Skip to Main Content

CBS PhD School logo

Humanistic Approaches to Societal and Global Challenges - 5 ECTS - HYBRID

Date and time

Monday 18 September 2023 at 13:00 to Monday 30 October 2023 at 18:00

Registration Deadline

Thursday 7 September 2023 at 23:55

Location

Porcelænshaven - room PH18B 2.142 (second floor), Porcelænshaven 18B, 2000 Frederiksberg Porcelænshaven - room PH18B 2.142 (second floor)
Porcelænshaven 18B
2000 Frederiksberg

Humanistic Approaches to Societal and Global Challenges - 5 ECTS - HYBRID

Course coordinator: Christina Lubinski, Department of Business Humanities and Law (BHL)

 
Faculty
 
Department of Business Humanities and Law, CBS
Department of Business Humanities and Law, CBS
Department of Business Humanities and Law, CBS
Department of Business Humanities and Law, CBS
Department of Management, Society and Communication, CBS
Department of Organization, CBS
 
 
Prerequisites

PhD students only.

Participants will submit a paper idea (2 pages) before starting the course. They then develop the idea into a working paper (20 pages), using theory rooted in the business humanities, including those discussed in the course. Each student will be responsible for one “intervention” (critical reading and introduction of a text to the group). Assignment of texts to be determined on the first day.

For “intervention”, course participation and submission of both the idea and working  paper a total of 5 ECTS will be awarded.

Deadline for submission of the paper idea is the 4th of September 2023.
Deadline for submission of the working paper is the 4th of December 2023.

It is a precondition for receiving the course diploma that students attend the whole course and submit both papers by the respective deadlines.
 
Aim
 
The course discusses humanistic approaches to the study of societal and global challenges. It introduces PhD students to the emerging field of “Business Humanities” and provides them a space to discuss the potential and challenges of integrating social sciences and humanities in their projects. Business Humanities has a notable two-fold character. On the one hand, it defines a domain of knowledge concerning the major challenges facing humanity that affect both business and the wider society. On the other hand, it focuses on understanding the human capabilities to meet these challenges. Grounded in theories of organization studies, entrepreneurship scholarship, history, and political science, the course will discuss different theoretical perspectives that can broadly be summarized as humanistic approaches to the study of business and organizing.
 
The course focuses on developing students’ understanding of how the humanities and interdisciplinary social sciences address fundamental challenges to humanity. It sees business and forms of organizing as key to social transformation and explores which ethical and entrepreneurial capabilities help address these fundamental challenges. In that process, the course considers organizational actors as diverse as management teams, projects, formal organizations, start-ups, public institutions, crowds and different fluid and ephemeral forms of organizing for analysis.
 
Participants of the PhD course discuss the ongoing academic debates about theorizing at the intersection of social science and humanities (Zald, 1993, 1996; Ricoeur, 2016). They explore and contrast different disciplinary traditions with an interest in the human and questions of temporality (Wadhwani et al., 2018; Hernes, 2022), morality (HowardGrenville and Spengler, 2022; Stjerne et al., 2022) and value (Boltanski and Thévenot, 2006; Dewey, 1939; Escobar, 2018). They learn how narratives and histories are brought into the present to actively shape actors’ understandings of themselves, their culture, meaning-making processes, and place in the world (Ricoeur, 2003, 2006; Wadhwani et al., 2018; Suddaby et al., forthcoming-a). Debating the strengths and weaknesses of humanistic theories and their potential contributions to the study of business and organizing may give inspiration to PhD students for their own project designs. In the idea paper (to be developed before the course starts) and the working paper (due after the end of the course) faculty members will develop and critique arguments with the students that are relevant to their projects. 

We invite PhD students with research projects that relate to the role of the human and humanistic thinking in business and organization, be it that these perspectives figure as an underlying dimension of the project design, are directly employed as theoretical approach, relate to the methods applied, or come up in the empirical data. Projects on entrepreneurship, social innovation, grand challenges, identity, narratives, work-life balance and human-based forms of organizing often pay implicit or explicit attention to humanistic theories and the course is designed to helps students be more assertive about their treatment of the business humanities and leverage the most recent scholarship on these issues.
 
Course content
 
The course unfolds in 6 teaching days, which are spread out over six weeks to give participants time to read foundational theoretical texts and engage with authors from multiple disciplinary backgrounds. Each session has an overarching theme and is split into two work packages. 

