PhD Courses in Denmark

Department of Political Science

Dates and time: 25 - 26 February 2026 from 9:00 to 16:00

As scholars, we write. We write notes, drafts and – invariably – ‘outputs’. Writing is central to what we do. And yet writing arguably continues to be one of the least reflected-upon parts of the research process. When we do talk about writing, the conversation too often turns to the narrow question of how we can efficiently produce text to get published (or finish our theses). This bypasses the significant issue that how we write has consequences and is therefore political (in a broad sense).

Meanwhile, the most memorable pieces we read often defy traditional expectations. More recently, it has become more common to write in ways that appear, at first glance, incompatible with ideas of what constitutes ‘proper science’, for example, autobiographically, poetically or multi-vocally, though this remains the exception in International Relations and Political Science. In order to think through why we write as we do, we need to also unpack the practice of writing.

This course engages with fundamental questions about writing to enable you to reflect on one of the most central activities in your life as a researcher:

 - What do we do when we write?
 - Why do we write (and what are the implications)?
 - What can we achieve through writing?
 - What is the significance of form?
 - How does our writing implicate us in the problems we seek to address?

The course requires active participation from participants, who must be willing to share (their experiences with) writing in the group, to write (differently) in class, reflect on writing itself and to constructively comment on their peers’ writing. It will enable participants to reflect on their writing as a practice but also an ethico-political problem. It will, as appropriate, identify openings for becoming more adventurous writers

Academic Aim:
 - Develop strategies for reflecting upon writing
 - Develop writing skills

Target group: 
All who are interested in reflecting on writing (and its ethico-political implications) and who write as part of their project

Course organiser and teacher:
Maja Zehfuss, Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Copenhagen

Programme:

Day 1: Practice: What do we do when we write?

 - Writing practicalities
 - Ways of writing

Day 2: Politics: Why do we write (and what are the implications)? What can we achieve through our writing? How does our writing implicate us in the problems we seek to address?

 - Making words from worlds
 - Making worlds form words

Language: English

ECTS: 2

Max. numbers of participants: 12

Registration: Please register via the link in the box no later than 28 January 2026

Preliminary references (subject to change):

Beauchamps, Marie, “Doing Academia Differently: Loosening the Boundaries of Our Disciplining Writing Practices”, Millennium: Journal of International Studies 49: 2 (2021).

Cohn, Carol, “Sex and Death in the Rational World of Defense Intellectuals”, Signs, 12:4 (1987), 687-718.

Daigle, Megan, “Writing the Lives of Others: Storytelling and International Politics”, Millennium: Journal of International Studies 45:1 (2016).

Dauphinée, Elizabeth, The Politics of Exile (Routledge 2013).

Doty, Roxanne Lynn, “Maladies of Our Souls: Identity and Voice in the Writing of Academic International Relations”, Cambridge Review of International Affairs 17:2 (2004).

King, Stephen, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft (2000).

Shapiro, Michael J., Writing Politics (Routledge 2021).

Special Issue on Elizabeth Daupinée’s The Politics of Exile in Security Dialogue 44:4 (2013).

Sword, Helen, Stylish Academic Writing (Cambridge: Harvard University Press 2012).

Strausz, Erszébet, Writing the Self and Transforming Knowledge in International Relations: Towards a Politics of Liminality (Routledge 2018).