Why do you need these courses?

Photo: Public domain

In academia, we are trained to think the way tradition tells us in our research field and our knowledge is formed in a particular environment. These master's courses in cultural evolution aim at tearing down barriers between disciplines and involve knowledge from widely different fields.

Interdisciplinary research on cultural evolution is an internationally growing field where collaboration across subject boundaries plays a crucial role. Are you a student in the humanities, social or natural sciences? Are you interested in a broad interdisciplinary perspective on cultural change? Do you want to know how methods like computational modelling or complex systems analysis can be applied to understand human and social phenomena? Then these courses are for you!

How does it work?

Cultural transmission
Cultural transmission. Photo: Cienpies Design

We offer two courses that run online at 50% time in the evening during the entire spring term. The first course Cultural evolution: theories and observations (7,5 hp) is given the first half of the term and covers the diversity of observations of cultural change and theories seeking to explain them. In the subsequent course Cultural evolution: project (7,5 hp) you will produce an interdisciplinary paper on a topic of your choice related to cultural change.

The courses are organised by the Centre for Cultural Evolution in collaboration with the departments of Sociology, Psychology, Linguistics, Archaeology and Classical Studies, Culture and Aesthetics, Zoology, and Biology Education. The courses are open to master's students and Ph.D. students from all academic areas. Ask your study counsellor if you have questions on integration with your master's programme.

For more information about the courses, contact us at info.cek@su.se.

You can find more practical information and how to apply in the course catalogue: