Marie Sandberg

Short presentation

Marie Sandberg is the Head of the Centre for Advanced Migration Studies (AMIS), www.amis.ku.dk and the President of The International Society for Ethnology and Foklore (SIEF), 2021-2025, https://www.siefhome.org

Research projects

“Boundary Work - New interfaces between state and civil society: Volunteerism and refugees in a self-support and repatriation context research network” (Role: PI), a collaboration with DRC Danish Refugee Council, Danish Red Cross, and University College Absalon. Funded by the VELUX Foundations 2021-2024.

Helping Hands. Research Network on the Everyday Border Work of European Citizens (role: PI) (DFF bevilling – 6107-00111)

DIGINAUTS - Migrants' Digital Practices in/of the European Border Regime. Financially supported by the Velux Foundation. Project period: 1.3.2018-1.8.2020 (Role: Co-PI), http://www.en.cgs.aau.dk/research/projects/diginauts/

Research profile

Marie Sandberg’s research focuses on ethnographies on border practices and experiences of borders in everyday life Europe. A general theme in Marie’s work is the study of Europe as a historically burdened and paradoxical ground for creating unity along with diversity. This point of tension is scrutinized through the lens of Europe’s interchangeable borders, from the EU free mobility regime to ongoing rebordering processes. Her main research themes are everyday europeanisation, border and migration practices, and the European border regime. Whether it concerns her research on everyday border practices across the German-Polish border (Sandberg 2009, 2012, 2016), Polish construction workers commuting to Denmark, (Sandberg 2012, 2015, 2016), refugee welcome networks in Northern European locales (Sandberg 2020), or refugees’ digital practices when navigating the European border regime (Sandberg and Mollerup forthcoming), they all serve as ethnographic entrances into studying the ongoing reconfigurations of the European border regime. Her research on everyday europeanisation ‘from below’ is deeply entangled with structural and political framings ‘from above’. As a result, research on such everyday europeanisation practices in ethnographic detail can contribute with new understandings of the continuous reconfigurations of Europe and what ‘European’ can mean.

Marie Sandberg has authored and co-authored several research publications in international renowned peer-reviewed journals (such as Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Journal og Refugee Studies, Migration Studies, Identities, Nordic Journal for Migration Research, Ethnologia Europaea, Journal of Borderland Studies), co-edited volumes, special issues and book series. Among her publications is the book The Border Multiple: The Practicing of Borders between Public Policy and Everyday Life in a Re-scaling Europe (edited together with Dorte J. Andersen & Martin Klatt, 2012, Ashgate Border Regions Series).

Marie Sandberg earned her PhD 2009 at the University of Copenhagen, Ethnology, with the thesis The Present/Absent Border. Europeanisation Processes in a Twin Town on the German-Polish Border. Based on ethnographic fieldwork the thesis depicts how young German and Polish high-school pupils experience living in a European cross-border region.

Since 2003 Marie Sandberg has been teaching courses in Ethnology and of the Master of Applied Cultural Analysis programme on ethnographic methodologies and cultural analytical approaches at the University of Copenhagen. 

Marie Sandberg was joint editor-in-chief of Ethnologia Europaea - Journal of European Ethnology, with Prof. Monique Scheer and Prof. Regina Bendix (co-editor), Göttingen University, 2013-2020.

From 2017-2020 she was evaluating and assessing research applications for The Bank of Sweden Tercentenary Foundation (Riksbankens Jubileumsfond), Sweden (Assessment group B4: Anthropology, Archaeology, Ethnology, History, Religion and Philosophy).

Further, she is a member of IMISCOE board of directors, from 2018-2020 a board member of The International Society of Ethnology and Folklore (SIEF) and Erasmus coordinator of Ethnology, Saxo Institute, UCPH.

Elected representative for Ethnology and Migration Studies in the Faculty Board of the Saxo Institute, 2024-2026. 

Current research

“Boundary Work - New interfaces between state and civil society: Volunteerism and refugees in a self-support and repatriation context research network” (PI), a collaboration with DRC Danish Refugee Council, Danish Red Cross, and University College Absalon. Funded by the VELUX Foundations 2021-2024.

DIGINAUTS - Migrants' Digital Practices in/of the European Border Regime. Financially supported by the Velux Foundation. Project period: 2018-2020 (co-PI). http://www.en.cgs.aau.dk/research/projects/diginauts/

Helping Hands. Research Network on the Everyday Border Work of European Citizens (DFF bevilling – 6107-00111) (PI).

