PhD Courses in Denmark

Date and time: 17 September 2026 from 9:00 to 16:30.

This one-day workshop aims to engage with the environmental turn within humanistic and theological research by focusing on one specific and central environmental object; the tree. The aim is to involve PhD students and early career researchers with invited researchers specialising in the subject in interdisciplinary discussions on the tree from several different perspectives and time-periods, but with a specific focus on cultural, historical, and religious aspects of trees.

Academic Aim:
 - To engage critically with the “environmental turn” in the humanities by examining how a single ecological object - the tree - can serve as a focal point for interdisciplinary inquiry among scholars from theology, the humanities and other fields.

 - To analyse the cultural, historical, and religious significance of trees across different periods with particular attention to shifting interpretations.

 - To explore how humanistic and theological perspectives on trees can intersect with for example environmental governance, land use, resource rights, and ecological systems, fostering broader interdisciplinary connections.

 - To develop advanced scholarly skills in comparative and diachronic analysis through dialogue with invited experts and peers, fostering the ability to situate specific case studies within broader intellectual and environmental histories.

 - To strengthen academic collaboration and research dissemination among early career scholars, contributing to possible future joint initiatives

Target group: The course is expected to be of interest to a broad group of PhDs and early career researchers from all of the departments of the Faculty of Theology and the Faculty of Humanities; but with possibilities of other participants from the Faculty of Law focusing on for example land rights, and environmental law, and Faculty of Science such as PhDs within the Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, and within Biology.

Course organisers:
Viktor Anders Wretström, PhD-fellow in History, Centre for Privacy Studies, Section of Church History, University of Copenhagen
Søren Frank Jensen, Post-Doctoral researcher, Centre for Privacy Studies, Section of Church History, University of Copenhagen

Invited lecturers:
Thomas Arentzen, Reader in Church History at Lund University, Sweden, and Associate Professor at Sankt Ignatios College, Stockholm School of Theology
Petter Hellström, Affiliated Researcher at Department of History of Science and Ideas, Uppsala University

Extended description:
This one-day workshop aims to engage with the environmental turn within humanistic and theological research by focusing on one specific and central environmental object; the tree. The aim is to involve PhD-students and other early career researchers with invited researchers specialising in the subject in discussions on the tree from several different perspectives and time-periods, but with a specific focus on cultural, historical and religious aspects of trees.

The seminar will be split into three sessions with each session including three presentations of twenty minutes, each followed by a shared thirty minutes of questions and discussion with an invited discussant. Session 1 will explore early Christian and ancient notions of trees, examining their symbolic, spiritual, and ecological roles in antiquity and the medieval period. Session 2 will focus on early modern perceptions of trees, examining their cultural, scientific, and philosophical significance. Session 3 will address modern and/or non-Western notions of trees, highlighting diverse perspectives on their environmental, social, and religious meanings.

Programme:
9.00 - Pre-Seminar Tea and Coffee
9.30 - Opening Remarks
9.45 - Keynote Speaker - Thomas Arentzen, co-author of Byzantine Tree Life and lead researcher of Beyond the Garden: An Ecocritical Approach to Early Byzantine Christianity.
10.20 - Break for Coffee
10.30 - Session 1 (Preliminary title) Ancient and Medieval Trees

12.00 - Break for Lunch

13.00 - Session 2:(Preliminary title) Early Modern Trees
14.30 - Break for Coffee
14.45 - Session 3 (Preliminary title) Modern and Contemporary Trees
16.15 - Concluding remarks
16.30 - Post-Seminar Reception hosted at Privacy
17.30 - End of the Research Seminar

Language: English

Preparation: A preparatory reading list will introduce the participants to some main concepts and different perspectives on topics within the environmental turn relating to trees and the research of the invited speakers.

ECTS: 0.2 ECTS for participation / 1 ECTS for participation including presentation.

Max. numbers of participants: 12

Registration:  Please register via the link below no later than 17 August 2026. Please include a title of your intended presentation, a brief abstract (150-250 words) and bio (50-100 words) in your application to the workshop. As the aim of the workshop is to create discussions and inspirations for further collaborations the abstract can represent anything from a finished idea to a conceptual sketch.
Registration link: Registration for the workshop: Trees in Thought and in History

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

Literature: TBA