This course is part of HF's PhD week.
Course content
Scholarship is a systematic pursuit of truth and understanding in an ethically sound way. But what does “ethically sound” mean? In this course we consider concrete constraints that ethics might place on the pursuit of truth and on scholarly interpretation. Some questions to be addressed are these:
- Are there inherently unethical research topics?
- Is there knowledge that is so risky to bring forth that it should not be pursued?
- How do we measure and weigh consequences and probabilities, and how far does the scientist’s responsibility for such calculation extend?
- Is there irredeemably tainted scholarship, i.e., science with results that we cannot employ irrespective of truth value, because of the ethical corruption of the methodological framework or social context of the original investigation?
- How might cultural vulnerabilities, historical injustice, and inequities of power, constrain scholarly method and interpretative scope in the humanities – or even restrict the rights to generate knowledge and interpretive narratives in certain areas and on certain topics?
These are general questions, but by focusing our attention on a range of specific and controversial examples, we hope to get clearer on the basic principles and values at stake in scholarly practice. By exploring cases that test the limits of ethics, we aim to clarify our sense of how competing values may be reasonably balanced, and what integrity in research actually requires of us.
This is a 1 ECTS course.
Course preparations
Reading
Course participants will read some mandatory scholarly litterature, and in addition identify and read an individual selection of scholarly litterature that shed light on the particular dilemmas or concerns that arise within the research topic/project that you will discuss in your course paper. You will also read short essays by the participants in your own (assigned) collaboration group.
Writing
You will submit a short paper (2-3 pages) where you present pros, cons, and conditions, for going ahead with a specific scholarly project. You may choose a case from a list of proposed topics (will be published in Canvas), or present one from (or near) your own research or research tradition. The paper should be uploaded to Canvas at 26 November 2024 at the latest.
Language
The course language is English, including reading responses and essays. We may switch to Norwegian in discussions, if everyone is able to follow what is being said.
Curriculum
You will find a list of mandatory and suggested readings in Canvas.
Registration
Courses are open for PhD fellows, completion grant holders, and post-doctoral fellows at the Faculty of Humanities, other UiO faculties and external PhD fellows. Candidates admitted to the PhD programme at HF are given priority.
Registration opens on October the 1st at noon.
Course convenors
- Bjørn Torgrim Ramberg, IFIKK
- Hanne Hagtvedt Vik, IAKH