Søren Dosenrode is an internationally recognized researcher in international politics and was employed as a professor at the Department of Politics and Society at Aalborg University. His research is centered on the development of the European Union, including integration processes and foreign and security policy. He has published more than 150 scientific contributions, including a long series about Kaj Munk.

During his career, Søren Dosenrode has, among other things, took the initiative to establish the Department of History, International Studies and Social Affairs. He has held many management positions, from head of studies, chairman of Aalborg University Press, coordinator for the government's Council for European Policy, to head of department. Dosenrode has a cand.phil. from the University of Copenhagen and dr.phil. from the University of Zurich.

Together with Peter Øhrstrøm, Søren Dosenrode founded the Kaj Munk research center at the Department of Communication and Psychology in 2005 and continues to be its research leader. Søren Dosenrode brings a strong interdisciplinary approach to the study of Kaj Munk and his contemporaries. Dosenrode will use Kaj Munk as a prism for analyzing issues that have contemporary relevance, such as 'resilience', which is the theme of his inaugural lecture.

Title: Resilience at national and European level - Kaj Munk as an inspiration?

Summary: The period of peace, democracy and prosperity that seemed to envelop the whole world after the end of the Cold War was definitively ended with Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Denmark and Europe are under pressure, there is both war in Europe and in our backyard – the Middle East.

85 years ago, Denmark was also in a tense security situation, where the country was threatened by German aggression. Militarily, Denmark was very weak, practically demilitarized, and still in the aftermath of the economic crisis. One person who saw the seriousness of the situation in the late 1930s was Kaj Munk.

Kaj Munk, priest, playwright, social debater, resistance icon, was an actor who, in the late 1930s, began to prepare the Danes for war and to strengthen their resilience, a task he continued with during the occupation. His approach was national; he tried to strengthen national unity. But he was not a nationalist. He used his drama, journalism, etc. to strengthen the Danes' resilience. Munk was killed in 1944.

How do we build resilience, resilience both against Russian aggression and against the threats resulting from changes in the international system? Can we perhaps learn something from Kaj Munk?