When Prof. Hans Ladegaard joined the Department of English as Head in September 2015, he brought with him more than academic prowess and administrative skill – he also carried a vision of developing a common goal for staff, and making the department a more enjoyable place to work for everybody.

Prof. Ladegaard has a tendency to take the path less travelled. Having studied Scandinavian languages and literature at the undergraduate level and English language and literature at both the undergraduate and Master’s levels, he earned his PhD in Sociolinguistics from Odense University in his native Denmark in 1996, before teaching for 11 years at the University of Southern Denmark. With a keen interest in all things English, he taught a year at Cambridge University and spent three sabbaticals in the UK: at Cardiff University in Wales, Birkbeck College, London and at the School of Oriental and African Studies. Yet, a desire for adventure and a love of Asia brought him to Hong Kong in 2006.

Shifting to PolyU from Hong Kong Baptist University late last year, Prof. Ladegaard knew he would be leading a high performing department. While the need for more external funding, more research and more internationalisation is always pertinent in any university department, he also had a more mundane goal in mind. "My dream for the English Department is first and foremost that we share the same vision", he said. "Heads can have visions but they are meaningless unless they become shared."

 

Prof. Ladegaard wishes that department staff share the same vision, and they can work in a more enjoyable place

A second element of Prof. Ladegaard’s eminently practical vision is to make the Department’s work environment even happier, and to involve everybody in creating a stimulating environment for teaching and research. Drawing on his own long experience in global communication research, he recalled a comment offered by the leader of an exceptionally high-performing team in a production company. When asked why her team outperformed all others she immediately replied : "We’re a happy team – a happy staff is a performing staff."

In that respect, the Department of English already has a distinct advantage. Pointing to the Department’s existing ethos, Prof. Ladegaard noted, "It is full of high achievers in teaching and research." With teaching interests that span the spectrum of language and communication, he has published research results widely in the areas of intercultural communication, language attitudes and stereotypes, language and gender, narratives of migration, pragmatics and discourse analysis. His book on powerlessness and repression in the life stories of domestic migrant workers in Hong Kong will be published by Routledge later this year.

It is clear, however, that Prof. Ladegaard sees his own track record as but a single addition to a collection of fine accomplishments. "I feel privileged to have been put in charge of such a great department", he humbly concluded. ♦