Day 1, Humanistic Theories in Business Research, explores how to develop and clearly articulate a business humanities perspective. Using theories from organization studies, entrepreneurship scholarship, history, and political science, participants consider limitations and opportunities of engaging with humanistic theories in their PhDs. They are introduced to different traditions of thinking about the human, humanistic studies, and the intersection of humanities and social science research, exploring the current state-of-the-art of research in the field. During the second part of the session, the PhD students put their paper ideas up for discussion. Paper ideas must be submitted in advance and will be further developed during the course.

Day 2, Theorizing the Human in Societal Challenges, discusses different attempts to develop theoretical approaches that address societal and global challenges. The first part of this day focuses on how “fluid” forms of organizing contribute to the tackling of grand challenges that provide a particular challenge to conventional organizational structures. 
These forms are fluid in that they bring together a dynamic range of actors with diverse purposes, expertise, and interests in a temporary and nonbinding way. In the second part, we concentrate on the position of the human in global and societal challenges by drawing from concepts and critiques of the Anthropocene.

Day 3, Values, Value Systems, and Valuing provides a space for discussing how humans create or make sense of value, and how we can understand values, value systems and the process of valuing in academic research. During the first part, the discussion takes its starting point in Boltanski and Thévenot’s On Justification. In the second part, we explore ways to relate this to the process of societal valuing, by focusing on the values of entrepreneurialism and their effect on societal change. This discussion incorporates entrepreneurialism research done at CBS (in the context of the Semper Ardens: Advance research group The Entrepreneurial Age) and compares it with existing research on other countries, notably the US and India.

Day 4, Understanding Temporality, deals with humanistic theories devoted to time and temporality. Many societal challenges are closely related to time. Short-termism is a formidable obstacle to tackling societal challenges. Therefore, in the first part, we discuss the most recent research on time and temporality in organizations. We look at how humans approach challenges with a longer-term evolution and impact, such as demographic change, climate challenges, and technological innovation, and how they 
enact this decision in the present. In the second part, we continue the discussion of temporality in organizations by exploring historical organization studies as an integrative approach. We explore the growing body of literature on “uses of the past” in organizations and society, and discuss how the link between past, present, and future is used to legitimize moral judgments.

Day 5, Design and Societal Challenges, will in the first part bring in perspectives on the pluriverse and explore their relationship to design. Using a permaculture approach, this discussion questions taken-for-granted assumptions and scripts within the study of societal challenges and the capitalist world system. In the second part, participants discuss their further-developed projects through presentations, peer-feedback and feedback from MOST faculty.
 
Day 6, Pushing Boundaries and Having Impact, discusses the idea of post-theoretical approaches and the limitations of our current understanding of theory in the first part. The aim is to reflect on the role of theory in addressing global challenges and the role of the business humanities in this endeavor. Have we passed by the ‘moment of theory’ (Hunter, 2006) and has ‘critique run out of steam’ (Latour, 2004)? What happens when theory remains dominant but no longer helps with current challenges, as Dean and Zamora contend? The second part will be devoted to a wrap up of the course and a roundtable debate about roads ahead for this line of scholarly research, including how the scholarly work of the participants can have an impact both academically and on society.
 
 
Learning objectives
 
The PhD seminar will be designed to allow participants to:

1. Understand and engage with new approaches to humanistic theories and 
approaches in business and management research; see how they compare to other ways of studying business.
 
2. Recognize the range of ways in which business humanities can be engaged, including the epistemological assumptions involved in these choices and their implications for the types of research questions that can be addressed.
 
3. Explore and contrast different disciplinary traditions with an interest in the 
human and questions of temporality, morality, and value, including organization studies, history, and political sciences. 
 
4. Discuss theories from the business humanities in the context of participants’ own research and determine strengths and weaknesses of such approaches in relation to specific research questions. Explore opportunities, challenges, and limitations related to business humanities as a field of research.
 
Lecture plan
 
The course runs over 6 Mondays/weeks with 1 day (5 hours) per week (13:00 - 18:00). This course is offered in a hybrid format. Students can participate in all sessions either in person on campus or online via zoom. 
 
