The Doctoral School of Social Sciences and Humanities (2025)

Welcome to How to research ‘delicate matters’ (the existential, ethical, aesthetical, and phenomenological dimensions) in Healthcare, Education, and Welfare

Description:

This course is of specific interest to Ph.D. students with a background in human and social science and with interests in qualitative studies (phenomenological, hermeneutic and ‘wonder/art-based (action) research) be it from within environmental or health humanities, psychology, nursing, anthropology, medicine, theology, sociology, communication theory, or philosophy. In our examples and cases, we take our departure from different contexts, mainly in the section of healthcare, but the insights and approaches to the ‘delicate matters’ can also be relevant and transferable to other fields in education and welfare.

Some of the matters most central to living a meaningful life and sharing the world with others are often saliently felt in lived experience but notoriously difficult to get a handle on methodologically and theoretically. Take, for instance, elusive but highly saturated delicate matters such as love, friendship, loss, grief, creativity, deep wonder, anxiety, experiences of art, and experiences of freedom.

Acknowledging that such delicate matters are also central for well-being, care, and development in healthcare, education, and welfare practices and institutions, this course raises the question of how to conduct research on such matters and their elusive existential, ethical, aesthetic, and phenomenological dimensions. In contemporary human science, various disciplines use methodologies, epistemologies, and ontologies to research the existential, ethical, aesthetical, and phenomenological dimensions in Healthcare, Education, and Welfare.

 In this PhD course, we combine research approaches from psychology, care ethics, Health and environmental Humanities, care aesthetics, spiritual-existential care, and philosophy (phenomenology, existence philosophy, and hermeneutics) to study their differences and points of intersection.

The German poet, philosopher, and scientist, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, once described matters of deep and great value for human beings as ineffable and not to be grasped by natural science and systematic epistemological analysis. Goethe called the scientific approach, which he developed to explore those ineffable and delicate experiences, “delicate empiricism” (Robbins, 2015). Later, existential phenomenology and philosophical hermeneutics developed modern humanistic ‘qualitative’ research approaches to become sensitive to these delicate matters in human lifeworlds as well as in humans’ interdependence with nature and ‘the-more-than-human,’ as eco-phenomenologists, environmental ethicists, and eco-philosophers today point out. The capacity of a human scientific researcher to maintain an open mind and cultivate a profound, personal sense of wonder is an essential virtue in the field. This course will address, describe, and provide training in this type of 'metacognitive' reflectivity and sensitivity. Such skills are crucial for fostering innovative thinking and maintaining intellectual curiosity throughout one's scientific career

Day 1 focuses on the relationship between psychological (Dr. Mai-Britt Guldin) and spiritual-existential research approaches (Prof. Carlo Leget).

Day 2 focuses on philosophical approaches based on critical phenomenology (Associate Prof. Rasmus Dyring) and wonder-based phenomenology (Prof. Finn Thorbjørn Hansen).

On Day 3 starts with ‘phenomenology in action’ through experiencing a ‘Wonder Lab’, and in the afternoon we all explore and discuss the different research approaches and their methodologies and learn how to work with them academically when approaching ‘delicate matters’.

Day 4 (one week later, Online): Focus on the Ph.D. students’ projects with supervision. In groups, Ph.D. students will reflect upon self-chosen methodological or theoretical questions that have been awoken during the course and in relation to their own research project. 

Each lecturer on the course will take his/her departure from a specific healthcare, educational or welfare situation and context and ‘delicate matter’ and show how he/she works in this situation, context and with this delicate matter as a researcher with an eye for also the use of aesthetical (or everyday creativity) experiences or/and philosophical (dialogical) experiences.

Some of research questions that the lectures will dwell upon are:

1)       How do we in Existential Healthcare Communication work in theory and practice with a new notion of ‘Existential Health’ (or Existential Sustainability), which on the one hand is closely connected to what Hartmut Rosa coins as ‘Existential Resonance’(Rosa, 2019), and Svenaeus (2000) and Todres & Galvin (2010), and Hansen & Jørgensen (2020) through Heidegger (Heidegger, 1995) describe as a kind of “ontological homecoming”, and on the other hand with the experience of feeling connected to nature seen from an eco-phenomenological perspective (Sallis, 2016; Abram, 2017; Nelson, 2021;Verducci & Kule, 2022)?

2)       Why is it that especially ‘art experiences’ (song, music, art works, dance, poetry) and ‘philosophical experiences’ (such as philosophizing and wondrous conversations and dialogical communities of wonder) and sometimes also more spiritual rituals and practices seem to create a special kind of soul-nurturing and spirit-strengthening ‘non-time’ and ‘non-space’ when indwelling into existential questions and experiences of people in care, their relatives or of caretakers? How are we to understand the enigmatic relation between Health Humanities and Environmental Humanities, or between human health and planetary health (Wahl, 2006; 2016)? 

3)       How do we do research on the existential, spiritual, and eco-phenomenological dimensions in healthcare communication? How can you through theoretical studies pave the way for new orientations in understanding existential care ethics and healthcare communication in a non-anthropocentric perspective that rests on ontology and phenomenology that puts the aesthetical and philosophical experiences in the center? And how do you do qualitative and empirical research on these subjects through practice phenomenology (Van Manen, 2014, 2023), action research (Dinkens & Hansen, 2016; Hansen, 2022) or art-based research (Visse, Hansen & Leget, 2019, 2020)?

Teaching methods:

The course will be organized through lectures, dialogues, and interactivity through workshops.

The organizer of this course is Professor Finn Thorbjørn Hansen.

Morning and afternoon lectures in Day 1, 2 & 3 will be thematically organized to address the questions listed above. The lectures will be followed by questions and discussions in groups and class.

On Day 4 (one week later Online), the participants will be divided into groups of 5-6 participants. It is expected that every group member has read all abstracts and key questions in their group before the course, and have their 5-pages essay ready.

