Astrid Rasch
Background and activities
I'm an Associate Professor of Anglophone Cultural Studies at the Department of Language and Literature. I hold a master and a PhD in English from the University of Copenhagen. In addition, I have studied at Monash University, Melbourne and been a visiting doctoral fellow at Wolfson College, University of Oxford. I am a co-chair of the Nordic regional group of the Memory Studies Association.
I teach the courses ENG1404 (Britain and the World after 1945) and ENG2455 (Memory Politics After Empire). In addition, I am happy to supervise masters theses within the areas of society and culture of the English-speaking world, postcolonial studies, imperial history, and modern literature, in particular life writing and postcolonial literature.
Professional interests
- Memory politics
- Decolonisation
- British, Australian, Caribbean and Zimbabwean history and society
- Autobiography
- Nostalgia
- Online memory culture
Research projects
- Leader of research project: Trondheim Analytica (2018-2022)
- Leader of research network: Literatures of Change: Culture and Politics in Southern Africa (2019-2021)
- Leader of research network: Decolonial Research Group (2018-2020)
- Member of research project: The Embers of Empire (2013-2018)
- PhD fellow: Autobiography After Empire: Individual and Collective Memory in Dialogue (2013-2016)
Editorial work
- Editor of the anthology Embers of Empire in Brexit Britain (with Stuart Ward, 2019)
- Editor of special issue of Life Writing (2016)
- Guest editor of Kvinden&Samfundet (Woman and Society) (2009)
Scholarly and professional work
I provide expert commentary on British and Zimbabwean affairs on Danish national television and radio.
Together with colleagues and students, I have helped set up platforms for Scandinavian students and researchers concerned about climate change. I have written op-eds on the narrative challenges of tackling climate change.
PhD students
Anna Bil-Jaruzelska: Emotion and Identity Politics on Social Media
Tóra Djurhuus: The Legacy of the Past in Brexit Britain (primary supervisor: Sara Dybris McQuaid)
Kristine Graneng: Migration sentiments and attitudes towards European integration: Migration discourses in EU referenda (primary supervisor: Pieter de Wilde)
Scientific, academic and artistic work
Displaying a selection of activities. See all publications in the database
Journal publications
- (2019) “Keep the balance”: The Politics of Remembering Empire in Post-Colonial Britain. Journal of Commonwealth and Postcolonial Studies. vol. 7 (2).
- (2018) Ansvarsmanual i klimaforandringernes tid. Erhvervshåndbogen Klimaledelse.
- (2018) Postcolonial Nostalgia: The Ambiguities of White Memoirs of Zimbabwe. History and Memory. vol. 30 (2).
- (2018) Smartphones imod klimaforandringer. Weekendavisen.
- (2018) The Family Connection: White Expatriate Memoirs of Zimbabwe. Journal of Southern African Studies. vol. 44 (5).
- (2018) Vor tids største udfordring er klimaforandringerne. Dagbladet Politiken.
- (2017) Review: How Empire Shaped Us, edited by Antoinette Burton and Dane Kennedy. Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History. vol. 45 (1).
- (2016) Editorial: Life Writing After Empire. Life Writing. vol. 13 (2).
- (2016) 'This Union-Jacked Time': Memories of Education as Post-Imperial Positioning. Life Writing. vol. 13 (2).
- (2015) A Postcolonial Education: Using End of Empire Autobiographies to Introduce Postcolonial Studies. European journal of life writing. vol. 4.
- (2015) Et undervisningsforløb om uddannelse i postkoloniale selvbiografier. Anglo Files - Journal of English Teaching. vol. 176.
Books
- (2019) Embers of Empire in Brexit Britain. Bloomsbury Academic. 2019. ISBN 9781350113794.
- (2017) Life Writing After Empire. Routledge. 2017. ISBN 978-1-138-22321-9.
Report/dissertation
- (2016) Autobiography After Empire: Individual and Collective Memory in Dialogue. 2016.