Course description
The chief aim of this course is to help PhD students identify and develop the theoretical contribution of their dissertation by engaging in creative theorizing and situating their own research project within theoretical debates relevant to the dissertation’s emerging research aims. The focus of the course is on theorizing, i.e., how to come up with good ideas for research, and how to build a theoretical approach (rather than on substantive theories or meta-theories of the social sciences). Seeking to help students develop their theorizing skills through both critical reflection and hands-on exercises, the course covers issues such as the role of theory in a doctoral dissertation, how to generate new and interesting ideas and how to identify the ideas worth pursuing, how to formulate a research problem, and how to situate a PhD project within a larger academic discourse.
Target group
This course is compulsary for PhD students in Peace and Development Research at the School of Global Studies, University of Gothenburg. The course is also open for students enrolled in a PhD program in Peace and Development Research, Environmental Social Science or other relevant fields of study at other departments and universities.
Requirements and Selection
Entry requirements
The course is open for students enrolled in a PhD program in Peace and Development Research, Environmental Social Science or other relevant fields of study, or equivalent.
Selection
PhD students at the School of Global Studies will be given priority. Other applicants will be assessed and admitted based on the relevance of their PhD project.
Other information
In the academic year 2022–2023, we plan for the course to be given on campus, which means course participants must attend lectures and seminars in Gothenburg.
The course runs as a part-time course (75 per cent of full time) and is taught through a mixture of lectures, individual study, seminar sessions, exercises, and written assignments.
Course syllabus
SFGS316
Department
School of Global Studies
Subject
Social Science
Type of course
Generic skills courses
Keywords
teori, teoriutveckling, forskningsproblem, samhällsvetenskaplig teori, begrepp, begreppsutveckling, theory, theorizing, theory development, research problem, social science theory, concepts
