Four new graduate schools in the humanities and social sciences

Multimodality and intermediality: Humanistic research in a digital world (MIDvärld)

• Collaboration between: Örebro University (coordinator) and Linnaeus University
• Granted funds: SEK 19.5 million, over 4 years
• Doctoral students: 9 in total, of which 4 at Linnaeus University
• Contact: Beate Schirrmacher, associate professor of comparative literature

“The graduate school MIDvärld will provide the next generation of humanistic researchers with tools that can contribute to solving the challenges of digital communication”, says Schirrmacher.

“Today, we have endless possibilities to mix texts, pictures, music in all types of different contexts on the web. But are we always aware of what we are saying and how a message can be altered when the context changes? Multimodal and intermedial perspectives can help us gain a better understanding of how digitalisation has changed our way of communicating, how it contributes to disinformation and filter bubbles, but also to a better understanding of what sustainable, trustworthy, and committed communication can look like”, Schirrmacher explains.

Data, culture, and society: Critical perspectives. A national graduate school in digital humanities

• Collaboration between: Uppsala University (coordinator), Umeå University, University of Gothenburg, and Linnaeus University
• Granted funds: SEK 7.8 million, over four years
• Doctoral students: the graduate school is a network that connects already existing doctoral students within the field
• Contact: Koraljka Golub, professor of library and information science

“Studying the connection between data, culture, and society is often claimed to be a success factor for creating value, in a world where technology is changing at a rapid pace. Even though programmes and projects in digital humanities already exist in Sweden, there are no graduate schools that provide in-depth knowledge and develop networks in relation to digital research, its methods, tools, and perspectives”, says Golub.

“The graduate school in Digital humanities will strengthen the future supply of skilled researchers within digital humanities. It will connect doctoral students from all over Sweden through common courses, seminars, workshops, and a summer school on digital methods”, Golub explains.

The future of democracy: Cultural analyses of illiberal populism in times of crises

• Collaboration between: University of Gothenburg (coordinator), Lund University, Linköping University, Linnaeus University, Södertörn University, and Uppsala University
• Granted funds: SEK 21 million, over four years
• Doctoral students: 10 in total, of which 1 at Linnaeus University

The transformation of reading and criticism of the sources in digital cultures

• Collaboration between: University of Borås (coordinator), Södertörn University, Lund University, Uppsala University, Umeå University, and Linnaeus University
• Granted funds: SEK 23 million, over four years