Programme outline:

Day 1. Introduction and Focus 1: Existential and Spiritual dimensions in Health Care

10.00-10.30 Introduction to the course – Finn Thorbjørn Hansen 

10.40-12.30 Researching Existential healthcare communication: perspectives and methodologies from psychology and spiritual care - Mai-Britt Guldin & Carlo Leget

12.30-13.15 Lunch

13:15-14:45 An integrative approach to loss and grief: the development of an interdisciplinary model – Mai-Britt Guldin & Carlo Leget

14:45-15:00 Coffee break

15:00-16:00: Working with the Integrative Process Model of loss and grief in existential healthcare communication - Mai-Britt Guldin & Carlo Leget

16:00-16:15 Coffee break

16:15-17:00: Panel discussion and dialogue on “Integrative Process Model of loss and grief” — MaiBritt-Guldin, Carlo Leget, Rasmus Dyring & Finn Thorbjørn Hansen

Day 2. Focus 2: Eco-phenomenological and world-oriented healthcare. Education, and welfare

9:30 – 10:30: Basic dimensions in Existential, Critical and Eco-phenomenology – Finn and Rasmus

10:45-12:15: Researching how to get from Person-centered Care to Word-open Care and Back in philosophical and phenomenological perspectives (Case 1): Everyday Creativity in Dementia Care --- Rasmus.

12:15-13:00. Lunch

13:00-14:30: Researching how to get from Person-centered Care to Word-open Care and Back in philosophical and phenomenological perspectives (Case 2): how art and philosophical experiences may nurture Eco-Existential and Wonder-based relations between people and relations to the world based on two experiences from  Aalborg University Hospital and School of Design in Kolding. --- Finn

14:30-14:45: Coffee break

14:45: A Case about Everyday Creativity and Micro Existential Dramas in One Situation in Dementia Unit --- Rasmus.

16:15:-17:00: Panel discussion and dialogue on how artistic, creative, and philosophical practices can enhance and nurture eco-existential health and spiritual recovery --- Rasmus, Finn, Carlo, and Mai-Britt.
 

Day 3. Focus 3: Meta-cognitive mindset and ways of doing research on ‘delicate matters’

9.30-12.30: Exercise in Wonder Lab and reflections – Finn & Carlo

12.30-13.15: Lunch

13:15-14:15: Doing research from a philosophical (critical relational-ontological) perspective - Rasmus

14:15-14:30: Coffee break

14:30-15:30: Doing research from a phenomenological action research perspective - Finn

15:30-16:15: Dialogue with Rasmus and Finn

16:15-17:00: PhD-students work in groups developing research/wonder questions

Day 4. (online): Integrating knowledge into the PhD-projects

9:30 – 12:00. Students work in groups on PhD-students projects with supervision (part 1)

12:00-12:45: Lunch:

12:45-15:00: Students work in groups on PhD-students projects with supervision (part 2)

15:00-16:00: Summing up and dialogue around the PhD-students’ research/wonder questions --- Carlo & Finn

Description of paper requirements, if applicable:

Before the course:

We will ask each participant to write and send a short description (1 page) of their research project and describe in what way they find existential, aesthetical, ethical or phenomenological dimensions in their research project and what their main question and wonderment currently is.

After the course:

We will ask each participant to make a 5-pages reflection based on the mandatory literature on how they now think about how to do research on the existential and equal ‘delicate matters’ in research materials. These pages should be ready at the Fourth Day (Online, one week later)

Key literature:

Please see the file "Key literature" further down.

Organizer:
Finn Thorbjørn Hansen

Lecturers:

Professor Finn Thorbjørn Hansen, Co-Head of TEN, Aalborg University
Professor Carlo Leget, Chair of Care Ethics, University of Humanities, Utrecht, The Netherlands
Associate Professor Rasmus Dyring, Department of Philosophy, Aarhus University
Senior Researcher Mai-Britt Guldin, Research Unit for GP and Department of Public Health, Aarhus Universit

ECTS:
3

Time:
22,23,24 October 2025, Online: 31 October 2025

Place:
TBA

Zip code:
9000

City:
Aalborg

Number of seats:
20

Deadline:
1 October 2025

Important information concerning PhD courses: 

There is a no-show fee of DKK 3,000 for each course where the student does not show up. Cancellations are accepted no later than 2 weeks before the start of the course. Registered illness is of course an acceptable reason for not showing up on those days. Furthermore, all courses open for registration approximately four months before start of the course.

We cannot ensure any seats before the deadline for enrolment, all participants will be informed after the deadline, approximately 3 weeks before the start of the course.

For inquiries regarding registration, cancellation or waiting list, please contact the PhD administration at phdcourses@adm.aau.dk  When contacting us please state the course title and course period. Thank you.

Welcome to Learning to manage your PhD project time

Description:

What we have learned so far from supervising and following PhD students, is that it is difficult to manage the time given during the three years of the PhD program. Time is a scarce resource, and many PhD students are unable to finish within the three-year period. Typically, doctoral students apply for one or even two extensions, effectively spending more than a year above the planned period finalizing their thesis. This is burdensome for all parties involved and can affect the immersion and focus needed for research and writing a thesis that has the substantial contribution, you as a PhD student dream of.

 A brief look into the applications for extension show us that the underlying reasons for extensions are multiple. They can be caused by external issues, such as delays in obtaining data, change of supervisors, trouble in raising sufficient funding and all kinds of family contingencies. Internal issues may be a change in research scope, ideas, lack of relevant courses, planning of external stays, etc. The process of building a professional identity as a researcher is necessary and an integrated part of writing a PhD, but it is also time consuming.

However, while these issues come as a surprise for the individual student, it is our assumption that the impact of them could have been less critical – with a healthy dose of realistic project design and planning in advance. This PhD course tackles this challenge. Our aim is to offer tools and perspectives that will enable you as a PhD student to better manage your time and draw on the support of others in doing so.

We believe that a substantial part of the problems that causes delays are avoidable with careful project design, planning and early intervention. Self-management skills reportedly help doctoral students understand and navigate the perils causing delays and drop-outs (Kearns et al, 2008; Lahenius & Martinsuo, 2008). If PhDs can prepare, detect and accommodate for some of these issues and avoid a considerable part of the delays or at least reducing the impact of such events, they are likely to finalize their studies earlier, with positive impact for the students, the programs, supervisors and the school at large.

