PHUV9340 Discourses and Power Course description

A practical and theoretical course in analyzing text and talk.

Approved by the Doctoral Committee on 25 October 2018. Minor changes approved on XXX.

The course is both practical and theoretical and has a broad conceptualization of discourse and power. Students will be offered analytical tools to carry out analyses of diverse types of multimodal texts, including documents as well as transcriptions of observations, interviews and interactions on topics of their own research. Both micro- and macro-discourse analytical perspectives will be thematized. The course will also focus on strategies for discussing interpretations and implications of findings. The content of the course is based on a combination of insights into discourses and power from social sciences and humanities.

The course is open for students enrolled in the PhD Program in Educational Sciences for Teacher Education, other PhD students and academic staff at OsloMet and other universities and colleges.

On completion of the course, the student will have achieved the following learning outcomes:

Knowledge

The student

• has in-depth knowledge of the main research traditions for analyzing text and talk and their applications
• has in-depth knowledge of theories about and conceptualizations of the relationship between discourses and power

Skills

The student

• has gained advanced methodological competence to apply discourse analysis on empirical data with relevance for a future publication.

General competence

The student

can identify and establish analytical connections between theories, empirical data, and methods based on developed methodological competence.

The course consists of two parts with mandatory participation. Students are expected to participate actively in both parts.

The first part consists of a two-days’ workshop. In lectures and discussions, students will be introduced to relevant theories and methods.

The second part is a one-day workshop that takes place a few weeks later.

Between the two parts, students will write an individual paper that outlines how they propose to conduct a discourse analysis of their own empirical material based on knowledge and skills gained in the course. In part two, the submitted papers will be discussed with fellow students and teachers. Feedback and advice on how to improve the submitted draft will also be provided.

Preparations for the course

Students are expected to read the syllabus before the first part of the course so that they can participate actively in discussions.

Work requirements

Mandatory participation in both parts of the course.

Submission of an outline of a preliminary plan that forms the basis for the final assessment. The outline should be 500 words (+/-10%).

Attendence

Minimum attendance is 80 % of the time of the course. If a student has attended at least 60 % of the course but less than 80 %, they must submit an extra paper on a given topic of at least 3000 words (+/- 10%). A reference list comes in addition and is not included in the word count.

The student writes an individual paper (as described in the section "Teaching and working methods") of between 3000 - 5000 words plus a reference list. The paper must be written in English, Norwegian, Swedish, or Danish.

New and postponed examination

If a paper is not graded with "pass", the student must submit a revised version within a given deadline.

The submitted individual paper must conform to OsloMet's policy on the use of AI during all stages of its preparation.

The grades are "pass" or "fail". The requirement for "pass" is that the paper builds on insights from the first part of the course and outlines how an analysis can be conducted and how a subsequent publication can be planned further. The paper must be graded «pass» in order for the student to pass the course.

The paper will be assessed by the course coordinator and a member of the academic staff involved in the PhD program.

Target group

The target group is PhD students and academic staff who want to carry out a discourse analysis of empirical data. The course is relevant for PhD students and researchers who conduct research on almost any issue within social sciences and humanities, including issues within education, such as topics that are taught at school and/or relate to classroom discourse, as well as issues related to the welfare state, environmental issues, migration, extremism and radicalization, among others.

Admission requirements

The admission requirement is a five-year master’s degree (three years + two years) or equivalent qualifications in teacher education, other pedagogical education, educational science, social or development studies, or other education at an equivalent level in study areas relevant for teacher education.

In case of a large number of applicants, PhD-students enrolled in the PhD program in Educational Sciences for Teacher Education will be prioritized, followed by students enrolled in other PhD-programmes and, lastly, by academic employees at the Faculty of Teacher Education and International Studies.

Applicants that are not enrolled in the PhD-program at the Faculty of Education and International Studies at OsloMet must send a summary in English of maximum one A4 sheet with relevant information about their own project / area of interest, specifying the topic of choice, planned methodology as well as theoretical approach, and why the PhD course might be relevant for their project.