Person
Reader, Researcher
- Media History
- Department of Communication and Media
Contact information
E-mail sune.bechmann_pedersenkom.luse
Visiting address
Helgonabacken 12, Lund
Postal address
Box 117, 221 00 Lund
Internal post code 20
Phone +46 46 222 84 89
Room SOL:A231
I am Associate Professor in History and Researcher at Media History, Department of Communication and Media. My current research focuses on international mobility in Cold War Europe, European integration and visual culture. In the project "Holidays behind the Iron Curtain", I study the politics and practices of western tourism to Communist Europe, e.g. in diplomatic negotiations, holiday photography and guidebooks. In previous projects I studied cinema and memories of the communist past in Germany and the Czech Republic.
I am the coordinator of the research platform DigitalHistory@Lund, Reviews Editor of the Journal of Tourism History, co-editor of Tourism and Travel in the Cold War (Routledge 2019) and co-author of The History of the European Travel Commission 1948-2018 (ETC 2018).
EDUCATION
PhD in History, Lund University, 2015
MA in History with distinction, University College London, School of Slavonic and East European Studies, 2009
BA in History, University of Copenhagen, 2006
Research
My profile in Lund University research portal
- DigitalHistory @ Lund (research leader)
- The Gateway Guide: A Transnational Book & Tourism History, 1950-1975 (research leader)
My research interests include East-West tourism in Cold War Europe, European integration and mobility in the long 20th century, and the media history of guidebooks. In the project "Holidays behind the Iron Curtain", funded by the Swedish Research Council, I study western tourism to Communist Europe. My areas of expertise also include digital history, cinema, memory culture, and contemporary Czech and German history. I am the Reviews Editor of the Journal of Tourism History, co-editor of Tourism and Travel in the Cold War (Routledge 2019) and co-author of The History of the European Travel Commission 1948-2018 (ETC 2018).
Books (2)
- Schipper, F., Tchoukarine, I. & Bechmann Pedersen, S. (2018). The History of the European Travel Commission 1948-2018. European Travel Commission.
- Bechmann Pedersen, S. (2015). Reel Socialism : Making sense of history in Czech and German cinema since 1989. Department of History, Lund university. Dissertation.
Editorships (1)
Articles (5)
- Bechmann Pedersen, S. (2020). A Passport to Peace? : Modern Tourism and Internationalist Idealism. European Review, 28, 389-402. Cambridge University Press.
- Bechmann Pedersen, S. & Cronqvist, M. (2019). Foreign correspondents in the Cold War : The politics and practices of East German television journalists in the West. Media History, 26, 75-90. Routledge.
- Bechmann Pedersen, S. (2018). Eastbound Tourism in the Cold War : The History of the Swedish Communist Travel Agency Folkturist. Journal of Tourism History, 10, 130-145. Taylor & Francis.
- Bechmann Pedersen, S. (2014). The Aesthetics of a Collapsing Border : The Fall of the Berlin Wall in German Cinema. East Central Europe, 41, 254-276. Brill Academic Publishers.
- Bechmann Pedersen, S. (2012). The Negotiation of Collective Identities in German Cinema after Unification. Studies in Eastern European Cinema, 3, 53-68. Intellect Ltd..
Book chapters (9)
- Bechmann Pedersen, S. (accepted/in press). Turism. In Karlsson, K.-G. (Ed.) Natur & Kulturs globalhistoria. Natur och kultur.
- Bechmann Pedersen, S. & Anttila, A.-H. (accepted/in press). Democratic Tourism. In Zuelow, E. G. & James, K. J. (Eds.) Oxford Handbook on Travel and Tourism History. Oxford University Press.
- Bechmann Pedersen, S. (2019). A Paradise behind the Curtain : Selling Eastern Escapes to Scandinavians. In Hoenig, B. & Wadle, H. (Eds.) Kultur- und Sozialgeschichte Osteuropas / Cultural and Social History of Eastern Europe, Eden für jeden? : Touristische Sehnsuchtsorte in Mittel- und Osteuropa von 1945 bis zur Gegenwart (pp. 227-249), 12. V&R unipress.
- Bechmann Pedersen, S. (2019). Transnacionální rozměry cestování v éře studené války aneb Cestovní ruch ze západních zemí za tzv. Železnou oponu. In Mücke, P. & Krátká, L. (Eds.) Turistická Odysea : Krajinou soudobých dějin cestování a cestovního ruchu v Československu v letech 1945 až 1989 (pp. 18-46). Karolinum Press.
- Bechmann Pedersen, S. & Noack, C. (2019). Crossing the Iron Curtain : An introduction. In Bechmann Pedersen, S. & Noack, C. (Eds.) Routledge Studies in the History of Russia and Eastern Europe, Tourism and Travel during the Cold War : Negotiating Tourist Experiences across the Iron Curtain (pp. 1-20). Routledge.
- Bechmann Pedersen, S. (2018). Politisk turisme og turismepolitik : Fornøjelsesrejser til Østeuropa under den kolde krig. In Kolbe, W. (Ed.) Acta Academiae Regiae Gustavi Adolphi, Turismhistoria i Norden (pp. 59-70), 150. Kungliga Gustav Adolfs Akademien för svensk folkkultur.