To assist PhD student and their supervisors in this, the purpose of this course is to provide PhD students with both insights and tools, that may help them set more realistic targets, manage their time better and prepare in advance for the unexpected.

Even though writing a PhD is an individual endeavor, we know that supervisors and mentors play a crucial role in offering the support that is needed to stay focused and motivated. During this course time will also be reserved for identifying and qualifying how you can use such resources in constructive and professional ways.

Structure & format

The PhD course consists of two full days with preparation for both days. As preparation for the first day, you need to bring a preliminary PhD plan that you have discussed with your supervisor. The first day will be spent on gaining perspectives on:

• How much time should I set aside for the different research activities?
• How do I find the relevant PhD courses and make sure I benefit from and integrate the learnings from these courses in my PhD?
• How do I plan to use my PhD supervisor?
•  What kind of mentoring do I need?
• What does it mean to develop a professional identity as a researcher?

There will be articles to read prior to the first day and you will be asked to present your preliminary PhD to the other participants. Fellow PhD students will be asked to provide feedback with the purpose of sharing and generating new perspectives and possible also new ideas. Furthermore, the intention is also to strengthen the relationship between PhD students.

In between the first and second day of the course the PhD student is asked to further develop and qualify the preliminary PhD plan in collaboration with their supervisor(s) and possible also other colleagues.

During the second day, the following topics will be presented and discussed?

• How do I handle it, when parts of the plan start to fall apart?
• When will challenges occur and how do I develop the necessary coping mechanisms?
• How do I make the best use of my supervisors and colleagues in constructive and professional ways?
• How can I use my fellow PhD students along the way as partners in developing my professional identity as a researcher and in making sure I balance the professional and social aspects of being a PhD student?

You will be asked to discuss and present your developed PhD plan with fellow PhD students. Furthermore, you will get written feedback on the fully developed PhD plan from the teachers on the course. The course is given in English.

Description of paper requirements, if applicable:

Students will be asked to develop and prepare a detailed and annotated time diagram. We have not decided on the detailed format yet

Programme outline:

Schedule Day 1

Time	Activity and literature	Responsible
09:00-09:30	Introduction and presentation rounds	All
09:30-10:30	Phases in a typical PhD process: challenges, concerns and pain points	Mette, Poul and Former PhD student as a guest speaker (TBD)
10:30-10:45	Break
10:45-12:00	Project management approaches to PhD projects	Poul & Mette
12:00-12:45	Lunch
12:45-14:30	Project presentations and comments	Poul & Mette
14:30-15:00	Coffee break
15:00-16:00	Project presentation and comments	Poul & Mette

 

Schedule day 2 

Time	Activity and literature	Responsible
09:00-09:30	Short rehersal of aims and rapport	All
09:30-10:30	The ecology context and how it affects time management	Poul
10:30-10:45	Break
10:45-12:00	Identifying critical transition points, contingency plans and detecting and reacting on weak signals	Poul & Mette
12:00-12:45	LUNCH
12:45-14:30	Presenting revised project plans and learning points – identifying next best step	All
14:30-14:45	Coffee
14:45-16:00	Presenting revised plans and learning points – identifying next best step	All

Organizer:

Poul Houman Andersen & Mette Vinther Larsen, AAUBS, Inter-research group venture

Lecturers:

Metter Vinther Larsen (AAUBS), Poul Houman Andersen (AAUBS) and one guest lecturer (former PhD student TBD)

ECTS:
2

Time:
12 May and 16 June

Place:

AAU Aalborg Campus

Zip code:
9220

City:
Aalborg

Number of seats:
16

Deadline:
21 April 

Mandatory literature:

Bui, .T.M. (2014): Student-supervisor expectations in the doctoral supervision process for business and management students, Business and management education in HE, 1, 1, 12-27

Elliot, D. L. & Bengtsen, S. (2020): The hidden curriculum in Doctoral education, chapter 7: A doctoral learning ecology model

Finn, J. (2005): Getting a PhD: An action plan to help manage your research, your supervisor and your project, Taylor & Francis, chapter 3

Lahenius, K. & Martinsuo, M. (2011): Different types of Doctoral Study processes, Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 55, 6

Important information concerning PhD courses: 

There is a no-show fee of DKK 3,000 for each course where the student does not show up. Cancellations are accepted no later than 2 weeks before the start of the course. Registered illness is of course an acceptable reason for not showing up on those days. Furthermore, all courses open for registration approximately four months before start of the course.

We cannot ensure any seats before the deadline for enrolment, all participants will be informed after the deadline, approximately 3 weeks before the start of the course.

For inquiries regarding registration, cancellation or waiting list, please contact the PhD administration at phdcourses@adm.aau.dk When contacting us please state the course title and course period. Thank you.

 

Welcome to Green Policies and Governance

Description:

This course introduces the key challenges of achieving a just green transition and pursuing a more sustainable society. Following the policy cycle (problem identification, agenda setting, policy formulation, decision-making, policy implementation, and policy evaluation), the course aims to provide a broader understanding of the key dimensions concerning the green transition. Throughout the course this will be exemplified, using examples from the global north and global south.

The course views the green transition as a broader phenomenon going beyond mere technological solutions: it is a social, cultural, political, and administrative-organizational project. Therefore, it is essential to inquire into the public deliberation and debates about desired futures, and political decision-making. To enact and implement any policies related to green transition then the political system needs legitimacy, in the form of support for the public and societal stakeholders. This is especially the case in democracies, also true in less democratic or outright undemocratic societies. It thus requires the public to be convinced that environmental issues and climate change are real and man-made, otherwise it will never be identified as a political problem. Furthermore, it requires that the issue it on the public’s agenda for a sustained period. If this is not the case, then the political system is unlikely to pursue the costly policies related to climate change. The green transition also requires that there are supportive governance structures in place for realizing the abstract goals of combatting climate change as well as practical policies related to this. Local governments, for example, are generally viewed as important actors in realizing high-level policy objectives in the green transition and the global visions for creating a climate-neutral society by reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Congruently, the EU’s policies under the Green Deal envision key roles for national and local governments in the green transition by, for example, planning for and developing green infrastructures in built-up environments, promoting green transport (electrical vehicles), or reducing energy consumption. Therefore, it is also important to consider how local governments may play a part in the green transition by either playing an active and innovative role or by playing a more reactive instrumental role. Unions, too, are important actors. In the growing renewables industry, they acquire new and more ambiguous roles. While they remain employers’ antagonists regarding traditional employment relations, decarbonization is essentially a mission they share with employers in the interest of humanity.

The course runs over four days. One day is dedicated to a field trip where we visit local sites where companies are working on the green transition, while the remaining three are lectures and discussions.

This course will focus on:

• Problem identification: e.g. popular attitudes and perception of environmental and climate issues, environment citizenship, the role of stakeholders and interest groups (unions, the renewables industry, green think tanks etc.)
• Policy formation: e.g. green growth/degrowth, climate taxes, active labour market policies enabling workers’ transition from closing black industries to the growing renewables sector.  
• Agenda setting: e.g. the environmental and climate agenda
• Policy formulation: e.g. policy visions, the role of local governments and the Green Deal, conceptualising the green transition and energy futures
• Decision-making: e.g. green infrastructure and public deliberation
• Policy implementation and evaluation: e.g. Supportive governance structures and capacity, environmental Justice and contestation 

Learning Objectives (knowledge and abilities)

• Gain an overview of the state-of-the-art knowledge on policies and governance structures supporting green transition
• Ability to formulate arguments and hypothesis about the green transition
• Understand the implications, challenges and opportunities related to the Green Transition
• Possess knowledge of key theoretical and conceptual approaches related to the subject area in the context of social science and history
• Be able to critically assess relevant theories and make informed choices regarding theory selection in relation to empirical analyses
• Have the ability to apply relevant theories and tools of the field to concrete empirical cases and issues

Organizer:
Malayna Raftopoulos on behalf of The Green Network, Department of Politics and Society

Lecturers:
Malayna Raftopoulos, Anita Nissen, Kristian Kongshøj, Troels Fage Hedegaard

ECTS:
4

Time:
6, 7, 8, 9 May 2025

Place:
Aalborg University

Zip code:
9220

City:
Aalborg

Number of seats:
15

Registration deadline:
14th March 2024

Post paper deadline:
17th May 2024

Important information concerning PhD courses: 

There is a no-show fee of DKK 3,000 for each course where the student does not show up. Cancellations are accepted no later than 2 weeks before the start of the course. Registered illness is of course an acceptable reason for not showing up on those days. Furthermore, all courses open for registration approximately four months before start of the course.

We cannot ensure any seats before the deadline for enrolment, all participants will be informed after the deadline, approximately 3 weeks before the start of the course.

For inquiries regarding registration, cancellation or waiting list, please contact the PhD administration at phdcourses@adm.aau.dk When contacting us please state the course title and course period. Thank you.

 

Welcome to Visual methods

Description:
This four-day course introduces different perspectives and techniques in visual methods. It provides practical guidance for visual data collection, analysis and dissemination, which includes such techniques as working with various visual props, annotated drawings, photo-elicitation, using first- and third-person video, among others. There will also be focused discussions of and feedback on students’ research projects, in relation to visual methods. The course as a whole makes the general argument that visual material can be used both as a powerful complement to traditional verbal and textual data, as well as a site of investigation in its own right. 

Teaching methods:

A combination of lectures, panel discussions, group work, practical exercises, small group discussions and urban walks. 

Organizer:
Brady Wagoner

Lecturers:

Brady Wagoner
Caroline Demuth
Sarah Awad
Nicole Milman-Doerr

Programme outline:

Day 1. Introduction and photo-elicitation

10.00-12.00 Introduction and overview of visual methods-- Brady Wagoner and Sarah H. Awad

12.00-13.00 Lunch

13:00-15:00 The social life of images, including photo elicitation techniques – Sarah H. Awad

15:00-15:30 Coffee break

15:00-17:00 Photo-elicitation techniques exercises — Sarah H. Awad and Brady Wagoner

Day 2. Visual sociology and mental maps

9.30-12:30 Lecture on the use of visuals in sociology illustrated with a case study on gender and social movements—Nicole Milman-Doerr

12:30-13:30 Lunch

13:30-15:00 Mental maps, including exercises--Brady Wagoner

15:00-15:30 Coffee break

15:30-17:00 Discussion of student projects

 Day 3. Using and analyzing third-person video

9.30-12:00 Lecture on multimodal analysis of video material--Carolin Demuth

12:00-13:00 Lunch

13:00-14:30 Further discussion and exercises analyzing videos--Carolin Demuth

14:30-15:00 Coffee break

15:00-17:00 Discussion of student projects

Day 4. Using and analyzing first-person video, with the subjective camera methodology

9.30-12:00 Lecture on subjective camera technology—Brady Wagoner

12:00-13:00 Lunch

13:00-15:00 Discussion of student projects

ECTS:
4

Time:
September 15-18, 2025

Place:

Nordkraft, Aalborg

Zip code:
9000

City:
Aalborg

Number of seats:
20

Deadline:
25 August 2025

Key literature:

Day 1

Awad, S. H. & Wagoner, B. (2018). Image Politics of the Arab Uprisings. In Wagoner, B., Moghaddam, F. & Valsiner, J. (Eds). The Psychology of Radical Social Change: From Rage to Revolution. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [20 pp]

Awad, S. (2025). Seeing Matters: A psychology of the image and its politics. Cambridge University Press. Ch. 2 & 3. [45 pp]

Radley, A. (2010). What people do with pictures, Visual Studies, 25, 267-279 [22 pp]

Reavey, P. (2021). Handbook of Visual methods in psychology. New York: Psychology Press (incl. ch. 1, 2, 4, 7, 22, 28, 32) [235 pp]

Rose, G. (2008) Visual Methodologies. London: Routledge (Chapter 1) [32 pp] 

