PhD course (7 5 HP), offered in collaboration between the departments of History and History of Science and Ideas, Uppsala University autumn 2023 – spring 2024.

The course is open for PhD candidates in the humanities and aimed in particular at those working on historical topics.

The course starts in October 2023 and ends in April 2024. It consists of five seminars (Zoom) and two workshops (on site). As a part of the examination, students will do a small study of public outreach and will present it both orally and in written form at the final seminar.

A short version of the course (3 HP) will also be offered (the seminars and the workshops, minus the paper on a case of public outreach, and a slightly shorter reading list).

Last day of registration is 1 September 2023. It is done through email to either Maria Ågren (Maria.Agren@hist.uu.se) or Sven Widmalm (Sven.Widmalm@idehist.uu.se). No more than 15 students will be accepted.

Aim

The course will acquaint students with ongoing discussions concerning the interface between academic research in arts and humanities and the general public. It will raise questions concerning the social responsibility of scholars and give participants an opportunity to develop their communicative skills in relation to scholarly issues.

The course will contribute to the participants’ ability to reach the following goals proscribed in the Higher Education Ordinance (1993:100):

• demonstrate the capacity to contribute to social development and support the learning of others both through research and education and in some other qualified professional capacity
• demonstrate intellectual autonomy and disciplinary rectitude as well as the ability to make assessments of research ethics, and
• demonstrate specialised insight into the possibilities and limitations of research, its role in society and the responsibility of the individual for how it is used

Learning goals

The students should

• be able to account for central concepts like “linear model”, “impact” (samverkan), “co-production”, “story-telling”, expertise and “shared authority”, including how they are used in academic contexts as well as by stakeholders;
• be able to explain how the concepts “public humanities” and “public history” are used in Anglo-American contexts and relate them to “impact” (samverkan) as well as the Swedish concept “the third task” (tredje uppgiften);
• be able to give accounts of concrete examples of public humanities or public history;
• be able to give accounts of some problematic uses of history;
• have done concrete work on a few cases of public outreach.

Please contact Maria Ågren (Maria.Agren@hist.uu.se) or Sven Widmalm (Sven.Widmalm@idehist.uu.se) for more information.

Photo by Andreas Pajuvirta on Unsplash