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Nanna Kaalund

@nannaklk.bsky.social
540 followers 302 following 60 posts

Historian of science, medicine, and exploration, with a focus on material culture and the politics of knowledge-making. Postdoc in stakeholder engagement in museums at Medical Museion, University of Copenhagen

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Nanna Kaalund @nannaklk.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
We are online for our conference Medicine, Museum and Science Communication in the Nineteenth Century, with the VP of @incsa.bsky.social kicking off the day
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Nanna Kaalund @nannaklk.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
A highlight of my trip to Edinburgh for #ESHS-HSS was seeing Phoebe Anna Traquair’s amazing needle work. Absolute goals. I’ve got so much to learn
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Nanna Kaalund @nannaklk.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
The party doesn't end in Edinburgh #ESHS-HSS! Join us in Copenhagen, either online or in-person, on Monday 20 July for the conference "Medicine, Museums, and Science Communication in the Nineteenth-Century". We have a wonderful program, and registration is free. eventsignup.ku.dk/medicinemuse...
Conference Program: 20 July 2026

Welcome and Opening Remarks
09:00-9:20

Nanna Kaalund and Cora Salkovskis, “Welcome and opening remarks”, (Medical Museion, University of Copenhagen)

Efram Sera-Shriar, “Welcome from INCSA”, (Vice-President of INCSA, University of Copenhagen)

Session 1: Medicine, Mobility, and the Making of Knowledge Across Borders
Chair: Adam Bencard (University of Copenhagen)
09:20–10:40

Sorin Grigoruță (A. D. Xenopol Institute of History / New Europe College), “Physicians, Transfer of Knowledge and the Beginnings of the First Museum in the Romanian Extra-Carpathian Space”

Alicja Urbanik-Kopeć (Institute for the History of Science, Polish Academy of Sciences), “Teodora Krajewska – Community, Care, Teaching and the “‘Other’”

Lucy Hyde (University of Bristol), “The Entanglement of Medicine, Museums, and Public Communication in the Case of John Horwood”

Coffee Break: 10:40–11:00

Session 2: Domesticating Medicine: Gender and Popular Health Cultures
Chair: Efram Sera-Shriar (University of Copenhagen)
11:00–12:25

Shatavisha Mustafi (Nayanta University) and Sayan Das (Jawaharlal Nehru University), “Re-visualising Bodies | Re-rooting Self: Medical Advertisements and the Imagination of the Modern Self in Nineteenth-Century Bengal”

Carlo Bovolo (Società di Studi Valdes), “Healing Bodies, Educating Souls: The Popularization of Medicine in Italian Protestant Youth Periodicals” 
Doel Chakraborty (Indian Institute of Technology Madras), “Healing at Home: Vernacular Medical Print and the Circulation of Gynaecological Knowledge in Colonial Bengal

Lunch 12:25–13:20

Session 3: Bodies on Display: Museums, Ethics, and Spectacle
Chair: Kaija-Liisa Koovit (University of Copenhagen)
13:20–14:45

Nanna Kaalund (University of Copenhagen), “From Display to Diagnosis: Elastic Bodies and the Making of Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome”

Cora Salkovskis (University of Copenhagen), “‘Morbid Appetites’: Credibility, Selfhood, and the Girls Who ‘Swallowed’ Needles in The Lancet, 1850–1911”

Rebecka Klette (Birkbeck, University of London), “Genealogical Crossroads: Family History Methodologies and Research Ethics in the Case of the Murderer Philipsen”

Charlotte White (Newcastle University), “Preserve, Protect, Punish: Reevaluating Public Health and Public History through the Use of Tuberculosis Posters” 

Coffee Break 14:45–15:00

Session 4: Visualising Medicine: Art, Objects, and the Communication of the Body
Chair: Tine Friis (University of Copenhagen)
15:00–16:00

Allison Morehead (Queen's University) and Phil Loring (National Medical Museum, Teknisk Museum), “Family Medicine: Visualizing and Materializing Nineteenth-Century Medicine in the Early Work of Edvard Munch”

Jessica M. Dandona (Minneapolis College of Art and Design), “Maison Tramond's Wax Models of the Female Body: Anatomical Venus or Memento Mori?” 