Day 2

Nicole Doerr (2024) Digital Images Translating Climate Justice Online to inspire Ecological Visions of World Order from the Margins, Global Studies Quarterly, Volume 4, Issue 3, July 2024, ksae073, Open access https://doi.org/10.1093/isagsq/ksae073

Nicole Doerr, and Eva Svatonova (2023). “Despised, Feared, Emphasised or Hegemonic—Far Right Digital Images of Womanhood on US Telegram Channels” European Journal of Politics and Gender. https://doi.org/10.1332/25151088Y2023D000000001 PDF attached

Doerr, Nicole, and María Florencia Langa 2024, 'Images of Nature in Online Climate Activism in Germany and Argentina: Science, Affect and Non-Human ‘Everybodies’', Journal for Development Studies, 39, 3-4, 33-64. Open access:https://mattersburgerkreis.at/site/de/shop/jepartikel/shop.item/2085.html

Day 3

Demuth, C. (2012). Video-based Discourse and Conversation Analysis in Cultural Developmental Psychology: Mother-Infant Interactions in Kikaikelaki, Cameroon and Muenster, Germany. In: Karin Schweizer, Tanja Schielein, Mechthild Kiegelmann, Tiberio Feliz, & Guenter Huber (Eds). Qualitative Psychology Nexus, Vol. IX: Beyond text: Video and other Medium Use in Qualitative Research. Center for Qualitative Psychology, pp. 31-52. Available at: http://psydok.sulb.uni-saarland.de/volltexte/2012/3417/

Paasch, B. S. & Raudaskoski, P. L. (2018). Multimodal Interaktionsanalyse. In: Davidsen, J. & Kjær, M (eds.). Videoanalyse af social interaktion. p. 151-184, Samfundslitteratur

Raudaskoski, P. L. & Kjær, M. (2016). Interaktionsanalyse. In: Horsbøl, A. & Raudaskoski, P. (eds.). Diskurs og praksis: teori, metode og analyse. 1. ed, p. 111-134.. Samfundslitteratur (Metoder i samfundsvidenskab og humaniora; No. 1).

Wiggins, Sally (2017). Discursive Psychology. Theory, Method and Applications. London: Sage

Optional further readings:

Davidsen, J. & Krummheuer, A. (2018). Transkription af videodata. In: Malene Kjær and Jacob Davidsen (Eds.). Videoanalyse af social interaction, pp. 97-112, Samfundslitteratur

Demuth, C. (2018/2020) Videoanalysen. In: G. Mey & K. Mruck (Eds) Handbuch Qualitative Forschung in der Psychologie (2nd extended and revised edition), Heidelberg: Springer Reference Psychologie. https://meteor.springer.com/container/contribute.jsf?id=114469

Demuth, C. (2021). Managing Accountability of Children’s Bodily Conduct: Embodied Discursive Practices in Preschool. In: Sally Wiggins & Karin Osvaldsson Cromdal (eds). Discursive psychology and embodiment: Beyond subject-object binaries. Pp. 81-111, Palgrave Macmillan

Goodwin, C. (2000) Action and embodiment within situated human interaction. Journal of Pragmatics, 32: 1489-1522

Paasch, B. S. & Raudaskoski, P. L. (2018). Multimodal Interaktionsanalyse. In: Davidsen, J. & Kjær, M (eds.). Videoanalyse af social interaktion. p. 151-184, Samfundslitteratur

Raudaskoski, P. L. (2010) Observationsmetoder (herunder videoobservation). In S. Brinkmann & L. Tanggaard (eds.). Håndbog i de kvalitative metoder. København : Hans Reitzels Forlag: 81-96.

Day 4

*Wagoner, B. & Brescó, I., Herbig, L. (2022). Studying the stream of experience at memorial sites: The subjective camera methodology. In M. Watzlawik & S. Salden (Eds.), Courageous Methods in Cultural Psychology: Beyond the symbolic nature of language. New York: Springer.  [30 pp] 

Kusenbach, M. (2003). Street phenomenology. Ethnography, 4, 455-485. [30 pp] 

Lahlou, S. (2011). How can we capture the subject's perspective? An evidence-based approach for the social scientist. Social science information, 50(4), 607-655 [43 pp] 

Important information concerning PhD courses: 

There is a no-show fee of DKK 3,000 for each course where the student does not show up. Cancellations are accepted no later than 2 weeks before the start of the course. Registered illness is of course an acceptable reason for not showing up on those days. Furthermore, all courses open for registration approximately four months before start of the course.

We cannot ensure any seats before the deadline for enrolment, all participants will be informed after the deadline, approximately 3 weeks before the start of the course. 

For inquiries regarding registration, cancellation or waiting list, please contact the PhD administration at phdcourses@adm.aau.dk  When contacting us please state the course title and course period. Thank you.

Welcome to The Social Side of Robots and AI. Video Methods for Interaction Analysis and Design

This PhD course prepares students to explore video-based methods for the analysis and design of people’s interactions with robots or artificial intelligence (AI) in social settings.

 Social and collaborative robots as well as AI agents are increasingly leaving factory shop floors and research laboratories and enter the everyday life and routines of various people in private, public, institutional, and organizational settings. Robots and AI agents are integrated in diverse contexts including family interactions, education, teamwork, public transport, and hospital settings. In contrast to controlled laboratory environments, these technologies now enter the complexity and “messiness” of real-world contexts where they meet a diversity of people engaging and interacting with the technology in various forms and for various purposes. Traditionally, laboratory research uses quantitative methods often focusing on dyadic task-based interaction, with one user and one robotic or AI system solving one specific task. However, to understand what happens when people engage with robots and AI in real-world settings, we need to open our perspective to the specific social context, the diversity of people that engage with the technologies and the various forms in which people engage/disengage, interact or collaborate with the technology as a single user, in groups or with other participation forms or roles. Therefore, we need to turn to qualitative methods that can deal with the complexity and dynamics of interaction with robots and AI in real world settings. 