Day 1 – Humanistic Theories in Business Research
Monday, 18 September 2023

Faculty: Christina Lubinski (BHL), Maribel Blasco (MCS)

13:00-15:00 Part I Lecture and discussion
“Unfinished Business: Integrating Social Sciences and Humanities”

15:00-15:30 Break

15:30-18:00 Part II Presentations and workshop
“Projects: Ideas and student presentations”

Evening: Course dinner

Day 2 – Theorizing the Human in Societal Challenges
Monday, 25 September 2023
 
Faculty: Silviya Svejenova (IOA), Marta Gasparin (BHL)
 
13:00-15:00 Part I Lecture and discussion
“Fluid Organizations and Grand Challenges”

15:00-15:30 Break

15:30-17:30 Part II Lecture and small group discussion
“Rethinking the Anthropocene”
 
17:30-18:00 Wrap Up
 
Day 3 – Values, Value Systems and Valuing
Monday, 2 October 2023

Faculty: Dan Wadhwani (BHL), Christina Lubinski (BHL)

13:00-15:00 Part I Lecture and discussion
“Orders of Worth in Society”

15:00-15:30 Break

15:30-17:30 Part II Lecture and small group discussion
“Entrepreneurialism and Social Change”

17:30-18:00 Wrap UP

Day 4 - Understanding Temporality
Monday, 9 October 2023

Faculty: Christina Lubinski (BHL), Dan Wadhwani (BHL)

13:00-15:00 Part I Lecture and discussion
“Theories of Time and Temporality”

15:00-15:30 Break

15:30-17:30 Part II Lecture and small group discussion
“Morality and the Uses of the Past”

17:30-18:00 Wrap Up

Day 5 – Design and Societal Challenges
Monday, 16 October 2023

Faculty: Maribel Blasco (MSC), Marta Gasparin (BHL)

13:00-15:00 Part I Lecture and discussion
“Plural approaches to valuation and design”

15:00-15:30 Break

15:30-18:00 Part II Presentations and feedback
“Projects: Student presentations and feedback”

Day 6 - Pushing Boundaries and Having Impact
Monday, 23 October 2023

Faculty: Mitchell Dean (BHL), Christina Lubinski (BHL)

13:00-15:00 Part I Lecture and discussion
“Post-Theoretical Approaches”

15:00-15:30 Break

15:30-17:30 Part II Round-table discussion and course recap
“What’s next?”

17:30-18:00 Wrap up and social networking
 
 
Teaching style
 
We start each day with a 10-minute ‘intervention’ by 1-2 students who:
  • Discuss one of the assigned theoretical texts critically
  • Connect it to some of the participants’ presentations from session 1 or other relevant themes form the course where possible 
 
The course is taught in discussion-based lectures, small group work, plenary discussions, and exercises. Guests from the international academic community will join the course online.
 
Exam
 
The exam consists of three deliverables:
  • Before the course: Submission of an idea paper, 2 pages.
  • During the course: ‘Intervention', oral presentation in class. 
  • After the course: Submission of a working paper, 20 pages.
 
Litterature list
 
Bansal, P. and H.-C. Song (2017). "Similar But Not the Same: Differentiating Corporate Sustainability from Corporate Responsibility." Academy of Management Annals 11(1): 105-149.

Boltanski, L. and L. Thévenot (2006). On Justification: Economies of Worth. Princeton, Princeton University Press.

Caliskan, K. and M. Lounsbury (2022). Entrepreneurialism as Discourse: Toward a Critical Research Agenda. Entrepreneurialism and Society: New Theoretical Perspectives. R. N. Eberhart, M. Lounsbury and H. E. Aldrich, Emerald Publishing Limited. 81: 43-53.

Dean, M. and Zamora, D. (2021) The Last Man Takes LSD: Foucault and the End of Revolution. London, Verso.

Dewey, J. (1939). Theory of Valuation. Chicago, The University of Chicago Press.

Eberhart, R. N., et al. (2022). Freedom is Just Another Word for Nothing Left to Lose: Entrepreneurialism and the Changing Nature of Employment Relations. Entrepreneurialism and Society: New Theoretical Perspectives. R. N. Eberhart, M. Lounsbury and H. E. Aldrich, Emerald Publishing Limited. 81: 13-41.

Escobar, A. (2018). Designs for the Pluriverse: Radical Interdependence, Autonomy, and the Making of Worlds. Duke University Press.

Fleming, P. A. (1990). "Paul Ricoeur's Methodological Parallelism." Human Studies13(3): 221-236.

