IMT-PhD: Learning and researching from narratives and life history interviews F2027
Doctoral School of People and Technology at Roskilde University
Contents
While applying a temporal perspective, the Biographical Life Course approach provides a significant insight into people’s lives across time, space and context by integrating the dynamic relationship between personal, social and historical time. When interlinking individual experiences, cultural norms and ideas, and structural conditions, personal narratives from and about the life course are transformed, interpreted and elevated to a more general level of human experience in specific time and space.
This PhD course will introduce a variety of aspects related to qualitative research about the biographical life course (Nilsen 2023). A threefold insight into the subject will be provided by:
1) giving an overview of theoretical traditions based on classical contributions (e.g. Elder 1985; Gubrium, Holstein & Buckholdt 1994; Hareven 2000), and newer contributions and concepts applied by scholars across disciplines within the humanities and the social sciences
2) introducing methodological issues and methods, such as research design and narrative analyses
3) framing the practical application of a biographical life course study throughout a research process. This third part will include case-based exercises and discussions of concrete methods (including interviews, diary analyses etc.). This part also includes an introduction to and discussions about ethical challenges and possible guidelines regarding GDPR etc.
The PhD course is open to PhD students employing mixed-methods approaches in their research, but there will be a particular focus on applying and using the fruitfulness of qualitative methodologies and methods in the study of the biographical life course. Regarding research field, this PhD course welcomes all areas, including for example intergenerational family relations, narratives of illness, gendered experiences of motherhood, stories of migratory lives, cross-national care, and ageing across generations. The curriculum consists of lectures, teamwork and hands-on exercises, oral presentations, concluded by a written, individual exam.