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Theorizing and Enacting Societal Impact - 3 ECTS

Date and time

Wednesday 2 April 2025 at 09:00 to Friday 4 April 2025 at 16:30

Registration Deadline

Monday 17 February 2025 at 23:55

Location

Kilen - room KL4.74 (fourth floor), Kilevej 14A, 2000 Frederiksberg Kilen - room KL4.74 (fourth floor)
Kilevej 14A
2000 Frederiksberg

Theorizing and Enacting Societal Impact - 3 ECTS

Course coordinator: Eva Boxenbaum, Department of Organization (IOA)

Video Production 2024

Faculty

Eva Boxenbaum, Professor
Department of Organization, CBS

Department of Organization, CBS

Pedro Monteiro, Tenure-Track Assistant Professor
Department of Organization, CBS 

Anders Krabbe, Tenure-Track Assistant Professor
Department of Strategy and Innovation, CBS

Stine Grodal, Professor
Northeastern University, US. 

Ruthanne Huising, Professor
ESSEC Business School, FR

Vivi Lena Andersen, Director
Rudersdal Museums. PhD Cup 2018 participant

Prerequisite

Participants are required to submit an individual project plan related to societal impact (1-2 pages) no later than March 24. They must attend the full course to obtain a course certificate. 

Aim

The world of research is changing. As scholars, we are increasingly expected to articulate how our research contributes to society beyond offering new theoretical, methodological, and empirical insights. We are encouraged, and increasingly also incentivized, to demonstrate the societal impact of our research on broader society, that is, beyond our scholarly community and the classroom. Socially meaningful research is becoming a parameter for access to research funding. 

This course equips participants with a theoretical understanding of societal impact that can help them position themselves within the changing landscape. Participants learn about professional organization and acquire organizational and communicative insights that are useful for enhancing the societal impact of research. Through this work, they begin shaping their own professional identity and impactful pathway as a researcher in view of crafting a meaningful career. 

Content 

The course is composed of theoretically informed lectures on societal impact at the intersection of organizational theory and communication theory. The morning blocks focus on understanding the inter-organizational context, using organizational theory (“theorizing impact”), the afternoon blocks on how to navigate this context as an individual scholar, using communication theory (“enacting impact”). 

Lecture plan

Wednesday April 2
9.00 – 9.45: Introduction to the course (Eva Boxenbaum)
10.15 – 12.00: Theorizing impact: Professional aspirations (Stine Grodal & Anders Krabbe)
13.00 – 16.00: Enacting impact: Communication skills (Vivi Lena Andersen)
16.00 – 16.30: Communication exercise 

Thursday April 3
9.00 – 10.30: Theorizing impact: Changing roles and expertise of scholars (Ruthanne Huising)
11.00 – 12.00: Theorizing impact: Navigating a research ecology (Pedro Monteiro)
13.00 – 16.00: Enacting impact: Audiovisual storytelling & academia (Cathrine la Cour)
16.00 – 16.30: Video production

Friday, April 4
9.00 – 10.15 Theorizing impact: Modes of communication (Eva Boxenbaum & Silviya Svejenova)
10.45 – 12:00 Theorizing impact: Art & aesthetics (Silviya Svejenova & Pedro Monteiro)
13.00 – 16.00: Enacting impact: workshop (Cathrine La Cour, Vivi Lena Andersen, Silviya Svejenova, Eva Boxenbaum)
16.00 – 16.30:  Course evaluation

Teaching style
The pedagogical approach revolves around an application of theoretical insights, step by step, to gradually build a product that aims at fostering societal impact of the participants’ research. Participants gain insights from lectures, discussion, group work, and exercises as the course unfolds.  

Learning Objectives
Participants learn to analyze the professional context in which they operate, using theoretical insights from organization and management research. They are also encouraged to position themselves within this context and apply insights from communication theory to present their research effectively to a broader audience.


Course Literature
Abbott, A. (1981). Status and status strain in the professions. American Journal of Sociology, 86(4), 819-835.