Circular migration in Europe.

CV

CV for Marie Sandberg, Associate professor, MA, PhD

Academic degrees

2009 PhD in European Ethnology, Uni­versity of Copenhagen on The Present/Absent Border. Europeanisation Processes in a Twin Town at the German-Polish Border (in Danish).

2002 MA in European Ethnology, University of Copenhagen. Awarded Gold medal of the University of Copenhagen (Guldmedaljeafhandling).

Academic Positions

2019- Director of the Centre for Advanced Migration Studies (AMIS), UCPH.

2013- Associate Professor in European Ethnology (tenure), UCPH.

2009-2013 Assistant Professor in European Ethnology, UCPH.

2007 Research Assistant, UCPH Research Priority Area “Europe in transition”

2002-2005 Amanuensis, Institute for Archaeology and Ethnology, UCPH.

Parental leave

2006 (12 months), 2009 (10 months).

Teaching Experience and Development

2011-2012 University Teaching Degree (Adjunktpædagogikum), UCPH.

2019- AMIS-director with responsibility for furthering the development of the international Masters’ programme in Advanced Migration Studies (45 students per cohort).

Since 2002, 1200h+ of teaching in the European Ethnology (MA and BA level), MACA and AMIS programmes, incl. supervision of +60 MA theses.

2010 Certified to teach English-medium courses, the Centre for Internationalisation and Parallel Language Use, UCPH.

Internationalisation

2021 Visiting Associate Professor at UBC Center for Migration Studies, University of British Columbia, Canada.

2020 Senior Fellow at Institut für Sozialanthropologie und Empirische Kultur-wissenschaft, University of Zürich.

2012 Visiting Fellow, Nijmegen Centre for Border Research, Radboud University, NL.

2011, 2013 Teaching Staff Mobility, Erasmus, University of Vienna, Europäische Ethnologie.

Memberships and services (a selection)

2021- SIEF president, International Society for Ethnology & Folklore.

2019- IMISCOE board member (International network for migration research).

2017-2020 SIEF board member – International Society for Ethnology & Folklore.

2017-2020 Riksbanken Jubilæumsfond: Member of Assessment Committee B4 (Archaeology, Ethnology, Anthropology, History, Religion and Philosophy).

2014-2020 Editor-in-Chief Ethnologia Europaea - Journal of European Ethnology (co-editor Regina Bendix, University of Göttingen, since 2018 with Monique Scheer, Tübingen University).

2013-2015 Member of Institutrådet for SAXO/Council of SAXO Institute, UCPH.

2013-2014 Vice-chair of Nordic Migration Research (NMR).

2012-2018 Steering board member of the Centre for Advanced Migration Studies (AMIS), Faculty of Humanities, UCPH.

2011- International Erasmus Coordinator, Ethnology, Saxo Institute.

External Funding and Research Management

2022 

2022: VELUX Foundations, HUMpraxis Program: Additional funding Boundary work. New interfaces between state and civil society. Volunteerism and Refugees in a Self-Suffiency and Repatriation Context. Role: PI.

2021-2024 VELUX Foundations, HUMpraxis Program: Boundary work. New interfaces between state and civil society. Volunteerism and Refugees in a Self-Suffiency and Repatriation Context. Role: PI.

2020 FSE Forskningsophold i udlandet 2021: Research stay at the University of British Columbia, Canada (DFF/0166-00015B) Role: PI.

2017-2019 DFF Forskernetværk: Helping Hands - Research Network on the Everyday Border Work of European Citizens. Funded by the Danish Research Council for Independent Research (DFF/6107-00111). Role: PI. 

2018-2020 VELUX core-group: Diginauts: Migrants’ digital practices in/of the European border regime (project No. 169995). Role: co-PI.  

2017 Leading Research in a University Setting, Project management course UCPH.

2016 UCPH Puljen for Uddannelsesinitiativer: Forsknings-undervisningsintegration i praksis. PI, prof. mso Tine Damsholt. Role: Research project manager. 

2011 UCPH priority area ‘Education at its Best’: “Working migration in Europe” – a teaching-based research project. Role: PI. 

NOP-HS grant 2015, 2017, 2019 Ethnologia Europaea – Journal of European Ethnology. Role: PI.

2014 Einar Hansen’s Research Foundation: Workshop series. Role: PI.