Doctoral course on "Space and Place in the Humanities", spring semester 2023
During the spring semester 2023 the Center for Medieval Studies arranged the doctoral course "Space and Place in the Humanities", within the framework of the Faculty of Humanities' Doctoral School. 17 PhD candidates from various Swedish universities and ten teachers from different disciplines at Stockholm University participated in the course that was organized by Nanouschka Myrberg Burström from the Department of Archeology and Kurt Villads Jensen from the Department of History. Nikita Balagurov, doctoral student in cultural history of Central and Eastern Europé, Lund University, shares his experiences from the course.
– The course offered various formats for the participants' engagement with the key theoretical concepts of the 'spatial turn'. Lectures and seminars aimed at the discussion of the assigned reading – or particular case studies in the context of the course literature. Workshops and the 'humanities labs' were great venues for the actual application of the concepts to our own projects and provided unconventional challenges which encouraged us to seek and formulate new spatial dimensions in our research. Excursions contributed another, phenomenological aspect to the learning process. Walking in the city and exploring cultural landscapes of the Södertörn peninsula made a case for theoretically and methodologically informed experience of the urban space and historic localities.
Interdisciplinarity is another strength of the course. "Space and place" brings together scholars with various backgrounds and from different branches of humanities and social sciences. This allowed the participants to learn from each other, hear new types of questions about their projects and eventually – productively 'defamiliarize' their own research and find common ground with their colleagues working on the spatial aspects within different disciplines.
As an art historian writing cultural history of the Russian monarchy in the 19th century, throughout the course I had several thought-provoking discussions with medievalists, archeologists, human geographers, etc. Having read the suggested literature (spanning all areas of humanities and social sciences), I added a number of new, unexpected entries to my bibliography, and references – to my theoretical introduction. Finally, the course gave a new spin to my side project on the iconography of power in Stalin's Soviet Union. Working on 'draw your thesis' assignment, I eventually formulated the key argument for the future article and executed a drawing which I plan to include in the publication.
Text by: Nikita Balagurov.
Last updated: September 25, 2023
Source: Historiska institutionen