A Summer Message from the Head of School

Dear everyone,

A few weeks ago, I attended Folkemødet on the island of Bornholm. The sun was shining, the town was buzzing with debates, music, conversations and, of course, plenty of coffee and beer. Most importantly, it was full of people meeting other people.

On the long ferry ride home, I found myself reflecting on what had stayed with me. What had really made an impression.

This year, we brought a group of our students with us. On the final day, we asked them what they had found most inspiring, provocative or memorable.

One student mentioned a conversation about formative reading, where audience members shared stories about the books that had shaped who they had become. Another said that the most interesting moments were those where they encountered viewpoints completely different from their own – while the least interesting were the panels where everyone already agreed. A third reflected that the best conversations were those held with people rather than about people.

Their reflections captured something fundamental about the work we do every day.

Another thing struck me during the festival. Across the many debates I attended, one recurring theme emerged: while regulation, policy and technology all matter, they are rarely enough on their own. Again and again, the conversations returned to something more fundamental: trust, community and human relationships.

A debate on AI and misinformation was not only about technology or regulation. It was also about trust – how we know what to believe, who is speaking, and how information is produced.

A discussion about restricting screen time at Danish boarding schools was not simply about rules. It was about young people's everyday lives: about sleep, belonging, participation and creating environments where students feel both respected and included. The students themselves took part in the debate – some confidently, others more hesitantly – but all of them were listened to.

In another panel, the topic was dementia. Naturally, the discussion covered healthcare and care systems, but it also centred on dignity, empathy and what it means to meet one another as fellow human beings.

A moving quote from Majse Njord's podcast described how living with dementia might feel:

"Sometimes I think living with dementia must be like being very drunk all the time – unable to remember or even find your keys. That must be deeply uncomfortable. It is we who need to change, because asking people with dementia to be different is like asking someone with two broken legs to simply get up and walk."

During the session, a local dementia choir joined us, and together we sang. Afterwards, members of the choir shared that they had rarely felt so seen, heard and included.

That moment stayed with me.

On the ferry home, I realised that while structures, policies and regulation are part of the answer to many of society's challenges, they are rarely the whole answer.

The stronger answer is our ability to build and sustain communities.

Communities strengthened by trustworthy journalism and equal access to knowledge. Communities where young people experience that their voices matter and that they can influence the world around them. Communities created through shared cultural experiences, like the moving moments we experienced through music that afternoon.

In many ways, this brought me back to what our students had reflected on.

The formative power of art, stories and culture.

Our ability to disagree constructively.

Our ability to speak with people rather than about them.

To me, these ideas capture the very essence of what we do at the School of Communication and Culture.

The questions we work with every day – culture, language, media, technology, democracy, health, wellbeing and education – are never only about systems, concepts or policies.

They are about people.

Your work matters. Not only to our School or to Aarhus University, but because the knowledge you create, the perspectives you offer and the graduates you educate make a genuine difference to society.

As we celebrate another academic year together, I hope you will enjoy each other's company this evening. We have tried to create an occasion where you can reconnect, challenge one another and simply enjoy being together.

And after tonight, I hope you all have the opportunity to spend time with the communities that matter most outside the university: your families, your friends and the people you care about.

Thank you for everything you have contributed this year.

Have a wonderful celebration, and I wish you all a very happy and restful summer. Cheers.