Hanne O. Mogensen

My research examines health, health systems and life conditions of people in Uganda and Kenya, other African countries, and Denmark and has always been driven by the ambition to address societal challenges in collaboration with local stakeholders. I study how epidemics, health interventions and treatment options shape everyday life, social relations, and inter-subjectivity. I am particularly interested in how socially and economically vulnerable groups navigate uncertainty and insecurity rooted in historical events such as epidemics, political unrest and armed conflicts. Most of my research and research training takes place within inter-disciplinary projects on global health, gender, and human security, conducted in collaborations with Danish, Ugandan and Kenyan universities. My current research however focuses on reproductive and mental health of young people.

The AIDS epidemic and antiretroviral treatment have been central to my research for more than two decades. My recent monograph Secrecy and Responsibility in the era of an epidemic. Letters from Uganda (2020) is a literary ethnography that explores global questions of inequality and responsibility, focusing on the consequences of the AIDS epidemic and its treatment.

I do my research and research training as part of inter-disciplinary projects on global health, gender and human security, carried out in collaboration between Danish, Ugandan and Kenyan universities.

Theoretically, I explore the interplay between biological and social processes, and between human experience and the structural conditions that shape life.

In addition, I am interested in the practice of anthropology and the anthropological labour market, specifically how anthropology is translated into competencies outside of academia and how professional practice beyond academia influences the discipline’s development.

These questions are explored in The Moral Work of Anthropology (2021) and Antropologien på arbejde [Anthropology at Work] (2021). Both books examine the case of anthropology in Denmark, which has a long history of engaging with societal arenas outside academia.
I am the coordinator of the departmental researcher group on Health and Life Conditions (HALC), and a member of the cross-cutting researcher groups om Creative Ethnography and Impact.