2025/06/13 by Maria Simonsen · 1 voice
Social Sciences · #Academic Freedom and Politics
paper · doi:10.1515/9783111636726-008
openalex publication_date 2025/06/13 · openalex created_date 2025/10/11 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/02
The 1950s and 1960s witnessed a global expansion of modern universities aiming to reform pedagogical, research, and governance practices in higher educa-tion. Established in the mid-1970s, Aalborg University was among Denmark’s last re-form universities to be created at the tail end of this period. In 2024, the university celebrated its fiftieth anniversary, which was marked by a series of jubilee events and the publication of At bygge et universitet: Aalborg Universitet 1974–2024, an ac-count of its historical trajectory that I co-authored with Mogens Rüdiger. The article reflects on the process of writing this book, while emphasising the unique challenges and opportunities we faced when documenting the history of Aalborg University in the absence of a centralised university archive, from piecing together dispersed sour-ces to integrating diverse voices often overlooked in the conventional biographical narratives of more traditional universities. Situating the rapid expansion of Aalborg University within its broader social context required a broad narrative approach il-lustrating how the study of a modern university can enrich univ