The Summer School in Social Science History
Students studying in the Historica building in 1975. Source: Open Science Centre / university museum, photographer Matti Salmi
The annual social science history summer school in Jyväskylä is designed to support doctoral research in the empirical historical social sciences, especially economic and social history projects. We will address the basic assumptions and underlying logics of empirical research, as well as work with examples to support student projects. The goals of the workshop are:
- to examine the steps required to frame an empirical research question guided by theory
- to consider the range of research methodologies used by social scientists
- to address some strengths and limitations of each, and
- to practice some of the steps involved in research design and implementation.
We offer postgraduate students the opportunity to develop their knowledge of research methods and to test methodological choices in their dissertation research with top researchers and teachers in the field of social science history. The Summer School in Social Science History is becoming an annual tradition after getting excellent feedback from participants who have found the Summer School useful for their research and a great forum for networking.
The first summer school in 2021 focused on gender and economy but since then summer school has been organized without a specific theme. All topics of research are welcome. Students in the early stages of their PhD work benefit most from the summer school guidance.
The summer school consists of a workshop, lectures on methods, and individual guidance. We expect each participant to prepare a paper in advance reflecting on their own methodological choices. The paper may be intended as part of the dissertation manuscript or a separate presentation. The course will moreover introduce literature for participants to explore in advance. Summer school offers an excellent opportunity to meet other postgraduate students, as well as senior scholars in the field. Our social program will enable you to discover the summery city of Jyväskylä and its life and beautiful surroundings.
For further information, please contact summerschool-hela@jyu.fi.
The teacher at the summer school is Professor Anne E. C. McCants (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, United States) along with teachers of the Department of History and Ethnology at the Ä¢¹½Ö±²¥.