The course introduces video-based methods for analyzing and designing robots and AI for real-world settings, combining video/ethnography and co-creation tools from participatory and interaction design. We will focus on methodological issues centered around: 1) Describing practices using ethnomethodology, video ethnography and analysis, 2) Intervening in practices using enactments, bodystorming, and voice-overs, 3) Reflecting on how these practices inform our understanding of real-world practices and concrete guidelines and how this in turn can inform the design of robots and AI, thus facilitating interdisciplinary dialogue and collaboration.

Learning Objectives:

The students will gain knowledge and practical experience in:

a)      Planning and conducting video ethnographic studies, including data collection, transcription, and video analysis.

b)      Preparation and facilitation of collaborative data sessions and co-creation workshops, using techniques for rapid prototyping, including enactments, role-play and bodystorming/vocal sketching.

c)      Facilitating and navigating interdisciplinary collaborations by using techniques that can bridge both fields.

No prerequisites are required.

Participation requires taking part in the course activities, including the preparation and presentation of a brief talk during the course.

Teaching methods:

The course is divided into two parts. The first part is taught through lectures that introduce methods and workshops in which the students gain firsthand practical experience. In the second part of the course, the students will relate and apply the acquired knowledge to their own PhD-project and present their results for discussion at the end of the course.

For practical and pedagogical reasons, the exercises in the first part of this course will particularly focus on video-based methods exploring the impact of robots on social practices and explore how a deeper understanding of these practices can inform design. In the second part of the course, we will encourage students to apply the methods to their own PhD projects, which may include robots and AI agents in any social setting.

Target group

This course is directed to an interdisciplinary audience looking for students of social science and humanities, design and robotics, HRI or HCI who are interested in:

a)      Using video/audio recordings for analysing meaning-making processes in social settings in which robots or AI agents are or should be embedded,

b)      exploring interactional and embodied methods for designing robots and AI agents for interactions in real world settings, and

c)      developing an embodied and interactional understanding of human practices and human-centred design processes.  

Both Danish and foreign students are welcome. The course will be taught in English.

Description of poster:

No paper will be required.  

However, we will need a poster of every participant introducing their PhD project. The poster should be handed in ca 2 weeks before the course starts (a deadline will be announced). The posters help us to get an overview over the topics and enable us to relate to their projects during the course. The posters are on display during the entire course to facilitate sparing between the PhD students.

Program outline:

Day 1: Describing (9.00-17.00)

• Overview of the course & welcome
• Introduction Lectures to the topic of observation for design (video observation, transcription, and video analysis
• Workshops on transcription and video analysis
• Q&A

Day 2: Intervening (9.00-17.00)

• Introduction Lectures video-based and participatory methods for rapid prototyping with focus on co-creation methods like enactment and bodystorming
• Workshops testing different methods of enacting human robot interaction
• Q&A

Day 3:  Describing and intervening in own PhD projects (9.00-17.00)

• Broadening the perspective to other application scenarios & bridging analysis and design in mini projects: Dive into self-selected themes of observing, analyzing enacting and informing/designing regarding your own project (lectures and discussion)
• Afternoon: individual work on relating the methods to the students’ own projects

Day 4: Reflecting (9.00-13.00)

• Students’ presentations

Final Discussions and evaluation

Organizer:
Antonia Krummheuer

Course teachers – we will be co-teaching

Dr. Antonia L. Krummheuer, Associate Professor for Qualitative Methods and Technology Studies, Department of Communication and Psychology, member of the HRI Lab at Aalborg University and the steering committee of Aalborg Robotic Challenge (organizer and lecturer)

Dr. Hannah R. M. Pelikan, Assistant Professor at the Department of Culture and Society, Linköping University. Expert on video methods and HRI. She has developed several techniques for bridging video ethnography and interaction design and taught several courses on video analysis and design methods at CHI and HRI conferences and summer schools (lecture).

ECTS:
3

Time:
12,13,14,15 August 2025

Place:
TBA

Zip code:
9000

City:
Aalborg

Number of seats:
12

Deadline for enrolment:
29. July 2025

Deadline for uploading the poster:
TBA

Key literature:

Mandatory

Interaction analysis (methods)

1. Heath, C., Hindmarsh, J., & Luff, P. (2010). Video in Qualitative Research: Analysing Social Interaction in Everyday Life. Sage.
2. Hannah Pelikan. 2023. Transcribing human–robot interaction: Methodological implications of participating machines. In P. Haddington, T. Eilittä, A. Kamunen, L. Kohonen-Aho, T. Oittinen, I. Rautiainen, & A. Vatanen (Eds.), Ethnomethodological Conversation Analysis in Motion: Emerging Methods and New Technologies (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003424888

Interaction with Robots

3. Alač, M., J. Movellan & F. Tanaka, 2011: When a Robot Is Social: Spatial Arrangements and Multimodal Semiotic Engagement in the Practice of Social Robotics. Social Studies of Science, 41(6): 893–926. https://doi.org/0.1177/0306312711420565.
4. Dautenhahn K. Some Brief Thoughts on the Past and Future of Human-Robot Interaction. ACMTrans. Hum.-Robot Interact. 2018;7(1). Available from: https://doi.org/10.1145/3209769.
5. Hornecker, E., Krummheuer, A. L., Bischof, A., & Rehm, M. (2022). Beyond dyadic HRI: building robots for society. interactions, 29(3), 48–53. https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3526119

Interaction Design

6. Brandt, E., Binder, T., & Sanders, E. B.-N. (2012). Tools and techniques: Ways to engage telling, making and enacting. I J. Simonsen & Toni. Robertson (Red.), Routledge International Handbook of Participatory Design (s. 145–181). Routledge.
7. Krummheuer, A. L. (2023). Practice-based robotics: How sociology can inform the development of social robots. I F. Muhle (red.), Soziale Robotik: Eine sozialwissenschaftliche Einführung (s. 117-136). De Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110714944-006
8. Pelikan, H, & Jung, M.F. (2023). Designing Robot Sound-In-Interaction: The Case of Autonomous Public Transport Shuttle Buses. In Proceedings of the 2023 ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI '23). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 172–182. https://doi.org/10.1145/3568162.3576979
9. Randall, D., & Rouncefield, M. (2018). Ethnographic Approach to Design. In K. L. Norman & J. Kirakowski (Eds.), The Wiley Handbook of Human Computer Interaction (pp. 125--141). https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118976005.ch7
10. Lucero, A., Dalsgaard, P., Halskov, K., & Buur, J. (2016). Designing with Cards. I P. Markopoulos, J.-B. Martens, J. Malins, K. Coninx, & A. Liapis (Red.), Collaboration in Creative Design: Methods and Tools (s. 75–95). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-29155-0_5

