5 ECTS PhD course ‘Themes within Environmental Humanities’ to be held in Stavanger, 1-5 December 2025. This year’s thematic focus is the developing field of the Energy Humanities.
The Greenhouse Center for Environmental Humanities invites applicants to attend a week-long PhD course on Energy Humanities, held at the University of Stavanger from 1-5 December 2025.
Life is imbued with energy and energy itself – be it organic or fossil, renewable or non-renewable – is embedded in social and cultural practices and power relations. Yet the predominant understanding of energy transitions as technological fails to take into account that energy and its use are relational and as such a core concern of the humanities. Over the past decade, energy humanities has developed into a vibrant new field at the intersection of humanities and social sciences, bringing together scholars from various disciplines concerned with energy as it unfolds materially, politically, culturally, environmentally, and technologically. This PhD course explores how humanities scholars can study energy and how humanities perspectives can challenge dominating technological and economic narratives of energy.
An interdisciplinary team of lecturers will introduce PhD students to concepts and discussions within the still forming field of the energy humanities. Grounded in a disciplinary diversity, the lecturers in this course aim to encourage students to critically think about methods, sources, and agency in their own research practice. Finally, the lecturers will invite to discussions on how humanities, arts researchers, social scientists and policy makers can work together and work with communities beyond the university to create impactful research.
The course will be taught in person at the University of Stavanger and will consist of seminars, excursions, social events, and a joint dinner. During the week, students will be given time to work on their contribution to a collective creative output. After the course, students will have to submit individual essays, engaging critically with the course literature. Both elements need to be completed to obtain the course credits (5 ECTS). Attendance in the entire course is required.
There is no course fee, but participants will have to cover their own transportation and accommodation. Costs for lunch, one joint dinner, and the excursions will be covered by the course. Other costs for food and local transport need to be covered by the participants themselves.
This course is suitable for PhD students at the beginning of their research or at a later writing-up stage of their project. Other candidates such as early-stage postdoc researchers and specialised final stage master students can be accepted. The course is appropriate for PhD candidates from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds, preferably speaking to environmental humanities concerns in some way (e.g. history, literature, geography, anthropology, arts). Students from the social sciences with an interest in energy and environment could also benefit from the course.
To apply, send: (1) a brief motivational statement (250 words) and (2) the completed linked application form to guro.m.brathen@uis.no by 24 October 2025.
For questions, contact Associate Professor Melina Antonia Buns. For more information about the course, visit this link.This PhD course is financially supported by Nordic Energy Research and is organised in collaboration with the NordForsk-project Energy Lives! Infrastructural Citizenship in Nordic Energy Transitions.