People

Director of centre

Name Title Responsibilities
Pia Quist Professor Leads the center’s interdisciplinary vision and ensures its overall strategic and scientific direction

Centre coordinator

Name Title Responsibilities
Sebastian Mohr-Winterberg Special Consultant Oversees the center’s administration, communication, and daily operations.

Lead investigators

Name Title Responsibilities
Malene Monka Associate Professor Leads the center’s linguistic research together with Pia Quist.
Mikkel Thelle Senior Researcher Leads the center’s historical research and serves as the connection to the National Museum of Denmark.
Torben Jelsbak Associate Professor Leads the center’s literary research.

Junior investigators

Name Title Responsibilities
Christian Steentofte Andersen Postdoc Investigates how internal migration between rural and urban contexts has been experienced and imagined in Danish literary fiction from the 1970s until today.  
Kristian Aarup Postdoc

Investigates cultural encounters between rural and urban areas in a historical setting.
Lise Bødtker Sunde PhD student Studies family and household experiences in the life courses of rural-urban migrants in Denmark 1870-1945.

TRANSITION fellows

Student, Junior, and Senior Fellows are affiliated with the center for a limited period to work on projects aligned with our research themes. Read more about the different fellow categories and how to get involved.

Name Title Responsibilities
Monica Hidalgo

Junior Fellow, PhD 

Program Officer, American-Scandinavian Foundation

 Focuses on late 19th- and early 20th-century Dano-Norwegian authors who used literary impressionism to preserve the emotional experiences—often absent from institutional records—of marginalized subjects living through urban-to-rural shifts during the transition to modernity.  
Ilja Van Damme Senior Fellow Professor, University of Antwerpen

Collaborative investigators

TRANSITION collaborates closely with four internationally recognized scholars whose expertise strengthens the center’s interdisciplinary scope. Their work anchors the center’s research in key areas: digital folklore studies, sociolinguistics, urban history, and historical demography. Through extended visits, joint supervision, and collaborative analysis, they contribute to the center’s evolving research agenda and international outlook.

Name Title
Anne Løkke Professor, University of Copenhagen
David Britain Professor, University of Bern
Tanja Vahtikari Senior Lecturer, Tampere University Tanja Vahtikari
Timothy R. Tangherlini Professor, University of California, Berkeley

Reference Group

The reference group connects TRANSITION to a broader national and international network. Its composition evolves alongside the center’s research, reflecting new themes, theory, and methodological developments. Members are invited to contribute to workshops, visits, and other activities that extend the center’s reach across fields and institutions.

Name Title
Anne Fastrup Associate Professor, University of Copenhagen
Jason Finch Professor, Åbo Akademi
Jon Helt Haarder Associate Professor, University of Southern Denmark Jon Helt Haarder
Karen Vallgårda Professor, University of Copenhagen
Marie Maegaard Professor, University of Copenhagen
Peter Auer Professor em., Universität Freiburg Peter Auer
Tine Damsholt Professor, University of Copenhagen
Tue Andersen Nexø Associate Professor, University of Copenhagen
Ulrik Langen Professor, University of Copenhagen
Unn Røyneland Professor, University of Oslo Unn Røyneland

Student assistant

Name Title
Sidsel Lysdal Jespersen Student assistant