying logic of the polymaths’ thoughts and actions, which challenged the boundaries and assumed conventions of this knowledge system.

If you would not be a researcher, what do you think would be your profession today and why? A farm-to-table chef. From maintaining a kitchen garden to learning basic carpentry skills, I love getting my hands dirty to create something precious that can be shared. Cooking is where art, science, and ecology intersect in such a process. My current profession allows me to bring these branches of knowledge together in the form of theoretical reasoning based on concrete evidence. Cooking also elevates this through the tacit conversation of our five senses. While I may remain a historian, I would be excited to collaborate with a like-minded cook to bring these comparable approaches from two different professions together one day!

To learn more about my academic work Click Here