Researching Imaginaries

Researching Imaginaries is a PhD level course (7,5 ECTS) hosted by HDK-Valand that considers the different ways in which the imaginary has been described, defined and used as a construct within a range of disciplines and research projects. It considers both the general analysis of imagination and the imaginary and examines its variants in such forms as the technological, social and political, and historical imaginaries. The course draws examples from many practices and traditions including contemporary art, philosophy, social and political theory, historical studies, anthropology, psychoanalysis, and cultural studies. The course looks at the critical disagreements and debates that these sources have generated, with particular attention to how theories of the imaginary are contrasted or juxtaposed with theories of ideology or with older ideas of “world view”. The course will be offered for the first time in Spring 2025 with an application period in November 2024.