Courses

The course takes an expanded view of digital storytelling as a space of intertextuality where multiple voices connect with technologies to pass a message through deliberation and documentation. For intertextuality, it is necessary to read and write the Web critically and responsibly. To this end, the course will use multimodal texts to problematise the participants’ metaphors and open up pathways for new narratives through a critical understanding and interpretation of technology and new media discourses.

• ORGANISER: CICERO Learning network & SEDUCE (Doc­toral Pro­gramme in School, Edu­ca­tion, So­ci­ety, and Culture), Faculty of Educational Sciences
• CREDITS: 5 ECTS

The course focuses on interdisciplinary approaches in studying cognitive sciences, speech sciences, and neuropsychology, using the most prominent methods in cognitive neurosciences and behavioural sciences. The course revolves around new insights arising from interdisciplinary approaches, and focuses specifically on how to measure (or empirically study) different phenomena from the viewpoint of various disciplines.

• ORGANISER: Cognitive Science, Department of Digital Humanities/Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Department of Psychology and Logopedics/Cicero Learning, Faculty of Educational Sciences
• CREDITS: 6 ECTS

The course is to create an understanding of the factors which shape cooperative law and of its relevance for sustainable development. The term 'cooperative law' also incorporates other fields of law as they impact on the structure and operations of cooperatives, such as labour law, tax law, competition law and accounting and bookkeeping standards, as well as law-making and implementation procedures.

• ORGANISER: University of Helsinki, Ruralia Institute, Co-op Network Studies
• CREDITS: 5 ECTS

The ‘digital’ is profoundly changing Russia today, equally transforming the methods used to study Russia. To grasp this two-fold transformation, this course brings together leading Helsinki experts in Russian Studies and digital humanities to examine how Russian society, politics, economy and culture are reconfigured in the context of digitalisation. We now have a wealth of new (big) data sources, such as digital archives, social media and various kinds of ‘digital-born’ content that allow us to investigate Russian society in novel ways.

• ORGANISER: Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki and Master's Programme in Russian Studies
• CREDITS: 6 ECTS

The course examines the phenomenon of English as a lingua franca (ELF) from the perspective of multilingualism. Students will be introduced to developments in the field of ELF, with particular focus on approaching ELF within the framework of multilingualism. Students will also discuss different approaches to multilingualism and consider how research on multilingualism increasingly operates with notions such as (trans)languaging that shift the perspective from separate definable languages to processes of meaning making.

• ORGANISER: Master's Programme in English Studies / Department of Languages, Faculty of Arts
• CREDITS: 5 ECTS

This course proposes an overview on environmental ethics as a philosophical discipline, progressing from the philosophical texts to the analysis of environmental case studies. It aims to raise awareness about the fundamental and ethical role of the natural environment in our lives.

• ORGANISER: Discipline of Practical Philosophy, Faculty of Social Sciences
• CREDITS: 5 ECTS

This interactive course offers students the possibility of looking through feminist theory into feminist practices. Using intersectional feminist approaches, students are invited to consider the applications of feminist research methodologies in academic research and beyond. This combination of theory and practice departs from the understanding that feminist theory relies on a mutual exchange with feminist activism.  Through a series of guest lectures by activists, artists, and academics, students will learn about feminist facilitation and organising safer space events, and explore creative applications of research methods.

• ORGANISER: Master’s Programme in Global Politics and Communication
• CREDITS: 5 ECTS

The course has two main interlinked objectives: to give a comprehensive introduction to the Finnish education system and to familiarise students with different theoretical and methodological approaches in the field of research on social justice and diversities in education. Students are also encouraged to present and reflect upon their own education systems.

• ORGANISER: Faculty of Educational Sciences
• CREDITS: 5 ECTS

This Helsinki Summer School course explores urbanisation from the point of view of the Nordic ‘welfare city’. A welfare city, such as Helsinki, is built on ideals of equality, the well-being of its citizens, a sustainable balance between the needs of both nature and the people, and responds to social and ecological awareness alike.

• ORGANISER: Faculty of Social Sciences
• CREDITS: 6 ECTS

The course explores the nexus and different dimensions of the crisis of poverty, (under)development and human rights from a historical, institutional and policy-making perspective. Domestic and international variables that have occasioned and exacerbated world poverty, inequality and underdevelopment are examined. The course also formulates and highlights what duties states and international institutions owe to the poor and the victims of global injustice.

• ORGANISER: Faculty of Law
• CREDITS: 6 ECTS

This course explores the development of the popular music style of Heavy Metal. The primary focus will be on the musical elements of the genre, its historical features and its relation to contemporary Western society. The final part of the course will focus on Finland, where HM is particularly successful and characterises musical culture more than in other European or non-European countries.

• ORGANISER: Department of Philosophy, History and Art Studies / Faculty of Arts, University of Helsinki
• CREDITS: 5 ECTS

This intensive basic course in Finnish is for students accepted into University of Helsinki master's programmes in autumn 2019. It offers incoming students the opportunity to study the Finnish language before the beginning of the University's autumn term.

• ORGANISER: University of Helsinki, Language Centre
• CREDITS: 4 ECTS

In the first part of this exciting course, we review perspectives from the fields of multicultural / intercultural communication and education as they have been discussed in the 'West'. Basic concepts such as culture, globalisation, identity and diversity are introduced and critically reviewed.

• ORGANISER: Faculty of Educational Sciences, TENSION research group (diversities and interculturality in education)
• CREDITS: 6 ECTS

The course examines forestry from an interdisciplinary and global perspective. Course seeks to enhance our understanding of forest ecosystem services, not least as the future of global forest resources is a daily concern in international policy debate and processes.

• ORGANISER: University of Helsinki, Department of Forest Sciences, Viikki Tropical Resources Institute (VITRI)
• CREDITS: 6 ECTS

The course on Political Popular Culture explores how popular culture and social media influence politics in contemporary transnational digital culture. We will critically evaluate methods and consequences that the mediatisation and digitalisation of popular culture have had for political debates, issues, values and practices.

• ORGANISER: Master’s programme in Intercultural Encounters & Master’s programme in Area and Cultural Studies
• CREDITS: 5 ECTS

While much of the study of present-day populism has focused on identifying features shared by populist movements or on populism as a social logic, this course looks at the variability and intersectionality of populism in a perspective inspired by the political philosopher Ernesto Laclau. The course offers lectures, workshops, seminars and excursions to examine such phenomena as the role of affect or women in populist movements, the emergence of Donald Trump in the US, the rising tide of radical parties in Europe, Islamic populism in Turkey, and the rise and fall of Chavismo in Venezuela.

• ORGANISER: European and Nordic Studies & Global Politics and Communication Master's programme
• CREDITS: 5 ECTS

This course will familiarise the students with a distinct framework to study the relational nature of political meaning-making: rhetoric-performative analysis based on post-foundational political thought. Through this framework the students will be able to critically analyse some of the most pressing questions and phenomena of our era, such as the legitimacy of democracy, the logic of populism, articulations of gender and sexuality, competing forms of economic production and property, and the functioning of identity politics.

• ORGANISER: Master's programme in Global Politics and Communication
• CREDITS: 5 ECTS