Tim Flohr Sørensen

Tim Flohr Sørensen is an Associate Professor of Contemporary Archaeology and Archaeological Theory at the Saxo Institute, Faculty of Humanities, University of Copenhagen. He also serves as Member of the Research Committee at the Saxo Institute, Director of The Hub for Speculative Fabulations upon Incidental Observations, President for the national corps of censors for archaeology and heritage studies, Board member of Dialogues with the Past (the Nordic PhD school in archaeology), and Panel member for the Swedish Research Council.

Sørensen's research belongs within contemporary and temporary archaeology with roots in feminist theory, focusing on epistemology and aesthetics. His empirical work examines contemporary ecologies—ruinous, post-industrial architecture and Anthropocene landscapes, along with everyday epiphenomena encountered in highways and byways. He specifically investigates neglectable objects that seem culturally insignificant but remain present—'stray finds,' 'out of context,' or 'miscellanea'—that are typically disregarded as irrelevant despite their presence. His ambition is to develop an archaeology that creates space for encounters with incidental objects through subjective, speculative fabulation rather than systematic documentation.

The Hub for Speculative Fabulations, which he directs, explores the topography of the neglected through unplanned trails, with hesitation and doubt as primary methods. This work has produced the Insignificants series (2019-2020) and the anthology Miscellanea: A cabinet of curiosities (2023). He is also completing a book on 'the trace' as a core concept for archaeological knowledge, supported by a Carlsberg Foundation grant.

His recent publications reveal consistent thematic focus on uncertainty, trace, materiality, and speculative approaches to archaeological knowledge, with articles appearing in journals such as Cambridge Archaeological Journal, Archaeological Dialogues, and Landscape Research. These works demonstrate his distinctive approach to archaeological epistemology that questions how knowledge is possible when traces are characterized by absence, fragmentation, vagueness, and tracelessness.

• Erik Westerby Foundation Travel Grant 2025
• Einar Hansen's Research Foundation: 2024 Award for Outstanding Humanistic Research
• Carlsberg Foundation Monograph Fellowship 2022 (DKK 780,220)

Sørensen teaches theoretical courses at BA and Master's levels and supervises students. He serves as main supervisor for three PhD students and has co-supervised seven graduated PhD students from institutions including the University of Copenhagen, Aarhus University, and associated museums. His fieldwork spans contemporary landscapes and ruins across Denmark, Sweden, Turkey, and South Africa, with recent focus on incidental observations of insignificant objects and ruin research in various locations.