Bjarne Sode Funch

Bjarne Sode Funch serves as Associate Professor in psychological aesthetics at Roskilde University and Honorary Professor at the University of Copenhagen's Department of Psychology, alongside his role as Senior Researcher at Esbjerg Art Museum. A 2015-2016 Templeton Fellow at Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Study, his work bridges academic psychology with practical museum education and curatorial programs.

His research centers on existential-phenomenological approaches to art appreciation and creativity, examining how aesthetic experiences constitute fleeting emotions to enhance existential well-being. Key interests include psychological aesthetics, phenomenology, museum ethics, silence as existential utopia, and emotional integrity through art engagement. His theoretical framework challenges cognitive psychology by emphasizing art's transcendent emotional dimensions.

Recent publications reveal strong interdisciplinary trends connecting psychology, philosophy, and museum studies. His 2023-2025 works analyze microgenesis of art experiences, unsettling art impacts, and emotion-language relationships, consistently applying phenomenological methods to case studies of artists and specific artworks like Matisse's Vence Chapel.

Scientific recognition includes:

• Templeton Fellow (2015-2016) at Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Study

Funch actively participates in University of Copenhagen's "Nature of the Aesthetic Experience" project and Esbjerg Art Museum's curatorial studies, collaborating through networks like the Society for Existential-Phenomenology. His institutional affiliations span the American Society for Aesthetics, International Council of Museums, European Society for Aesthetics, American Psychological Association, and British Society for Aesthetics.

He leads research teams focusing on existential-phenomenological methodologies in museum contexts, with current projects exploring confrontational drama ethics and silence as therapeutic utopia in gallery spaces.