By Marianne Fuglsang Welling Farsinsen, AAU Communication and Public Affairs
Photo: AAU

Mimi Sheller's academic work is prolific and her groundbreaking research stands as a role model for mobility researchers around the world. From her early work on Caribbean and postcolonial thinking on tourism towards urban mobility and technologies to contemporary thinking on climate justice and a post-carbon future, her research has had a fundamental impact on research on urban mobility.

Groundbreaking research in mobility, technology and postcolonial studies

Mimi Sheller graduated from Harvard University (BA in History and Literature) and the New School of Social Research (MA in Sociology and History) in the United States, and since 2021 she has been Dean of Global School at WPI in Massachusetts, USA, which is one of the few educational environments in the United States that works project- and problem-oriented.

"Her research is unique in its combination of humanistic cultural understanding coupled with a critical analysis of infrastructure and mobility technologies," says Professor Ole B. Jensen, Department of Architecture, Design and Media Technology, AAU, who collaborates with Mimi Sheller.

"This can be seen, for example, in her groundbreaking article Automotive Emotions from 2004, in which she critically describes our affective and emotional relationship with the car. A framework of understanding that is crucially important for the discussion of the environmental problems associated with urban development and automobility even today," he says.

Mimi Sheller has been able to combine her humanistic and sociological background to create groundbreaking research in mobility, technology, postcolonial studies, tourism and critical feminism. Her first book "Democracy After Slavery: Black Publics and Peasant Radicalism in Haiti and Jamaica" (2002) received the Choice Magazine Outstanding Book Award in 2002. Her second book "Consuming the Caribbean" from 2003 is an example of a critical analysis of the Western world's tourism consumption consequences for local identities and cultures. Especially with the book "Mobility Justice" from 2018, Mimi Sheller has made perhaps her most influential theoretical contribution, as she set an important research agenda for the connection between mobility, power and justice. 

The foundation of mobility research

"Mimi Sheller is one of the founders of the mobility research field that forms the foundation of mobility research at Aalborg University. She is a long-time collaborator on large research projects, and over the years she has been a frequent guest lecturer with us. Her work has been an inspiration for the establishment of the Centre for Mobilities and Urban Studies (C-MUS) as well as for the teaching in both Urban Design and Urban Planning at Aalborg University", Professor Ole B. Jensen explains about the importance of the strong collaboration with Mimi Sheller.

The appointment of Professor Mimi Sheller as an honorary doctor at AAU will take place at the AAU Annual Celebration on 17 April 2026.