Keynote Lecture
Chair: Cora Salkovskis (University of Copenhagen)
16:00–17:00

Katherine Ott (Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History) and Lilla Vekerdy (Smithsonian Libraries and Archives), “Understanding 19th Century Embodiment Through Medical Material Culture”
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Nanna Kaalund @nannaklk.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
I can really recommend the NMS special exhibit ‘Giants’, it’s very well done #ESHS-HSS
Photograph of the entrance to the exhibit Giants
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Nanna Kaalund @nannaklk.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
It’s wonderful to be in Edinburgh for #ESHS-HSS The amount of sessions is a bit overwhelming, it’ll be difficult to decide which to attend!
Photo of a fountain with a view of Edinburgh castle in the background
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Nanna Kaalund @nannaklk.bsky.social · 12/03/2026
I’m back! Because I just remembered this ridiculous thing, and I don’t think I ever shared it. So almost 15 years ago we went on our honey moon to Chicago. We were super tired and hungry, and went into the first restaurant we saw - it looked like a lovely Scottish pub. Wonderful!
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Advances in Nineteenth-Century Research Journal @advancesjournal.bsky.social · 25/03/2025
Have you heard or seen any recordings inspired by/from the 19th century recently? A period film or TV series? A music album? A documentary or biopic? A streamed 19th c. theatre piece? A podcast? We're looking to publish recordings reviews - email hannah.scott at ncl. ac. uk for more info! 📃
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Nanna Kaalund @nannaklk.bsky.social · 28/03/2025
We have a brand new exhibit ‘Teeth’ at the Medical Museion, University of Copenhagen. It explores the curious connections between the mouth and the rest of the body.
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CNCSI @cncsi.bsky.social · 28/02/2025
🦠 Contagion and Contamination in the Nineteenth Century, a free and online one-day interdisciplinary workshop. Thursday 1 May, 9.00am – 5.00pm (Central European Time). For the full program and to register for the workshop, visit: cn-csi.com/event/contag...
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Nanna Kaalund @nannaklk.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
It is great to have Greg Radick visit Copenhagen for the Metabolism Day, where he is giving a talk on “Mendel’s Peas” - really highlighting the value of the history of science and medicine #md25
Photograph of stage showing three screens, including with the title of Greg’s talk “Mensel’s Peas as Exemplar or Exception?”
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Nanna Kaalund @nannaklk.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
We all know that mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell, but what about “metabolism keeps mitochondria in leash”? Fascinating start to Metabolism Day #md25
Photograph of the presenter stage at metabolism day, with they view of screens that project summary of research
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Nanna Kaalund @nannaklk.bsky.social · 06/01/2025
Trump’s whole ‘let’s buy Greenland’ thing is an obvious gimmick, *but* the danish government really ought to take the fact seriously that it might be rather attractive for Greenland to align itself with other nations
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Nanna Kaalund @nannaklk.bsky.social · 17/12/2024
My new toxic personality trait is to log into Facebook and block every single advertisement/sponsored post in my feed, rather than just installing an ad blocker… 🤡😅
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Nanna Kaalund @nannaklk.bsky.social · 14/12/2024
Visited the parents’ cottage, and was treated to a cold, wet, and windy (but prettily moonlit) walk on the beach. I’m not sure when we’ve last had any proper sunlight ☁️🌕☁️
Photo of beach, where the ocean is to the right hand side and the coast is to the left. The coastline is rugged with lots of wilted foliage. The sky is dark and you can see the moon
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Nanna Kaalund @nannaklk.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
My kiddo learned about adoption and rainbow families ages ago - but we only just realised that the main point ‘families comes in all shapes’ somehow got confused, when he asked if we could please buy a little brother at the baby shop for Xmas…
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Nanna Kaalund @nannaklk.bsky.social · 28/11/2024
Nuuk has a new international airport! When I visited a few years ago I had a layover in Kangerlussuaq before flying to Nuuk - that meant I was able to book a guided tour to the inland ice. The new airport is sure to change the tourist landscape in many ways. Exciting!