Benco, R. C. (2020). Why science needs art. Smithsonian Magazine (April 15, 2020).  https://www.smithsonianmag.com/blogs/national-museum-of-natural-history/2020/04/15/why-science-needs-art/

Boxenbaum, E., Jones, C., Meyer, R., & Svejenova, S. (2018). Towards an articulation of the material and visual turn in organization studies. Organization Studies, 39(5-6), 597-616. https://doi.org/10.1177/0170840618772611

Cairney, P., & Oliver, K. (2020). How should academics engage in policymaking to achieve impact? Political Studies Review, 18(2), 228-244.

Graizbord, D. (2019). Toward an organic policy sociology. Sociology Compass, 13(11), e12735.

Huising, R., “Epistemic travel and its dangers: Academic impact seeking, influencing, and posing” in preparation for Research in the Sociology of Organizations.

Jones, C., Svejenova, S., Pedersen, J. S., & Townley, B. (2016). Misfits, mavericks and mainstreams: Drivers of innovation in the creative industries. Organization Studies, 37(6), 751-768.

Kacprzyk, J., Clune, S., Clark, C., & Kane, A.  (2023). Making a greener planet: nature documentaries promote plant awareness, Annals of Botany, 131(2), 255–260.  

Khoury, C. K., Kisel, Y., Kantar, M., Barber, E., Ricciardi, V., Klirs, C., ... & Novy, A. (2019). Science–graphic art partnerships to increase research impact. Communications Biology, 2(1), 295. 

Krabbe, A. D., & Grodal, S. “The mediation dilemma and power hybris in the hearing aid industry (1945-2015)”, working paper.

Li, N., Villanueva, I. I., Jilk, T., Van Matre, B. R., & Brossard, D. (2023). Artistic representations of data can help bridge the US political divide over climate change. Communications Earth & Environment, 4(1), 195.

McKee, R., & Fryer, B. (2003). Storytelling that moves people. Harvard Business Review, 81(6), 51-55.

Meyer, R. E., Jancsary, D., Höllerer, M. A., & Boxenbaum, E. (2018). The role of verbal and visual text in the process of institutionalization. Academy of Management Review, 43(3), 392-418.

Reinecke, J., Boxenbaum, E., & Gehman, J. (2022). Impactful Theory: Pathways to Mattering. Organization Theory, 3(4). https://doi.org/10.1177/26317877221131061

Root-Bernstein, R. S. (1996). The sciences and arts share a common creative aesthetic. In The elusive synthesis: Aesthetics and science (pp. 49-82). Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands.

Vaughan, D. (2006). NASA revisited: Theory, analogy, and public sociology. American Journal of Sociology, 112(2), 353-393.

Villanueva, I. I., Li, N., Jilk, T., Renner, J., Van Matre, B. R., & Brossard, D. (2024). When science meets art on Instagram: Examining the effects of visual art on emotions, interest, and social media engagement. Science Communication, https://doi.org/10.1177/10755470241228279

Registration Deadline and Conditions
The registration deadline is 17 Februar 2025. If you wish to cancel your registration, it must be done by this date. By this deadline, we determine whether there are enough registrations to run the course or decide who should be offered a seat if we have received too many registrations.

If seats are still available, we will extend the registration deadline to fill the remaining spots. Once you receive our acceptance/welcome letter, your registration becomes binding, and no course fee refunds will be issued. The binding registration date is the deadline mentioned above.
 
Payment Methods
Ensure you choose the correct payment method when finalizing your registration:
 
CBS students:
Select the payment method CBS PhD students. The course fee will be deducted from your PhD course budget.
 
Students from Other Danish Universities: 
Select the payment method Danish Electronic Invoice (EAN). Provide your EAN number, attention, and any relevant purchase (project) order number.
If you do not pay via EAN number, select Invoice to pay via electronic bank payment (+71).
 
Students from Foreign Universities:
Select the payment method Payment Card. If you are unable to pay by credit card, choose Invoice International to pay via bank transfer.

Event Location

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Organizer Contact Information

CBS PhD School
Nina Iversen
Phone: +45 3815 2475
ni.research@cbs.dk

Organizer Contact Information

CBS PhD School
Nina Iversen
Phone: +45 3815 2475
ni.research@cbs.dk