Sweden

The course consists of an in-depth investigation of a topical area of scientific interest and activity within linguistics. A new and up-to-date theme is decided upon each time the course is run. Possible themes include the geometry of meaning, based on Gärdenfors' book by the same name; the phylogenetic analysis of language; grammaticalization; and color semantics. 

The course is given as an optional module within Linguistics C but may also be taken independently.

This course offers a sociological view of economic, social, and political processes, with a special focus on global social change and development. The course provides the knowledge needed to understand and critically analyze discussions about global social change, focusing especially on the post-war period. The teaching consists of lectures, exercises, group assignments and seminars.  In the first module, explore both classical and modern sociological theories. Examine the economic, social, and political transformations central to classical sociology. Key topics include the rise of nation-states, capitalism, bureaucracies, rationalization, and the increasing division of labor within and between countries. The course also covers foundational scientific theories developed in classical sociology that continue to influence the social sciences today.  In the second module, address current development challenges around the world, using both macro (large scale) and micro (small scale) perspectives. Focus on how societies are structured and how they evolve, considering institutions, structures, and social networks, and their complex interactions. Use sociological theories and concepts to shed light on how inequality is created and sustained. The module ends with an evaluation of various social policy interventions through the lens of the theories we have discussed in the course.

The course provides a deepened overview of macroeconomic theory. The content of the course mainly focuses on business cycle fluctuations, unemployment, inflation, the current account, and fiscal and monetary policy. The analysis is extended to include the fact that economic agents are forward-looking, which considerably deepens the insights into the determination and development of a country’s consumption, investment, current account, and economic policy. In addition, the course contains the IS–LM model that is important for analysis of economic policy.

In the course expressions of modern advertising in different media forms are studied using theories derived from semiotics, rhetoric and image analysis. Advertising is defined as a form of communication. Its intermedia concept is analyzed in relation to, for example, music videos or other means of popular culture. Questions concerning branding, gender, or globalization are treated in relation to visual, verbal, or musical means of advertising. The main emphasis is on an intermedia analysis of concrete examples of advertising in newspapers, television, Internet, buzz marketing, and brand hacking. The focus is on analyzing but also creating different forms of advertising in the twentieth century, as a manifestation of modern popular culture.

The aim of this course is to provide basic knowledge about current racialized formations of gender, citizenship, and migration. Social, economic, political as well as cultural dimensions of citizenship and migration are addressed. The course engages with key theoretical debates in the field, in particular postcolonial and feminist conceptual investigations of citizenship, (non)belonging, and migration.