Panel Debate and Reception with SDU’s Honorary Doctors of 2026

As the University of Southern Denmark (SDU) marks its 60th anniversary, we invite you to a special DIAS event with this year's SDU Honorary Doctors.

Six distinguished scholars come together to reflect on a question that feels more urgent than ever:
What should a university be in a changing world?

Across the globe, universities are being challenged, and some politically attacked. Their purpose is debated, their value to society questioned. At the same time, new technologies are reshaping how we produce, share, and recognise knowledge – raising deeper questions about what and how we teach, how we collaborate, and whose contributions are seen.

Inside academia, the culture of research is also evolving. Where most careers traditionally followed individual paths, they now unfold in more collaborative environments, bringing new energy, but also new uncertainties. What does mentorship look like when success is no longer about standing out alone, but about navigating complexity together? How do we support early-career researchers
in a system where only some will stay, and many will move beyond academia?

This conversation brings these tensions into the open. The SDU Honorary Doctors will explore:

• The contested value of higher education and the university's role as a public institution
• The ethics and changing nature of academic collaboration and mentorship
• How technological and societal shifts are reshaping research and education

The event is open to all: students, staff, alumni, and anyone interested in the future of knowledge.

As SDU turns 60, join us in reflecting, questioning, and imagining what the university can become
next.

Honorary Doctors of 2026

HUM: Prof. Amanda Lagerkvist, Uppsala Universitet
NAT: Prof. Kimberly Ann Kline, University of Geneva
SAMF: Prof. Scott Cummings, UCLA School of Law
SBS: Prof. Bernard Cova, ESCE International Business School
SUND: Prof. and Dean Deanna L. Kroetz, Ohio State University
TEK: Dr.techn. Lorie Hamelin, University of Toulouse

The debate will be moderated by Ben Davies, DIAS Chair of Humanities, and Samuel Cushman, DIAS Chair of Science.