Medicine, culture and society

Medicine, Culture and Society is a graduate programme covering medical humanities, philosophy of medicine, the social study of medicine, and Science and Technology Studies.

The research conducted in the programme includes social, ethical, and legal aspects of medical practices and new technologies; empirical studies of values, politics, and public attitudes; digitalization of healthcare; philosophical questions pertaining to health and disease; the social implications of new technology and political strategies, for example in relation to personalized medicine or data integration initiatives.

Our affiliated researchers use a wide range of qualitative and quantitative methods, including interviews, focus groups, questionnaires, digital ethnography, participant observation, and online data analysis.

Journal club

In January and August, we run a journal club where people bring Table of Contents from different journals from the past 6 months to allow all of us an overview.  Please contact Klaus Høyer (klho@sund.ku.dk) if you wish to know more or to participate.

Annual meeting

Every autumn there is an annual meeting.

Seminars and events

Seminars and other events are announced through the Center for Medical Science and Technology Studies.

You can get information via our Facebook page, by signing up as member of the center or as external recipient of announcements. Please contact Ezio di Nucci (ezio@sund.ku.dk) to sign up.

Writing camps

We have on-campus and off-campus writing camps where we try to make writing into a shared activity. At the writing camps we also work with writing techniques.

Other activities

We occasionally organize feedback seminars.

We host bimonthly breakfast meetings where we discuss topics relevant to PhD-fellows in the programme and share experiences.

If you have a particular idea for an activity, please contact a member of the steering committee.

News and updates

News and updates are emailed regularly from the Head of Programme.

The programme offers regular PhD courses. These are advertised on the PhD Course Catalogue.
The programme also has four special on-demand courses just for this programme.

On-demand Courses

The programme offers four on-demand courses. These courses are designed to allow you to tailor your courses to the needs of your specific PhD exactly when you need them. They are also a way of giving value to the reading, theorising, and communication work that are a significant part of graduate training for many in the program. 

You can initiate them yourself. The courses are literally on-demand, meaning they are offered when students in the programme ask for them, and can be conducted individually or in small groups. The Great book course is usually coordinated for a small group. The other courses are occasionally offered as a ‘fixed course’.

Great Book Course

The student reads one seminal book in the field and discuss it with a senior researchers and peers. The course consists of an array of 2h seminars that each consists of a discussion of one work.

ECTS: 1

Master class

The student studies the work of a relevant international scholar in order to ask questions and discuss their work in depth. The course can be taken in connection with international guests, conferences, or an online meeting. Your supervisor or the Head of the Graduate Program can serve as the one to sign off on your course.

ECTS: 1-2

Public Research Communication

The purpose of this course is to give students experience with public communication of research, informed by relevant literature and with individual feedback. The course is based at Medical Museion, which has popular online platforms that offer an opportunity to publish the students’ communication work. 

ECTS: 1

Theorizing from qualitative data

The course provides students with strategies for moving between qualitative data and theory-building and offer feedback on current challenges or ideas. Additionally, students learn to relate their work to broader ideas in the humanities and social science about theory-building in qualitative research.

ECTS: 1-1,5

You can read more about the courses here. To sign up, please contact Head of Graduate Programme Karin Tybjerg (karin.tybjerg@sund.ku.dk).

The program is run by an open board – PhD students can join if they wish to shape the activities.
Besides the students, the board consists of the Head of the programme, the PhD coordinator, and at least two supervisor representatives.
We aim to have representatives from the different environments in which our students work.

You may contact any of the board members with ideas and suggestions. For a list of current members, please consult Head of the Programme Karin Tybjerg (karin.tybjerg@sund.ku.dk).