After successful completion of the course, students are able to structure their doctoral dissertation project in architecture, urban design or urban planning into smaller steps of operationalization. They have learned how research questions, selection of methods and forms of analysis and interpretation need to be linked together as part of wider research designs. Students will have gained experience in improving individual writing skills by establishing daily writing routines. They will have learned to carve out the social relevance of their doctoral thesis in architecture.
Basic insights on the learning fields of urban studies, architecture and planning sociology as well as planning and architectural theory shall be provided. Doctoral students who work at further interfaces of architecture and geography or architecture and cultural or theatre studies, as well as art history, are also invited to attend. In the course, we will discuss basic methodological skills required when doing urban empirical field research, yet also for reading and writing, that is, heuristic work with texts.
It is the goal of this course to offer an introduction to doctoral students mainly within architecture which elaborate their thesis in the fields of architecture connected to the social sciences and humanities, with a focus e.g. in urban studies, architecture or planning sociology, urban geography, or planning theory or architecture theory.
A main achievement of the course should be that peer-to-peer learning and exchange is facilitated, alongside debates as regards contemporary themes of urban development.
Contemporary urban theory has developed apace over the last decade to consider the complex urban processes and issues that have risen as a result of globalisation, diversification of the economy, socio-demographic shifts, shifting political agendas, migration and growing concerns about the environment amongst many other salient issues. Urban studies now concern themselves also with new theoretical agendas which focus on questions of theorizing everyday life, discussing ethnography also as a set of disciplinary methods to understand urban life and urban institutions, and reflecting on contemporary appropriations of public spaces around the world. The seminar will have a particular emphasis on lived space analysis, but contributions on other subjects are eligible. Master and doctoral students at any stage of their work from architecture, spatial planning, and more widely from social sciences, humanities and the arts, who are researching into urban issues are welcome to attend.
The Seminar is offered to doctoral students in architecture and related disciplines, with the overall aim of providing an opportunity for the students to discuss their thesis projects as additional support in the development of their research cases, theories and methods. Participants will read and discuss related literature, attend shor lectures and debates, train creative writing skills and discuss different research designs along the individual thesis projects.
The main part of the course is organized through informal group discussions of the students’ research projects. In particular, the seminar aims to help the students critically review, clarify their research questions, interests and material, and receive constructive feedback on their own research projects, their aims, objectives, concepts and methods; learn about a range of theories and methods in urban research; develop the capacity for and engage in critical assessment of similar research projects; develop a friendly and supportive group of researchers who can benefit from knowing about each other’s work during the seminars. A series of writing tasks will accompany the content-oriented part of the seminar as to create opportunities to establish routines in practicing writing and learning about different writing techniques.
Fr October 14th 2022
8:30 am Unit 1 Kick Off
10:30 am Unit 2 Short Presentation of Participants' Research Projects
1 Unit 3 Presentations 1+2+3
Mon December 19th 2022
8:30 Unit 4 Short Input + Debate
10:30 Unit 5 Presentations 4+5+6
1 pm Unit 6 Presentations 7+8+9
Wed December 21st 2022
8:30 Unit 7 Short Input + Debate
10:30 Unit 8 Presentations 10+11+12
1 pm Unit 9 Presentations 13+14+15
Fr January 20th 2023
8:30 Unit 10 Short Input + Debate
10:30 Unit 11 Presentations 16+17+18
1 pm Unit 12 Presentations 19+20+21
Mon January 23rd Jan 23
8:30 Unit 13 Short Input + Debate
10:30 Unit 14 Presentations Planning Next Individual Steps - Consultation
1 pm Unit 15 Presentations Planning Next Individual Steps - Consultation
Debates about research methods are key ingredients of research designs in each doctoral dissertation. Therefore, we will discuss these alongside each respective research project.
A special focus will be set on intersectional research methods and how these link to other traditional fields of urban research (e.g. in sociology, political science, architecture, planning, urban design and urban research). The seminar will also punctually host other dissertation supervisors (guest inputs, comments, critique, ...)