Secondary

1. Crabtree, A., Rouncefield, M., & Tolmie, P. (2012). Doing Design Ethnography. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-2726-0
2. Matarić, M., 2018: On Relevance: Balancing Theory and Practice in HRI. ACM Transactions on Human-Robot Interaction, 7(1):8:1–8:2. https://doi.org/10.1145/3209770.
3. Moore, R.J., M.H. Szymanski, R. Arar & G-J. Ren, (Eds.), 2018: Studies in Conversational UX Design. Wiesbaden: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95579-7.
4. Šabanović, S., 2010: Robots in Society, Society in Robots. International Journal of Social Robotics, 2(4): 439–450. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12369-010-0066-7.
5. Suchman L. Human-Machine Reconfigurations: Plans and Situated Actions. Second edition. Cambridge University Press; 2007.
6. Weiss A, Spiel K. Robots beyond Science Fiction: mutual learning in human–robot interaction on the way to participatory approaches. AI & Society. 2022; 37:1-15. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-021-01209-w.
7. Ylirisku, S. & J. Buur, 2007: Designing with Video. Focusing the User-Centred Design Process. Wiesbaden: Springer.

Important information concerning PhD courses: 

There is a no-show fee of DKK 3,000 for each course where the student does not show up. Cancellations are accepted no later than 2 weeks before the start of the course. Registered illness is of course an acceptable reason for not showing up on those days. Furthermore, all courses open for registration approximately four months before start of the course.

We cannot ensure any seats before the deadline for enrolment, all participants will be informed after the deadline, approximately 3 weeks before the start of the course.

For inquiries regarding registration, cancellation or waiting list, please contact the PhD administration at phdcourses@adm.aau.dk When contacting us please state the course title and course period. Thank you.

 

Welcome to Studying immigration, solidarity and civil society in theory and practice

The PhD course Solidarity, migration and civil society in theory and practice offers participants the opportunity to discuss and reflect on their work within a theoretically guided framework on solidarity and civil society.

International crises like the economic crisis and refugee crises have led to new forms of participation and democratic practices in civil society. The notion of solidarity underpins such processes and experiments. There is a rich conceptual literature seeking to theorize such developments. The course will draw on recent conceptualizations offered by the course conductors, that describe solidarity as comprising five dimensions: 

Contentious: it shapes new forms of politics and political subjectification (Featherstone and Karaliotas 2018) which contest modes of exclusion and invisibilisation sustained by the hegemonic order of migration and refuge.

Emerging from moments of disruption or conjunctures: the acknowledgement of a crisis can allow for the articulation of political alternatives through solidarity practices (avoiding the risk of nationalist and xenophobic articulations).

Generative: it can generate new political subjectivities (Bauder 2016) and collective identities (new types of neighbourhoods, social classes, and even humanity as a political community).

Forging alliance-building: it enables the contact between different groups that creates a common ‘interest’ and goal, based on a mutually constitutive relationship.

Situated in space and time and articulating multi-scalar relations: solidarity takes place as relations in spaces, where identities and alliances are constituted, and connects with other spaces through trans-local connections and social imaginaries.

Getting a grasp on theoretical and methodological approaches for studying solidarity can help PhD students in understanding and analysing participatory processes at the local scale and help contextualise civil society organizing and mobilisation within such theoretical frameworks.  The course aims at providing tools for planning, doing, and reflecting on theoretical, methodological and analytical work on solidarity as a political practice in civil society at different scales, from urban to global. It is targeting Ph.D. students whose project engages theoretically and analytically with immigration, solidarity and civil society. Participants can come from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds, including, sociology, ethnography/anthropology, political science, discourse studies, human geography and field-specific areas such as critical migration studies.

Learning objectives

• To obtain knowledge of basic and central features of solidarity and civil society from theoretical perspectives
• To consider the balancing between analysis and theory building by exploring interdisciplinary approaches
• To explore challenges of access, time, ethical issues, and reflexivity as to researcher engagement
• To reflect on transformative and participatory processes of solidarity practices and the broader societal implications
• To design analytical case studies investigating forms of solidarity in civil society and policy frameworks

Teaching methods:

The course will include an explicit focus on how solidarity and civil society can be studied in theory and practice, but the specific content of activities will be developed in the light of the participants’ profiles. Presentations and discussions on theories and methods will be supplemented with hands-on exercises and analyses of solidarity practices. During the course, all students will be involved in exercises to design and facilitate fieldwork, analysis, and critical reflections.

Description of paper requirements, if applicable:

Participants must register by … and hand in a paper for presentation at the course.  

Paper submissions are to focus on a theoretical and/or analytical reflection on solidarity and civil society within the individual PhD project. The course can include topics like urban solidarities, cosmopolitan practices, criminalisation of solidarity, municipal and civil society relations, and more.

As the presentations and workshop will depart in and consider the project stages of the participant, papers for the course (min. 5 pages) must be submitted beforehand (no later than… TBA). The papers will receive both oral and written feedback.

Time schedule

Day 1

09:00 – 10:00: Welcome and general introduction (Óscar García Agustín & Martin Bak Jørgensen)

10:00 – 11:00: Presentation 1: Conceptualizing Solidarity: Discourses, Imaginaries and Spatial Practices (Óscar García Agustín)

Solidarity, rather than a buzzword or a simple synonymous for good will, refers to the interactions and relations between individuals and groups and how they change identities and our understanding of society. Therefore, it is necessary to establish a clear framework to analyze solidarity when studying migration. In this presentation, three dimensions of solidarity will be introduced: discourse, both as representation and its performative effect; social and spatial imaginaries, to explore the communities that are imagined and the geographies that are enhanced; and spaces, as approach to the relations happening in place. The objective is to reflect on how these intertwined dimensions contribute to define solidarity and how relations and connections between migration and civil society develop.

