Conference ›The Discursive Construction of Reality VI - Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Discourse Research in the Sociology of Knowledge‹ 

 

 

Conference at the University of Augsburg, Germany | March 27th – 28th, 2025

Over the last decades, the research program outlined by the Sociology of Knowledge Approach to Discourse (SKAD) has spread to many disciplines in social science. SKAD discourse research, drawing upon Michel Foucault’s work, symbolic interactionism and sociology of knowledge, is interested in exploring processes of ‘discursive construction of reality’, social relations of knowledge and knowing, and politics of knowledge and knowing – the manifold ways of discursive meaning making. Bearing these core tenets in mind, the original approach has nonetheless been successfully amended, expanded, and occasionally modified to meet the demands of different fields of study and forms of data. Corresponding studies may be found in sociology, but also in neighbouring disciplines such as cultural studies, political science, historical science, educational science, theology, linguistics, and criminology among many others.
Following the series of Augsburg conferences in 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2023 on interpretive and sociology of knowledge discourse research with over 120 participants and 40contributions from different disciplines each year, the upcoming conference will continue in the spirit of an interdisciplinary discussion about the foundations and applications of SKAD and SKAD-inspired discourse research, as well as related perspectives (such as subjectivation research, situational analysis, ethnography of discourses and dispositifs).

The conference will be held in German and English. There will also be online access to presentations and participation for those unable to travel to Germany. There will be no fees. Cold and hot drinks will be available on site for a small contribution.

Social Events at the conference
Besides an optional dinner with traditional Swabian and Bavarian cuisine on the first day of the conference we invite you to our closing party on March 28th after the end of the conference in a local club location.

 

Organisation: Prof. Dr. Reiner Keller, Martin Blessinger, Claudia Foltyn and Amira Malik

 

Further information you can find here. 

supportet by

 

Spring School Sociology of Knowledge Approach to Discourse University of Augsburg | 9 to 11 April 2025

(German speaking event) 

 

 

Over the past decade, discourse research in the social sciences and humanities has experienced a strong boom. Methodological training in the various disciplines has only partially taken this into account. In particular, questions of concrete textual work or the handling of different data formats and the interpretation of data in the context of discourse research are among the gaps in methodological training.
The Spring School on the Sociology of Knowledge Approach to Discourse (SKAD) is aimed at researchers from various social science and humanities disciplines who are working or would like to work with the discourse theoretical and discourse analytical perspectives of SKAD in a qualification or research projects. It offers

•     an introduction to the theoretical and conceptual foundations of SKAD,
•     an introduction to methodological implementations and their exemplary testing in joint analyses of data,
•     the opportunity to discuss questions and research designs of SKAD-based discourse and dispositive research, and
•     the opportunity to bring issues from ongoing or planned projects into the discussion.

In addition, two optional in-depth courses can be taken:

•     Specialisation A: Specific issues concerning the Sociology of Knowledge Approach to Discourse
•     Specialisation B: Analysis of modes of subjectivation

Further information on the content of the specialisations, conditions of participation and registration can be found here.