Professor Poul Duedahl after 21 years at AAU: The plan was actually only to stay for three years (2024)

By Lea Laursen Pasgaard, AAU Communication and Public Affairs.
Photo: Anders Bach

Poul Duedahl has always been interested in the past. In the beginning, his plan was to become an archaeologist, but at the age of 13 he went with the National Museum on an excavation and discovered how miserable the weather is in Denmark. That changed the plans.

"I was drenched seven days in a row. It was then that I decided to sit indoors and study documents closely instead. And, oh yes, history is the experience of mankind where you will find the answer to most of what you as a human being will ever need to know," says Poul Duedahl, Professor of History in the Department of Politics and Society at AAU.

This year, the university celebrates its 50th anniversary, and Poul Duedahl is one of the AAU staff members interviewed by AAU Update about their relationship with and view of AAU – as well as wishes for the future of the workplace. Why did they end up at AAU – and why are they still here? The series will be published on AAU Update during the new semester.

Freedom and an inner urge to write

According to Poul Duedahl, it was luck and chance that led to his getting a job at AAU 21 years ago. He was born and raised in Fredericia and studied history at the University of Southern Denmark in Odense. On the same day he defended his Master’s thesis, he was offered a job as an archivist at Odense City Archives.

"I could really just have stayed there. But I have an inner drive – an urge to write – that required better opportunities to develop, so after a few years I looked for something more. But there was only one available PhD scholarship in history to be found in the country, and that was in Aalborg. I applied and got it," says Poul Duedahl.

The agreement with his wife was that the couple would only stay in Aalborg for the three years that the scholarship ran. But during those three years, they had children and career opportunities. They were fond of the town and the North Jutland nature. Poul Duedahl has since been offered attractive jobs, but ultimately came to the conclusion that the cost would be saying goodbye to the extensive freedom he has in Aalborg.

"I wouldn’t trade it for a fancy title or a posh official residence. That’s the explanation," explains the professor.

Freedom and flexibility are what Poul Duedahl likes most about his work. But the degree of it varies constantly.

"Managers who give their staff the peace of mind to do research and communicate it, and trust that they are the best at managing their own time, are the ones who have given me the greatest job satisfaction – and made me the most productive – over the years. Micromanagement, on the other hand, was created by the devil," says Poul Duedahl.

"And then there are the students. I love teaching. But I like the brand-new students, who come swarming in September with an open mind, the joy of anticipation, their interest and curiosity, the most. When you light a spark in their eyes, job satisfaction follows automatically, he adds.

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As a first-generation academic, I still feel a little proud to be employed at the university that contains the most pattern-breakers.

Poul Duedahl, professor in history at AAU.

Bigger and streamlined

The university has changed a lot in the 21 years that Poul Duedahl has been a part of it. First and foremost, in terms of size.

"When I arrived, then rector Sven Caspersen walked around and talked to each staff member in the days leading up to Christmas. That is no longer possible. But age also does something good. When I got here, there were still many people outside Northern Jutland who had never heard of AAU and wrinkled their nose a bit. That is no longer the case. It helps to have a little on your CV," says Poul Duedahl.

He believes that AAU has become more streamlined over the years in many ways, and that the university today is very similar to universities found elsewhere.

"Perhaps even because other universities have largely copied AAU's ideas about socially relevant research and the group work that makes a big difference for students. Both in terms of learning and social life. And the importance the university has had for the city cannot be overestimated. We moved to a slightly run-down industrial city and are now in a cool knowledge city," says the history professor.

Pride is mostly something Poul Duedahl associates with his children and his books, but he is always happy when AAU or colleagues do well:

"As a first-generation academic, I still feel a little proud to be employed at the university that contains the most pattern-breakers. And I keep up with what’s going on and I think it's great for all of us when colleagues are doing well, and they create vaccines and relieve pain – or write a groundbreaking book," he explains.

Poul Duedahl is always modest when it comes to the future, something he himself sees as an occupational hazard of being a historian. When asked what wishes he has for his university's future, the answer is a little peace politically and a bit fewer new ministers.

"We’ve had many of them, and every time we get a new one, an agenda is set by doing away with that of the predecessor. I hope that basic funds will be distributed more evenly across the country, and that the geographical bias that still characterizes foundations that should actually benefit the whole of Denmark will go the way of the dinosaurs. And I hope that the university will maintain its extensive self-management, which in my view is what has made AAU most attractive in the past 50 years of history," he says.