Nanna Kann-Rasmussen

Nanna Kann-Rasmussen serves as Associate Professor and Head of Section for GLAM (Galleries, Libraries, Archives, Museums) at the Department of Communication, Faculty of Humanities, University of Copenhagen. She leads the Velux Foundation-funded research project Post-neutrality in Libraries, Archives and Museums (2024-2029) and teaches master's courses on cultural policy and cultural institutions.

Her research investigates the relationship between cultural institutions and society, focusing on legitimation strategies, organizational dynamics, and leadership evolution. She analyzes how GLAM institutions emphasize user engagement, social relevance, collaborative innovation, and activist identities while navigating shifting policy paradigms. Recent work critically examines the abandonment of neutrality in cultural institutions through the lens of New Public Governance as an alternative to New Public Management frameworks.

Analysis of her 2020-2025 publications reveals dominant themes of institutional legitimation through social justice advocacy, governance paradigm shifts, and the tension between traditional neutrality and contemporary activism. Her work consistently connects theoretical frameworks to empirical studies of libraries, archives, and museums as evolving democratic spaces.

She has received two notable awards:

• Every Reader His Book – Every Book Its Reader?: Notions on Readers’ Advisory and Audience Development in Danish Public Libraries (2015)
• BTJ:s stipendium i Bengt Hjelmquists namn (2008)

Kann-Rasmussen advises master's students in Information Studies and leads a major research project on post-neutrality in GLAM institutions. Her grant portfolio includes the Velux Foundation project and prior research funding. She actively participates in national and international research networks, including collaborations with Lund University and the CEMES theory group.

As Head of Section for GLAM, she coordinates interdisciplinary research on cultural institutions. Her work involves close collaboration with cultural practitioners through workshops like the Second Workshop on Cultural Institutions and the Cultural War (2025), and she contributes to policy development via membership in the Swedish Agency for Cultural Analysis (Myndigheten för Kulturanalys).