11:00 – 11:15: Coffee

11:15 – 12:15: Workshop: Thinking solidarity in practice

12:15 – 13:00: Lunch

13:00 – 14:00: Student presentations

14:00 – 14:15: Break

14:15 – 15:15: Student presentations

15:15 – 15:30: Break

15:30 – 16:30: Student presentations

16:30 – 17:00: Concluding on the workshop theme of the day

18:30 – 20:30: Dinner in town

Day 2

09:00 – 10:00: Presentation 2: Studying networked forms of solidarity (Martin Bak Jørgensen)

This presentation investigates the functions played by sanctuary and solidarity cities. It addresses how they organize glocally (connecting the local and global scales) through establishing networks of sanctuary/solidarity cities. The presentation first defines the concepts of sanctuary and solidarity cities and their importance to strengthen progressive localism. Next it presents a framework to understand the relations between the local and global scales (as well as other scales) when organized in a networked form. I apply this framework on three cases that demonstrate the development of a plurality of types of networks of sanctuary/solidarity cities: Fearless Cities, World Social Forum on Migrations and Inclusive Cities, and Solidarity Communities. The presentation is concluded with reflections on the developmental potentials and limitations of these different networks of sanctuary/solidarity cities.

10:00 – 10:15: Break

10:15 – 11:15: Workshop on mapping solidarity networks

11:15 – 12:15: Student presentations

12:15 – 13:00: Lunch

13:00 – 14:30: Student presentations

14:30 – 15:00: Coffee

15:00 – 16:30: Student presentations

16:30 – 17:00: Concluding on the workshop theme of the day

18:30 – 20:30: Dinner at Innovate

Day 3

09:00 – 10.30: Presentation 3: Migrant solidarity and social struggles (Martina Tazzioli)

The approach of ‘Autonomy of Migration’ considers migrants as ‘autonomous’ (agents promoting their freedom of movement by questioning borders and shaping new sociospatial realities) rather than victims. From this perspective, the spatialization of solidarity must include temporality to connect political struggles with the collective memory of solidarity practices. Furthermore, solidarity needs to be reinscribed as well as within the ‘social fabric’ of social struggles to account for the formation of common everyday spaces, rather than reducing networks of solidarity to gestures of hospitality. Through this approach to migration and social struggles, solidarity practices are enacted in heterogeneous places as fields of struggle. Solidarity practices are, then, shaped by antagonistic relationships of alterity.

10:30 – 10:45: Coffee

10:45 – 11:45: Student presentations

11:45 – 12:30: Lunch

12:30 – 14:00: Student presentations

14:00 – 14:15: Break

14:15 – 15.15: Student presentations

15:15 – 15.30: Coffee and goodbye

Organizer:

Óscar García Agustín & Martin Bak Jørgensen, Culture and Learning, DEMOS

Lecturers:

Professor Óscar García Agustín, AAU
Professor Martin Bak Jørgensen, AAU
Associate Professor Martina Tazzioli, Università de Bologna

ECTS:
3

Time:
12, 13, 14 May 2025

Place:
TBA

Zip code:
9220

City:
Aalborg

Number of seats:
15

Deadline for enrolment:
22 April 2025

Deadline for uploading of Paper:
TBA

Key literature:

Agustín, Ó. G., & Jørgensen, M. B. (2024). Towards a global network of sanctuary or solidarity cities. In Handbook on migration and development (pp. 417-432). Edward Elgar Publishing.
Agustín, Ó. G., & Jørgensen, M. B. (2019). Solidarity and the 'refugee Crisis' in Europe. Springer.
Bauder, H. (2016). “Possibilities of urban belonging”. Antipode, 48(2), 252–271.
Bauder, H., & D.A. Gonzalez. (2018). “Municipal responses to ‘illegality’: Urban sanctuary across national contexts”. Social Inclusion, 6(1), 124–134.
Featherstone, D., & L. Karaliotas. (2018). “Challenging the spatial politics of the European crisis: Nationed narratives and trans-local solidarities in the post-crisis conjuncture”. Cultural Studies, 32(2), 286–307.
Kreichauf, R., & M. Mayer. (2021). “Negotiating urban solidarities: Multiple agencies and contested meanings in the making of solidarity cities”. Urban Geography, 42(7), 979–1002.
Kron, S., & H. Lebuhn. (2020). “Building solidarity cities: From protest to policy”. In Baban, F. & K. Rygiel (eds.) Fostering Pluralism Through Solidarity Activism in Europe (pp. 81–105). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, pp. 81–105. 
Roth, L., & B. Russell. (2018). “Translocal solidarity and the new municipalism”. Roar, Autumn (8), 80–93.
Russell, B. (2019). “Beyond the local trap: New municipalism and the rise of the fearless cities”. Antipode, 51(3), 989–1010.
Schwiertz, H., & Schwenken, H. (2021). Introduction: inclusive solidarity and citizenship along migratory routes in Europe and the Americas. In Inclusive Solidarity and Citizenship along Migratory Routes in Europe and the Americas (pp. 1-19). Routledge.
Tazzioli, Martina (2014). Spaces of Governmentality. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.

Important information concerning PhD courses: 

There is a no-show fee of DKK 3,000 for each course where the student does not show up. Cancellations are accepted no later than 2 weeks before the start of the course. Registered illness is of course an acceptable reason for not showing up on those days. Furthermore, all courses open for registration approximately four months before start of the course.

We cannot ensure any seats before the deadline for enrolment, all participants will be informed after the deadline, approximately 3 weeks before the start of the course.

For inquiries regarding registration, cancellation or waiting list, please contact the PhD administration at phdcourses@adm.aau.dk When contacting us please state the course title and course period. Thank you.