- Bechmann Pedersen, S. (2017). Peace through Tourism : A Brief History of a Popular Catchphrase. In Andrén, M. (Eds.) Forskning om Europafrågor vid Göteborgs universitet, Cultural Borders and European Integration (pp. 29-37). Centrum för Europaforskning vid Göteborgs universitet.
- Bechmann Pedersen, S. (2012). Treading New Paths: Czech and German Postcommunist Road Movies. In Kristensen, L. (Ed.) Postcommunist Film - Russia, Eastern Europe and World Culture: Moving Images of Postcommunism (pp. 121-133). Routledge.
- Bechmann Pedersen, S. (2010). På postkommunistisk road trip. Den tjekkiske road movie Jízda i historiekulturel kontekst. In Berggren, L., Karlsson, K.-G. & Tornbjer, C. (Eds.) Möten med historiens mångfald (pp. 76-84). Nordic Academic Press.
Conference contributions (2)
- Bechmann Pedersen, S. (2017). On Holiday behind the Iron Curtain : Western Tourism to Communist Europe.
- Dutceac Segesten, A. & Bechmann Pedersen, S. (2010). Ethical Dilemmas and Moral Ambiguities in Cristian Mungiu’s Stories of the Communist Past.
Working papers (1)
Reviews (11)
- Bechmann Pedersen, S. (2020). Book review: Hongliang Yan. Heritage Tourism in China: Modernity, Identity and Sustainability. Journal of Tourism History, 12, 321-323. Taylor & Francis.
- Bechmann Pedersen, S. (2018). Book review: Aurora Lewén. Resfeber. Berättelser från semesterns barndom 1938-1959. Scandia, 84, 126-128. Stiftelsen Scandia.
- Bechmann Pedersen, S. (2017). Book Review: James Krapfl: Revolution with a Human Face. Politics, Culture, and Community in Czechoslovakia, 1989-1992. The International Newsletter of Communist Studies, 22-23, 127-128. Ruhr-Universität Bochum.
- Bechmann Pedersen, S. (2017). När folken upptäckte varandra : Turismhistoriska perspektiv på Norden, Uppsala, 28-30 september 2016. Historisk Tidskrift, 2017, 177-179. Svenska historiska föreningen.
- Bechmann Pedersen, S. (2016). The Early Years of East German Television : Book review: Envisioning Socialism: Television and the Cold War in the German Democratic Republic, by Heather L. Gumbert. Studies in Eastern European Cinema, 7, 90-92. Intellect Ltd..
- Bechmann Pedersen, S. (2015). Book review: David Lowe & Tony Joel. Remembering the Cold War: Global Contest and National Stories. Scandia, 81, 140-142. Stiftelsen Scandia.
- Bechmann Pedersen, S. (2014). Book review: Mattias Frey. Postwall German Cinema: History, Film History, and Cinephilia. Scandia, 80, 146-148. Stiftelsen Scandia.
- Bechmann Pedersen, S. (2013). Book review: Renata Sukaityte (ed.). Baltic Cinemas after the 90s: Shifting (Hi)Stories and (Id)Entities. Baltic Screen Media Review, 1, 152-154. Tallin University.
- Bechmann Pedersen, S. (2012). Nostalgia isn’t what it used to be : Book review: Maria Todorova and Zsuzsa Gille (eds.) Post-Communist Nostalgia & Nick Hodgin. Screening the East: Heimat, Memory and Nostalgia in German Film since 1989. Studies in Eastern European Cinema, 3, 231-235. Intellect Ltd..
- Bechmann Pedersen, S. (2011). Book review: James Mark. The Unfinished Revolution: Making Sense of the Communist Past in Central-Eastern Europe. Scandia, 77, 192-193. Stiftelsen Scandia.
- Bechmann Pedersen, S. (2008). Når gode gerninger må skjules (book review) Robert Satloff. Among the Righteous: Lost Stories from the Holocaust's Long Reach Into Arab Lands. Weekendavisen.
Articles in specialist publications and popular press (1)
Other tasks and qualifications
PEER-REVIEWER FOR
Cold War History, Media History, Food & History, Scandia, Lychnos, Laboratorium: Russian Review of Social Research, Journal of Tourism History
CONFERENCES ORGANIZED
Mobility and Leisure Travel in the Cold War, Centre for European Research, University of Gothenburg 7-8 December 2017.
Crossing the Iron Curtain: Tourism and Travelling in the Cold War, Amsterdam School for Regional, Transnational and European Studies, University of Amsterdam, 7-8 April 2017.
COURSES TAUGHT
Digital History: Media and Methods in Theory and Practice, Media History, Lund University
What is Central and Eastern Europe: history, ideas, culture and identities, European Studies, University of Gothenburg
History of Modern Tourism, Saxo-Institute, University of Copenhagen
Historieformidling med formidlingsteori, Saxo-Institute, University of Copenhagen
Film och historia, Department of History, Lund University
Media and Armed Conflict - Past and Present, Unit for Media History, Lund University
1989: Revolution och reformer, Department of History, Lund University
Katastrofernas århundrade, Department of History, Lund University
Reader, Researcher
- Media History
- Department of Communication and Media
Contact information
E-mail sune.bechmann_pedersenkom.luse
Visiting address
Helgonabacken 12, Lund
Postal address
Box 117, 221 00 Lund
Internal post code 20
Phone +46 46 222 84 89
Room SOL:A231