HUM's new honorary doctors study how we navigate complex cultural landscapes

Honorary doctors are appointed within the university's various academic disciplines, and HUM's two upcoming honorary doctors are Professor Monique Scheer from Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, nominated by Marie Sandberg and Tine Damsholt from the Saxo Institute, and Professor Sun Sun Lim from Singapore Management University, nominated by Stine Lomborg and Klaus Bruhn Jensen on behalf of the Center for Tracking and Society (Department of Communication).

Monique Scheer – Emotions as practice

Monique Scheer is an internationally recognized and leading scholar on the history of emotions, secular and religious rituals and her ethnological research shows a strong impact across humanistic disciplines and universities in Europe including the University of Copenhagen.

Tine Damsholt, Professor of European Ethnology at the Saxo Institute, together with her colleague Associate Professor Marie Sandberg, was behind the nomination. She is delighted that Monique Sheer has been awarded an honorary doctorate:

- Monique Scheer’s research demonstrates in an exemplary manner the distinctive Ethnological feature of integrating ethnographic and culture historical methods in the analysis of everyday life and culture in Europe. Scheer has researched popular religious practices, and processes of secularisation as embodied practice. Among her most influential international research contributions is the notion of emotion-as-practice. This approach has been crucial for the understanding of emotions, not as individual possessions, but as cultural and therefore shared practices, and thereby eventually the affective turn.

Marie Sandberg adds that Monique Scheer's work has inspired scholars and students internationally and across multiple disciplines within the Humanities and Social Sciences. This is evident from the fact that her nomination enjoys strong support from researchers across several departments and centres at HUM.

- By promoting her as Doctor Honoris Causa we wish to acknowledge Scheer as an important source of inspiration for future generations of scholars of European Ethnology, of Humanities, at the University of Copenhagen and beyond,’ she says.

Sun Sun Lim – the cultural anchoring of global technologies

Professor Sun Sun LIM, Vice-President for Partnerships and Engagement at Singapore Management University, is nominated for her outstanding contributions to both academic research and public engagement in the field of digital communication. Her work bridges scholarly excellence and societal impact, particularly in understanding how digital technologies affect everyday life, families and youth.

Stine Lomborg describes her as ‘an internationally leading expert and exceptional broker between science and society regarding human communication under shifting technological circumstances’.

- LIM has made foundational contributions to both research and public outreach regarding the social implications of digital communication systems. Her work has carefully examined the cultural specificity of how global technologies are embedded locally and articulated with long-standing cultural traditions, she says.

Stine Lomborg further highlights Sun Sun Lim's deep commitment to bridging academic research with real-world impact, especially in areas of ethical technology use and social equity:

- Sun Sun Lim has consistently maintained engagement with the communities she studies, as well as with national and international institutions influencing research and development in the field of digital communication. In addition to her formal role as Vice-President for the University’s collaboration with external partners, she has entered into a wide range of partnerships oriented toward responsible uses of artificial intelligence (AI), greater support for women in tech, and enhancing the digital rights of children.”