PhD Courses in Denmark

Department of Sociology, University of Copenhagen

Are you looking for an opportunity to discuss the empirical analysis in your PhD project? Then consider enrolling in this course.

Dates and time
26 November 2025 from 9:00 – 16:30
27 November 2025 from 9:00 – 16:00

Academic aims
 - Enhance reflections on practical sociological analysis, including both scholarly and practical dimensions
 - Present and discuss own analytical work

Target group: Sociology PhDs

This doctoral course is oriented toward research projects and is designed to support the practice, reflection, and development of skills for conducting sociologically informed empirical analysis. Participants will explore different approaches to connecting theory, state-of-the-art literature, and data in order to address research questions; examine standards of analytical quality; and discuss strategies for ensuring transparency in analytical processes.

The course includes master classes by senior scholars, PhD fellows’ presentations of draft analyses, group-based feedback on ongoing analytical work, and plenary discussions of broader, interconnected themes.

Course organiser: Christian Borch, Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Copenhagen.

Language: English
 

Tentative programme

Wednesday 26 November 2025
09:00 – 09:30  Welcome and introductions
09:30 – 10:45  Masterclass by Christian Borch, focusing on a concrete piece of analysis—how it was conducted, how the argument was developed, the challenges encountered, and how it was received by peers
10:45 – 11:15   Coffee break
11:15 – 11:55   Participant presentation and feedback
12:00 – 12:45   Lunch
12:45 – 14:00   Masterclass by [TBA], focusing on a concrete piece of analysis—how it was conducted, how the argument was developed, the challenges encountered, and how it was received by peers
14:00 – 14:15   Coffee break
14:15 – 16:00   Participant presentations and feedback
16:00 – 16:30   Reflections on the day.

Thursday 27 November 2025
9:00 – 10:30    Master class presentation by [TBA], focusing on a concrete piece of analysis—how it was conducted, how the argument was developed, the challenges encountered, and how it was received by peers
10:30 – 11:00  Coffee/tea
11:00 – 12:20  Participant presentations and feedback
12:20 – 13:00  Lunch
13:00 – 14:15  Masterclass by [TBA], focusing on a concrete piece of analysis—how it was conducted, how the argument was developed, the challenges encountered, and how it was received by peers

14:15 – 14:45  Break
14:45 – 15:15   Participant presentations and feedback (with small coffee/tea breaks)
15:15 – 16:00  Questions & discussion based on padlet contributions.

ECTS: 3

Preparation: Please submit your emerging analysis document no later than 5 November 2025 via email to phd@hrsc.ku.dk. The guidelines are listed here:

The paper for the course consists of a 10-page presentation of a draft piece of ‘analysis in progress’ for your PhD research project.

The paper must be written as a ‘work in progress’ discussion, and cover the following:

• Research question and sub-question for the particular draft of analysis
• Ultra-short state-of art literature argument for research question or sub-question
• Short outline of the main theoretical assumptions that inform the draft of analysis
• Short description of methodological design
• Presentation of draft analysis
• Reflections upon challenges

Presentation of paper at the course: Max 3 minutes – to remind the rest of the course participants about the main ideas behind the draft analysis and any key reflections on the process. We assume participants have read (because they are assigned to give feedback) all the papers.

Max. number of participants: 15

Registration: Please register via the link in the box no later than 6 October 2025. 

​Further Information: For more information about the course, please contact the PhD Administration (phd@hrsc.ku.dk) or the course organiser Christian Borch (chb@soc.ku.dk).

Literature

• Abbott, Andrew (2004) Methods of discovery: Heuristics for the social sciences. New York, Norton & Company. (Chapters 3, 4 and 5; pp. 80-161).
• Despret, Vinciane (2005) “Sheep Do Have Opinions,” pp. 360-369 in Bruno Latour & Peter Weibel (eds) Making Things Public: Atmospheres of Democracy. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
• Healy, Kieran (2017) “Fuck Nuance,” Sociological Theory 35(2): 118-27: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0735275117709046.
• Krause, Monika (2021) “On Sociological Reflexivity,” Sociological Theory 39(1): 3-18: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0735275121995213.
• Monk, Jr., Ellis P. (2022) “Inequality without Groups: Contemporary Theories of Categories, Intersectional Typicality, and the Disaggregation of Difference,” Sociological Theory 40(1): 3-27: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/07352751221076863.