I am Dr.Phil. in Cultural Encounters and originally hold a Master's degree in Linguistics and French from the University of Copenhagen. I have been attached to Roskilde University since 1974. For many years I taught at the French department, at the Basic Studies Programme for the Humanities (HIB/ICS and HAB) and at International Development Studies. Since 2000 I have taught at Cultural Encounters, and in 2005 I was appointed professor in Cultural Encounters. I have taught subjects related to intercultural competence at many in-service training courses for language teachers and other groups, and been a consultant for the Ministries of Education and of Integration at several occasions concerning the development of foreign language studies and the study of Danish as a second language. I am co-founder of the Danish journal Sprogforum, tidsskrift for sprog- og kulturpædagogik. I have been very active in the creation and implementation of the Cultural Encounters programme.

     My field of research is the relationship between language and culture, with special reference to sociolinguistics, anthropological linguistics and cultural linguistics, language and culture pedagogy, internationalisation and intercultural learning/intercultural competence. Among other things I have been studying the images of culture and society that are created and transmitted within language teaching and citizenship teaching, among others in foreign languages and Danish as a second language for immigrants and refugees. I am especially interested in education in a global perspective (global education, world studies, education of the world citizen, cosmopolitanism), and my doctoral thesis deals with these issues as part of a more generel analysis of the relationship between language and culture. For the moment I am engaged in a Danish cross-university research project on linguistic and cultural learning processes of adult immigrants/refugees in Denmark. We are working with a case material including a range of people from different parts of the world, and some of the work includes studies of interpreting and translation between Danish and a range of other languages. I am also member of the international research project CALPIU, which is led by Roskilde University and which deals with ‘Cultural and Linguistic Practices in the International University’.

                 I am generally interested in supervision related to both the cultural and social dimensions of Cultural Encounters and the more linguistic dimensions, especially on issues related to transnationalism, integration and intercultural communication in Denmark (or other countries). One thing that fascinates me, for example, is the different images of Denmark created by different groups - different groups of immigrants, the tourist industry, Danes abroad, Danish media etc. I am also very interested in studies of linguistic diversity, and inclusive and exclusive language policies (as a part of cultural and social policies), in Denmark and in other countries. I am also interested in China and (educational) relations between Denmark and China, and in Spring 2007 I was part of a Roskilde University delegation to a series of Chinese universities.

More information on me, incl. CV and list of publications, see here (remember to choose the English version).

My inaugural lecture as a professor, in which I describe and perspectivize the cross-disciplinary profile of Cultural Encounters, see here.