Photo of a hand holding a piece of ice that looks like a bird. In the background you can see partially melted ice sheet
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Nanna Kaalund @nannaklk.bsky.social · 19/11/2024
It was a pleasure to participate in the Metabolism in Action, where we contributed with a hands-on object based learning session using a small timekeeper which was used by danish medical caregivers in the 1950s and 60s.
Photograph of the object that was used in an object based learning session. The object is a timekeeper that was used by healthcare practitioners in the 1950s and 60sPhotograph of a large screen with a PowerPoint slide. The slide has the title ‘an insight into medical musion’s object based learning work’
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Nanna Kaalund @nannaklk.bsky.social · 19/11/2024
I’m at the gorgeous Favrholm campus for the Metabolism In Action conference (a Novo Nordisk Foundation Science Cluster event). The Medical Museion is contributing with an object learning session later today
Photograph of the front entrance to Favrholm campus, it’s an only white building with thatched roof and walkway towards the entrance
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Nanna Kaalund @nannaklk.bsky.social · 16/11/2024
I was recently in Bengaluru, India, where I met with the amazing folks at the Science Gallery Bengaluru, the Museum of Art and Photography, NIMHANS and BIC (and many more!).
Photo of a woman petting a cow, while standing in the middle of a side street in Bengaluru. There’s also a green and yellow tuk tuk to the side.
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Nanna Kaalund @nannaklk.bsky.social · 30/11/2023
Some 14 years ago, I worked the Aarhus University booth at the Bright Green expo during COP15 in Copenhagen. Everyone seemed so full of hope and excitement - as if the climate summit was actually going to change things. Now with COP28 under way it feels more like stalling for time we never had.
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Nanna Kaalund @nannaklk.bsky.social · 28/11/2023
My thermal running tights were no match for the icy wind today - I think I’ll have to shelve my ocean running route until spring… But it sure is pretty out! ❄️
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Nanna Kaalund @nannaklk.bsky.social · 18/11/2023
I did something fun today, and participated in my karate club’s tournament. To my surprise, I placed 3rd in the beginner category! And now I’m so sore I think I’ll have to stay in bed until next weekend
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Nanna Kaalund @nannaklk.bsky.social · 15/11/2023
My kiddo complained that his primary teacher, a woman in her 50s, didn’t know Street Fighter, so I said maybe some of the younger TA’s knew the game. He responded “Yeah. My teacher is really old, she is like 25” 😁
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Nanna Kaalund @nannaklk.bsky.social · 14/11/2023
I just discovered that a fantasy author I really like was an original Archive Of Our Own writer, and wrote (pretty steamy) HP/ fanfic. So much of that old fanfic was better than the canon, it’s been such fun to re-read a few of them
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Nanna Kaalund @nannaklk.bsky.social · 31/10/2023
Halloween is really taking off in Denmark, and has now surpassed the old trick or treating holiday ‘fastelavn’ (carnival), according to grocery store surveys. When I was a kid, Halloween was a niche holiday - it’s funny how things change! I love it, and our neighbourhood goes all out!
Photo of a Halloween decoration. It looks like someone got squished in a car garage door, kinda like in the movie ScreamPhoto of a Halloween decoration. It’s a full size skeleton of an adult human, cradling a giant pumpkin
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Nanna Kaalund @nannaklk.bsky.social · 31/10/2023
I’m really looking excited about the Monsters in the 19th Century online workshop, which is happening online right now! It’s co-hosted by CNCSI and the Dark Arts Research Group at Copenhagen Uni cn-csi.com/event/monste...
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Nanna Kaalund @nannaklk.bsky.social · 25/10/2023
I had the opportunity to visit the Humboldt Forum in Berlin recently. Parts of the ethnological exhibitions have been redone/made with the aim of decolonialism as methodological practice, and it was thought provoking to see the contrast to the ‘traditionally’ curated sections.
Photo from the Humboldt Forum. Object description at museum reads “Narrative reliefs of Angkor Wat (plaster casts) Cambodia, Angkor Wat 12th c. (original), 1983-1984 (cast) plaster cast produced from paper moulds from 1898”Alt text: THE MUSEUM AS A PLACE OF KNOWLEDGE PRODUCTION

