Nikolaj Bjerggaard Olesen

Nikolaj Bjerggaard Olesen is a PhD Fellow at the Department of English, Germanic and Romance Studies within the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Copenhagen. He conducts research on the project "Danish-German Cultures, 1773-1864: Conflict and Cohesion", funded by Danmarks Frie Forskningsfond (Danish Council for Independent Research).

His educational background includes:

• MA in History from Humboldt University of Berlin (2022)
• BA in History and German from Aarhus University (2017)

Mr. Olesen's research centers on Modern European History through the lens of Cultural History and Sensory History. He applies practice theory to analyze 19th-century Danish-German border region dynamics, focusing on petitions to authorities as expressions of marginalized social practices. His methodology couples practical genre theory with examinations of faultlines in dominant historical narratives, extending to prior work on the German workers' movement and history of democracy.

Recent academic engagements include:

• Participant in "Conflict and Cooperation in the Baltic Sea Region after the Congress of Vienna (1815)" conference (27-29 September 2024)
• Participant in HiSoN Summer School (15-20 July 2024)
• Participant in "Nationalism and Memory" conference (7-9 April 2024)

He previously served as a research assistant at Goldsmiths, University of London, contributing to Professor Alexander Watson's work on the 1932 German federal election. His current project represents a significant contribution to reinterpreting cross-border cultural cohesion through neglected social practices.