General course objectives
The aim of this course is to provide students with perspectives and
tools to discuss how knowledge has been created, circulated,
valued, changed, forgotten, and used in different cultures, across
knowledges cultures and over time as well as critically assess
their own and other’s knowledge by addressing the questions: “What
do we know, and how do we know it?” The overall objective is to
develop skills in critical thinking, communication, and
cross-disciplinary teamwork involving different forms of knowledge
Learning objectives
A student who has met the objectives of the course will be able to:
- Identify, analyze, and evaluate different knowledge cultures,
forms of knowledge and ways of knowing, including the use of
different knowledge forms and traditions in different
professions.
- Identify and reflect on different forms of visualisation of
knowledge, their history and impact (maps, diagrams, models
etc.).
- Reflect on the historical construction of classifications,
standards and units and their impact (ex. the metre and other SI
units).
- Analyse the relationship between knowledge, language, practice
and materiality (objects and places).
- Identify, ‘defamiliarize’ and evaluate own beliefs and
assumptions regarding what counts as true knowledge.
- Reflect on the relationship between power and knowledge and the
role of the expert historically and in present time
- Argue for own knowledge and ways of knowing in
cross-disciplinary milieus, where some people may represent other
assumptions about what count as true knowledge (other knowledge
cultures).
- Assess strong and weak points in arguments brought forward by
people from other professions representing different ways of
knowing.
- Communicate own knowledge, both orally and in writing,
including following academic referencing standards and other
knowledge conventions in academia.
- Describe and reflect on own learning in a portfolio
Content
In the course, we use different examples from sociology, philosophy
and history of knowledge. We mainly focus on science, technology,
engineering and related topics, but will also look into very
different settings. We will work with the following topics:
Knowledge cultures and types of knowledge
Logic and argumentation
H. C. Ørsted and electromagnetism in a knowledge history setting
Lifeworld and knowledge of Danish farmers in the 18th and 19th
century
Representations of knowledge
Expert culture
Knowledge and design
Democracy, controversy and knowledge forms in a society
Artificial knowledge
Humanities, art and objectivity
Your own knowledge
The course will consist of lectures, class discussion, group work,
individual work, and several visits to museums.
Course literature
TBA. We will read and discuss academic text, particularly by
historians and scholars from different disciplines.
Remarks
This course requires students to work with complicated arguments,
long texts, and produce advanced presentations both orally and in
writing. It is only recommended to students with (1) a good command
of the English language or (2) a good command of Danish and the
ability to understand written or orally presented English.
Last updated
02. maj, 2024