In Fall 2022 and Spring 2023, the Department of History of Science and Ideas in Uppsala is offering two combined Master's and PhD courses on the history of crisis. 

History of Crisis I focuses on historical perspectives and provides an introduction to the role of the concept of crisis in historical explanations and historical theory. It will give an orientation in the long history of disaster narratives and crisis management, shifting notions of natural, technical and social crises, and their reflection in politics, social theories and cultural critique. We will also discuss concepts of crisis and crisis narrative in the history of other sciences – for example ecology, medicine and economy – through a selection of historical and contemporary cases. 

History of Crisis II focuses on thematic and scientifically integrative approaches to current and connected crises related to global warming, environmental crises, global health emergencies, and financial and political crises. It will especially highlight the temporalities of crisis, discussing the role of crises and disasters in past and present processes of temporalization and future making. Both courses deal with social, cultural and political theories of late modernity as an era increasingly defined by crisis as an interconnected and world-making phenomena.

Both courses can be read separately or as two coherent courses that offer gradual progression and specialization. The courses are given in English (unless only Scandinavian speaking students participate). For further information and questions about registration, please contact Anders Ekström (anders.ekstrom@idehist.uu.se).

Kind regards,