PhD Courses in Denmark

Date and time: 6-7 October + 17-18 November 2026 from 9:00 to 16:30

This course investigates the role of the senses in human lives drawing on insights from humanities and social sciences. In the last three decades, sensory studies have established a wide range of research areas and methods that highlight how the senses form a central role in people’s lives – although often in the background of attention. Writings by David Howes, Michel Serres, Sarah Pink, and many others have developed concepts and approaches that show how traditional understanding of humans as having five senses is in need of rethinking.

In this course we introduce the participants to selected fields of research - and to inspire them to both focused work, pilot studies or experimental efforts of employing methods that home in on the role of the senses, or the senses as a lens of understanding human lives. 

The areas of research and methods include:

Areas:
 - Corporeal listening
 - Kinesthetic senses
 - Sensory technologies (lighting, sound, smell)
 - Atmospheres
 - Etc.

Methods:
 - Ethnographic methods
 - Archival methods
 - Experimenting with representational forms

Academic Aim:
 - Knowledge about current theoretical debates
 - Experience in generating and analysing sensory data
 - Proficiency in presenting
 - Desire to go beyond more traditional academic methods

Target group: 
PhD Students within humanities and social science 

Guest lecturers:
Anna Harris, Professor, Department of Society Studies, Maastricht University
Meri Kutö, University Lecturer, Art History, Musicology and Media Studies, University of Turku

Course lecturers and organisers: 
Mikkel Bille, Professor, SAXO-Institute, University of Copenhagen
Holger Schulze, Professor, Department of Arts and Cultural Studies, University of Copenhagen

Preliminary programme:

Workshop 1: Sensory Studies: Theories

Day 1
 Introductory lecture & sensory walk
 Student presentations and feedback
 Lunch
 Lecture
 Student presentations and feedback

Day 2
Introductory lecture
Student presentations and feedback
Lunch
Lecture
Student presentations and feedback

Workshop 2: Sensory Studies: Methods

Day 1
Introductory lecture
Student presentations and feedback
Lunch
Lecture
Student presentations and feedback
Dinner (Self-funded)

Day 2
Introductory lecture
Student presentations and feedback
Lunch
Lecture
Student presentations and feedback

Preparation:

Workshop 1: Sensory studies: Theories
Written assignments, deadline 21 September 2026:
2-3 pages on a text that has inspired the student. Submit to Mikkel Bille (mbille@hum.ku.dk)

Workshop 2: Sensory Studies: Methods workshop
8-10 pages written text on methodological reflections or application in relation to project.
2 pages reflections on learning from Workshop 1. Submit by 21 October 2026 to Mikkel Bille (mbille@hum.ku.dk)

Language: English

ECTS: 5 ECTS for participation including preparation and paper presentation.

Max. numbers of participants: 25

Course fee: The PhD School at the Faculty of Humanities participates in Denmark’s national network for PhD courses. This course is free of charge for PhD students enrolled at one of the participating PhD schools (PhD students enrolled at a Danish University, except 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 a University outside Denmark).

Registration: Please register via the link in the box no later than 1 June 2026.

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

Literature:

Howes, D. 2023, Prologue (17p) and ch. 6. (12p) in Sensorial Investigations. Pennsylvania State University Press

Corbin, A. 2014, Urban Sensations. The shifting Sensescape of the City. In In the age of empire. A cultural history of the senses (ed. Classen, C.). Bloomsbury (18p)

Harris, A. & van Drie, M. 2015, Sharing Sound: Teaching, Learning, and Researching Sonic Skills. In: Sound Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal, vol. 1:1, pp. 98-117 (9p).

Bille et al. 2015 Staging Atmospheres. Emotion, Space, Society

Vaninni, P. 2023. The Routledge International Handbook of Sensory Ethnography. Selected chapters (40 pages)

Desjarlais, R. Movement, Stillness. On the sensory World of a shelter for the ‘homeless mentally ill’. In Empire of the senses. (ed. Howes, D.) Berg. (10p)

Kytö, M. 2022. Soundscapes of Code: Cochlear implant as soundscape arranger. In Aural Diversity (eds. J. L. Drever, A. Hugill) Bloomsbury (7p)

Kytö, M., Kilpiö, K., Uimonen, H. 2024. Background Music Cultures in Finnish Urban Life. Cambridge University Press (chapters 3-5, 35p)

Serres, M. 2008. The Five Senses: A Philosophy of Mingled Bodies (chapter “Animal Spirits” 15p)

Pink, S. 2009. Doing Sensory Ethnography. SAGE Publishing.

Waldock, J. 2021. The Conflicting Sounds of Urban Regeneration in Liverpool. In: The Bloomsbury Handbook of Sonic Methodologies (eds. Bull, M. & Cobussen, M) Bloomsbury (chapter 48, 8 Pages)