Museums are reflections of the colonial and racist world order of the nineteenth century. Objects of European "art" and "history" were collected in specific museums. In contrast, art and cultural objects from Asia, Africa, the Americas, Oceania and Australia were degraded to "ethnographica" and their societies of origin discredited as "with- out art" and "without history".

The Königliches Museum für Völkerkunde (Royal Museum for

Ethnology), which opened in 1886, sought to acquire and classify as many artefacts as possible. To this end, museum employees established networks with museums all over the world and maintained special relationships with members of the military, settlers, missio- naries and scientists in the colonised regions. A Federal Council (Bundesrat) resolution of 1889 designated the museum as the central "collection point" for "ethnographic objects" from the colonies. The Berlin ethnologists even condoned the use
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Nanna Kaalund @nannaklk.bsky.social · 12/10/2023
It’s super windy, so there was lots of sea glass at the beach today! I often wonder if the glass we find at the beach here comes from the danish or swedish side of the water
Photograph of the Bellevue Beach lighthouse, showing the blue ocean and stormy skyPhotograph of hands holding a variety of sea glass, with the ocean in the background
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Dolly Jørgensen @dollyjorgensen.bsky.social · 02/10/2023
The journal Environmental Humanities (which I co-edit) is looking for some new Associate Editors, including new editors for our Living Lexicon series. Applications due by Nov 3. See environmentalhumanities.org for more details. #envhum
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Efram Sera-Shriar @dreframss.bsky.social · 03/10/2023
I'm delighted to share the details of our conference: "Occultism and Popular Culture in Europe" at the University of Copenhagen in November 2023. It is a wonderful range of topics. Details 👇 engerom.ku.dk/english/cale...
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Nanna Kaalund @nannaklk.bsky.social · 28/09/2023
23c, bright sun and a light breeze - it’s a perfect mild summer day at the beach …except it’s almost October 🤯
Photo of the ocean, taken from a low ground at the beach, showing the sand and water meetPhoto of Bellevue beach, showing the iconic lighthouse
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Nanna Kaalund @nannaklk.bsky.social · 23/09/2023
I bumped into an old Kaalund today
Statue of HV KaalundA woman standing in front of the HV Kaalund statue
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Efram Sera-Shriar @dreframss.bsky.social · 22/09/2023
I am delighted to share the news that INCSA has founded a new journal *Advances in Nineteenth-Century Research* and I look forward to being one of the co-editors. Details 👇 in-csa.com/publications/
in-csa.com
Publications – International Nineteenth-Century Studies Association
PUBLICATIONSINCSA announces a new journal: Advances in Nineteenth-Century Research: The Journal of the International Nineteenth-Century Studies Association (subject to final contract).INCSA also has a...
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Nanna Kaalund @nannaklk.bsky.social · 22/09/2023
My lunchtime walk was beautiful again today. It’s finally starting to feel like autumn - a big change from last weekend’s bikini weather to this weekend’s wellies and coats.
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Nanna Kaalund @nannaklk.bsky.social · 22/09/2023
What a week, I’ve just submitted the final proofs to another book chapter! This chapter is on Josephine Diebitsch-Peary, for a really fantastic edited volume ‘Communicating I’ve through Popular Art and Aesthetics’ 🥳
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Nanna Kaalund @nannaklk.bsky.social · 19/09/2023
My lunchtime walk was particularly beautiful today. Living by the ocean is amazing.
Photo of an ocean shore line. In tbe front are rocks, heading down to the water. The water is incredibly blue, and there is a seagull swimming in tbe center of the photograph
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Nanna Kaalund @nannaklk.bsky.social · 14/09/2023
I’m going through copy edits to a chapter I have written for a book edited by Bernard Lightman and @dreframss.bsky.social. The book is called Victorian Interdisciplinarity - and its looking really great! I can’t wait to be able to share it with you all.
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Nanna Kaalund @nannaklk.bsky.social · 14/09/2023
Viktoria put her one brain cell into overdrive to decide whether it was worth it to attack my hair or not
Photograph of a cat, staring at a woman who is looking back at it. The cat is a tabby, orangey, forest cat. The cat is sitting higher than the woman, and is looking down at her
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Innes M. Keighren @inneskeighren.bsky.social · 12/09/2023
Registration is now open: www.history.ac.uk/seminars/lon...
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Nanna Kaalund @nannaklk.bsky.social · 08/09/2023
It was amazing to watch the sun burn through the heavy fog this morning. It’s supposed to be very hot later today
Photo of ocean and beach. It’s difficult to see anything because of heavy fogPhoto of ocean and shore. In the horizon you can see the sun burn through the fog. To the right in the image you can see the Knud Rasmussen statue
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Nanna Kaalund @nannaklk.bsky.social · 08/09/2023
There are items from the Arctic in collections all over the world. In my newest blogpost, I consider what a children's sealskin outfit in the British Museum tell us about the history of the monopoly trade in Greenland. Check it out and let me know what you think! trading-stories.com/kgh-in-20-ob...
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Nanna Kaalund @nannaklk.bsky.social · 06/09/2023
For those who don’t follow me on the other site, my cat’s name is Viktoria and she always looks like a queen
Photograph of a tabby Siberian cat, sitting in a beige hammock in a cat tree. The cat is sitting like in a lounge chair and is very pretty
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Nanna Kaalund @nannaklk.bsky.social · 30/08/2023
Hello everyone! am a historian of science, exploration, and literature, with a special interest in the Arctic. I’m currently working on a project on the monopoly trade in Greenland www.trading-stories.com I’m happy to finally be here! I’d love recommendations on who to follow, hashtags etc.
trading-stories.com
Economizing Science and National Identities
Since its foundation in 1774, the Royal Greenlandic Trading Department (Den Kongelige Grønlandske Handel, KGH) has played a crucial role in shaping Greenlandic-Danish relations. The company had a mon...
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