Oslo Summer School in Comparative Social Science Studies
Foundation, History, Main Objectives and Target Groups
The 21st Century Europe entails challenging processes of integration and disintegration. Integration radically challenges the social cohesion of old and new societies. European social science has so far largely been confined to the nation-state level. But it is now, more than ever, crucial that social scientists are able to study the differential impacts of processes of integration and fragmentation. For such a purpose, comparative studies and methodology provide the obvious point of departure for any social scientist who wish to take the complexity of the European challenges seriously.
Oslo Summer School in Comparative Social Science Studies consists of several short and intensive one-week postgraduate research courses at the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Oslo, Norway.
Oslo Summer School in Comparative Social Science Studies was initiated by Professor Fredrik Engelstad in 1992 in order to further international contact among students and researchers working within comparative social science. The first summer school session was held in the summer of 1993, and in the summer of 2012 it will be the held for the 20th time.
From a relatively small summer session back in 1993, with 7 course modules offered and only about 50 PhD students participating, the Summer School during the last 6-7 years have grown steadily from year to year, with well over 200 PhD students and young researchers attending the summer programmes of 2001, 2005 and 2010. And the programme of 2004 was fully enlisted for all the 9 different course modules offered, with alltogether 250 participants ranging from about 30 different countries.
In the year 2002, the Oslo Summer School celebrated its 10th year adding two 2 anniversary lectures to the programme, one of them held by the well known Norwegian political scientist and philosopher Jon Elster who lectured on the topic of The Comparative Study of Justice. Another anniversary is due in 2012, when celebrating 20 years in existence.
Also the number of courses offered have increased, from only 7 courses offered the first year, it is now up to 11 course modules taking place in 2012.
Throughout the years, a number of well known scholars have lectured at the Oslo Summer School, such as Professor Bob Jessop (1994 & 2001), Professor Gösta Esping-Andersen (1995), Professor Peter Evans (1998) and Professor Wendy Griswold (1998, 2005 and 2007), Professor Charles Tilly (1999), Professor Michal Mann (2000), Professor Pippa Norris (2001), Dr. Keith Hart (2002), Professor Rogers Brubaker (2004), Professor Brian Wynne (2005), Professor Jonathan Friedman (2006), Professor B. Guy Peters and Professor Jean-Pascal Daloz (2007), Professor Barbara Geddes and Professor Roberto Franzosi (2008), and Professor Maritza Montero and Professor Sheila Slaughter (2009), and Professor Stewart Clegg (2011).
Professor Charles C. Ragin have many times provided the methodological background and framework lecturing on Comparative Methodology (1994, 1996, 1998, 2001 and 2004), and in 2010 and 2011 Professor Andrew Bennett lectured fully enlisted courses on Case Study Research Methods.
You may browse a complete list of courses offered at the Oslo Summer School by going here.
The Oslo Summer School in Comparative Social Science Studies aims to cover all social science diciplines. The following disciplines will be represented in 2012:
- sociology
- political science
- human geography
- economics
- higher education studies
- social anthropology
- psychology
- methodology
- STS studies
- environmental studies
The Main Objectives of the Oslo Summer School is:
- to provide advanced training for young European researchers at the post-graduate and post-doctoral level
- to offer Ph.D.-courses at the highest international level, drawing on top-ranking experts, whether they be Europeans or from other parts of the world
- to cover all of the social sciences, and to encourage interdisciplinary approaches
- to inspire young researchers to take up comparative projects at as early a point as possible in their careers
- to contribute to denser networks between European social scientists and research institutions working with various types of comparative social science
Target Groups:
The main target group is doctoral students with an interest in comparative social science. In addition, researchers, research scholars and MA students aiming at an advanced level are welcome to apply for admission. The priority regarding admission will always be on those doctoral students attached to any organized research training at a university, and who is willing to write an essay in order to obtain ECTS credits. Read more about written assignments and ECTS credits here.
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