PhD Courses in Denmark

Department of Anthropology UCPH in collaboration with the Department of Anthropology AU

Dates and time
Day 1 is held in Aarhus on 5 September 2025, from appr. 11 AM to 5 PM (precise time will depend on the number of participants).
Day 2 is held in Copenhagen on 21 October 2025, from appr. 11 AM to 5 PM (precise time will depend on the number of participants).

Course Objectives
This course aims to develop participants’ ability to produce and reflect on an academic text. You will learn how to develop an argument in a text (a draft of a chapter or an article), how to ensure validity, and how to place sub-arguments in the wider context of the overall argument of the thesis. The course will explore different writing styles, aiming to inspire your writing and to enable you to think critically about the implications of your stylistic choices.

Methodology
Day 1 presents analytical tools for dissecting the form and argumentation of academic texts. This will be applied to pre-circulated drafts of excerpts from participants’ theses (a chapter or an article) in the “aquarium model,” to identify specific strategies for improving the text. You will receive three constructive challenges or “benspænd” which should be incorporated and the revised text circulated before the second meeting.

On Day 2, revisions will briefly be discussed in the aquarium model. The course explores how the argument relates to the overall structure and the process of revision is analysed and discussed. In the second part of the day, we will discuss the implications of different styles of writing based on readings of short paradigmatic texts. These are selected based on the needs identified at the first seminar.

Participants are requested to submit a thesis excerpt (maximum 10 pages) and a contextualisation (1 page). The deadline for submission of the text is Monday, August 25, 2025 at noon (via email to etnolouw@cas.au.dk and tine.gammeltoft@anthro.ku.dk).

Before Day 2, all participants will write a revised text (maximum 15 pages), prepare two “revised text dissections”, and read one paradigmatic article/chapter. The deadline for submission of the revised text is Thursday, October 9, 2025 (via email to etnolouw@cas.au.dk) and tine.gammeltoft@anthro.ku.dk).

Readings:
Before day 1: Thesis excerpts from all participants, material on form and argumentation in a scientific text. 
Before day 2: Revise your text, prepare two revised thesis dissections, and read one paradigmatic text.

Language: English

Course lecturers
 - Maria Louw (etnolouw@cas.au.dk), Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology, Aarhus University.
 - Tine M. Gammeltoft (tine.gammeltoft@anthro.ku.dk), Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Copenhagen.

Max. number of participants: 7.

ECTS: 3.5

Target group: The course is primarily offered to PhD students from the departments of Anthropology in Copenhagen and Aarhus Universities. If there are vacant seats, PhD students from other research schools may participate. All participants must have a background in anthropology or a related discipline, and it is a requirement that the planned project includes ethnographic fieldwork.

Course fee: The PhD School at the Faculty of Social Sciences participates in Denmark’s national network for PhD courses. This course is free of charge for PhD students enrolled at a one of the participating PhD schools (PhD students enrolled at a Danish University, except from Copenhagen Business School). Other PhD students will be charged a course fee of DKK 1,200 per ECTS for participation in the course (PhD students enrolled at Copenhagen Business School or at a University outside Denmark).

Registration: Please register via the link in the box no later than 15 August 2025.

Further information: For more information about the PhD course, please contact the PhD Administration (phd@hrsc.ku.dk) or the course organisers.