Friesike, S., et al. (2022). Striving for Societal Impact as an Early-career Researcher: Reflections on Five Common Concerns. Organizing for Societal Grand Challenges. A. A. Gümüsay, E. Marti, H. Trittin-Ulbrich and C. Wickert, Emerald Publishing Limited. 79: 239-255.

Hernes, T. (2022). Organization and Time. Oxford, Oxford University Press.

Howard-Grenville, J. and J. Spengler (2022). Surfing the Grand Challenges Wave in Management Scholarship: How Did We Get Here, Where are We Now, and What's Next? Organizing for Societal Grand Challenges. A. A. Gümüsay, E. Marti, H. Trittin-Ulbrich and C. Wickert, Emerald Publishing Limited. 79: 279-295.
 
Hunter, I. (2006). "The History of Theory." Critical Inquiry 33(1): 78-112.
 
Khaire, M. and R. D. Wadhwani (2010). "Changing Landscapes: The Construction of Meaning and Value in a New Market Category—Modern Indian Art." Academy of Management Journal 53(6): 1281-1304.(Hernes 2022).
 
Latour, B. (2004) “Why has critique run out of steam? From matters of fact to matters of concern.” Critical Inquiry 30:225-248.
 
Pawelski, J. O. (2022). "The Positive Humanities: A Focus on Human Flourishing." Daedalus 151(3): 206-221.
 
Pirson, M. A. and P. R. Lawrence (2010). "Humanism in Business – Towards a Paradigm Shift?" Journal of Business Ethics 93(4): 553-565.
 
Ricoeur, P. (2003). The Rule of Metaphor: The Creation of Meaning in Language. London, Routledge.
 
Ricoeur, P. (2016). Hermeneutics and the Human Sciences: Essays on Language, Action and Interpretation. Cambridge, UK, Cambridge University Press.
 
Rindova, V. P., et al. (2022). How to Break Free: An Orders-of-Worth Perspective on Emancipatory Entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurialism and Society: New Theoretical Perspectives. R. N. Eberhart, M. Lounsbury and H. E. Aldrich, Emerald Publishing Limited. 81: 101-127.
 
Saito, K. (2022). ”Monism and the Non-identity of Nature” (chapter 4), Marx in the Anthropocene. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press: 103-135.
 
Stjerne, I. S., et al. (2022). Commitment to Grand Challenges in Fluid Forms of Organizing: The Role of Narratives’ Temporality. Organizing for Societal Grand Challenges. A. A. Gümüsay, E. Marti, H. Trittin-Ulbrich and C. Wickert, Emerald Publishing Limited. 79: 139-160.
 
Suddaby, R., et al. (Forthcoming-a). "Entrepreneurial Visions as Rhetorical History: A Diegetic Narrative Model of Stakeholder Enrollment." Academy of Management Review. 

Suddaby, R., et al. (Forthcoming-b). "Rhetorical History as Institutional Work." Journal of Management Studies. 
 
Wadhwani, R. D. and C. Lubinski (2017). "Reinventing Entrepreneurial History." Business History Review 91(4): 767-799.

Wadhwani, R. D., et al. (2018). "History as Organizing: Uses of the Past in Organization Studies." Organization Studies 39(12): 1663-1683.
Wadhwani, R. D., et al. (2020). "Context, Time, and Change: Historical Approaches to Entrepreneurship Research." Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal 14(1): 3-19.

Zald, M. (1993). "Organization Studies As a Scientific and Humanistic Enterprise: Toward a Reconceptualization of the Foundations of the Field." Organization Science 4: 513-528.

Zald, M. N. (1996). "More Fragmentation? Unfinished Business in Linking the Social Sciences and the Humanities." Administrative Science Quarterly 41(2): 251-261.
 
Note: In case we receive more registrations for the course than we have seats, CBS PhD students will have first priority. Remaining seats will be filled on a first come first serve.
 

Select payment methods:
 
CBS students: Choose CBS PhD students and the course fee will be deducted from your PhD budget.
 
Students from other Danish universities: Choose Danish Electronic Invoice (EAN). Fill in your EAN number, attention and possible purchase (project) order number. Do you not pay by EAN number please choose Invoice to pay via electronic bank payment (+71). 
 
Students from foreign universities: Choose Payment Card. Are you not able to pay by credit card please choose Invoice International to pay via bank transfer. 
 
Please note that your registration is binding after the registration deadline.

Event Location

Click to view the event location on Google Maps >

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