Organisation profile

The Department of Politics and Society addresses national, European and global processes of migration, integration and diversity, as well as developments in management, digitalization, the labour market, and the welfare state. The department is committed to conducting international, comparative and often interdisciplinary research which is empirically and/or theoretically founded. Faculty members undertake high-quality research and teaching in past and present societal developments and address future challenges. Scholars and students engage in dialogues with citizens, businesses and authorities at a local, national and a European level, and scholars are actively engaged in national and international research networks. The department is located in Aalborg but also has a section in Copenhagen. The academic staff consists of approx. 100 scholars who are organised in eleven research groups representing different disciplines such as history, political science, digitalization, labour market and organisational analysis, gender studies, development and international relations, European studies and global refugee studies. The Department of Politics and Society offers a range of full-time bachelor and master programmes covering various societal fields and perspectives and also a part-time continuing adult education programme, the Master in Public Governance, aimed at employed professionals.

Research

Research at the Department of Politics and Society is organised within a number of research groups, centres and networks that represent cutting-edge expertise in the fields of: historical analysis from medieval and early modern to contemporary history; comparative social policy and welfare research; citizenship and democracy; political behaviour and attitudes; management and administration; digitization and IT; labour market and organisations; social movements; environment and sustainability; Europeanisation processes; international relations and development studies; migration and global refugee studies; conflict and post-conflict societies; social inequality; as well as gender, diversity and human rights within a broader transnational context.

Study programmes

The Department of Politics and Society offers a range of bachelor and master programmes covering various societal fields and perspectives. It also offers a part-time continuing adult education programme aimed at employed professionals, Master in Public Governance. The study programmes are managed by five study boards: Development and International Relations, Digitalization, History, Politics and Public Administration, and Public Governance. All programmes apply problem-based learning where students are urged to consider actual problems in the present or past. Thus, the department offers students a stimulating and rewarding study environment. Drawing on both national, European and global perspectives, the academic staff and affiliated teachers are engaged in exciting and cutting-edge research which inspires and shapes what are being taught across all levels in the department’s programmes.

Doctoral programme

The doctoral programme of Politics and Society is an interdisciplinary training programme for PhD students who undertake research relating to society, state and globalisation in a contemporary or historical perspective. Using a variety of analytical approaches and theories from the social sciences and the humanities, the PhD students’ research focuses on cultural, political and socio-economic developments at the local, national, transnational and global level; research themes include changes in economic, political, social and administrative systems, international affairs as well as state-market-civil society relations, gender, identities, mobility and displacement.

News and Media

The researchers at the Department of Politics and Society are committed to the development, distribution and communication of scientific knowledge. In addition to publishing in scientific journals and books, teaching, organising seminars, and participating in scientific conferences; the department’s researchers also actively engage in public debates for instance by giving public speeches and contributing to newspapers, television and other media outlets.

Collaboration and Network

At the Department of Politics and Society, we value collaboration with external stakeholders and the dissemination of research-based knowledge to the general public. Thus, as part of our researchers’ dissemination activities and interactions with society at large, research is made visible and becomes useful. Researchers as well as students from the department often engage in collaboration with municipalities; private and public organisations and companies; museums, hospitals and other public institutions, and through these activities contribute to the exchange of knowledge both regionally, nationally as well as internationally.

Events and Conferences

The Department of Politics and Society is a vibrant focal point for research and teaching activities that cover a wide span of social issues, emphasising both the past and the present. The department regularly organises different events in order to facilitate and stimulate scholarly discussions. Such events include small workshops, symposia, (PhD) seminars as well as large conferences involving both students, staff and invited scholars from around the world.

Head of Department

Michael Baggesen Klitgaard